Wigan Warriors fielded two more debutants over the weekend, both of which came from their academy as their focus on youth development continues to pay off.
Half-back George Marsden rightly took the headlines after the 17-year-old produced a stunning display to help his side defeat Bradford Bulls.
Partnering with Jack Farrimond in what was the youngest halves pairing in 41 years at the club, they both played exceptionally well to earn Wigan their first win after four striaght league defeats.
However, another man also made his debut against the Bulls, and that is winger Josh Cartwright, who came off the bench in the second half and almost scored on debut.
The 20-year-old has now spoken for the first time since that maiden apppearance, and commented on what a “surreal feeling” it was to run out for the first team at the Brick Community Stadium.
Revealing how he was told the news that he would be featuring, the youngster said: “As a reserve, normally I’m just in on an evening but John Duffy [Reserves Head Coach] said this week I’d just be in with the first team full days.
“I think it was on the Tuesday Matt [Peet] showed the 21 and I was in it, I knew I had to go hard in training and get my hand up for it.
“Then Thursday morning Matty told me at breakfast, all the boys got around me with it. I didn’t know if I was actually going to get on the pitch so it was kind of a weird game to process and get ready for but Matty just said if the chance comes, make sure you’re ready.”
Introduced into the action as a replacement for Adam Keighran, Cartwright’s chance came just before the hour mark, as he played the final 23 minutes of the game.
“The time was going down and down, I didn’t really know if it would happen,” the speedster explained. “When ‘bubs’ [Chris Barron] shouted me over to say I was going on, it was a pretty surreal feeling and nerves hitting but also a lot of excitement, I just wanted to get my hands on the ball straight away.”
