Blackpool's Warrior Joe Bullock ready to grace rugby league's grandest stage

The Blackpool-born former winger will be mixing it with some of Super League’s biggest (literally) stars as a Wigan Warriors prop forward in tonight’s Grand Final against arch rivals St Helens.

Lifting the League Leaders’ Shield with Wigan three weeks ago is the latest career highlight in the 27-year-old former Highfield School pupil’s remarkable RL story, and he hopes to write another glorious chapter at Hull’s KCOM Stadium tonight.

Bullock took Super League by storm last season, having been recruited from semi-professional club Barrow.

He hadn’t made the grade in his previous stint as a junior at Wigan, but the player whose RL journey started as a winger or full-back with Scorpions has grasped his second chance at the DW Stadium with both hands.

Bullock said: “I’ve been happy with how it’s going, getting a place in the side each week and trying to do my bit for the team.

“Getting the League Leaders’ was a nice accolade. One of the reasons you come here is to win trophies and win big games ,and that’s one small box ticked off. But nobody is getting carried away – the important one is the Grand Final.”

As for his unusual positional change, Bullock admits he’s opted for a harder life in the front row.

“Wingers have the pressure of finishing, catching bombs and trying to stop a fast guy running at you.

“But in the middle it’s a slog from the start – it isn’t fun. The fun comes when you score and the reward of doing your job, but the arm-wrestle itself is a non-stop slog from start to finish.”

Bullock admits he was surprised to break into the Wigan first team so quickly last season, having stepped up into a full-time environment.

He adds: “I was lucky at Barrow – I was full-time with the club, doing some coaching and teaching during the day, so it wasn’t as if I went from working a 40-hour week outside the game into a full-time environment.

“It was still a step up, making sure you’re the best you can be because if you’re not you’re soon found out here.

“Last year, I was learning a lot on the job. There are a handful of players who have that much talent they don’t have to work hard for it – unfortunately I’m not one of those, so it’s down to working hard.

“We have an abundance of middles. It’s good because nobody has a spot nailed on. If they think there is someone who gives us a better chance of winning, you’re going to miss out.”

Like all clubs, Wigan have needed all hands on deck in this longest ever Super League season, which began in January.

Bullock said: “Even though we had a long break in the first lockdown, it’s felt like a really long year.

“We started pre-season on November 4 last year and so to go more than 12 months is mad.

“When we got back, everyone was just glad to be playing again and doing the job they love – now we just want to finish it off on a high.

“It’s been a terrible 2020 for so many people and we want some success, something to put some smiles on faces and something positive to remember the year by.

“People outside the game say you can almost write off this season as if nobody will remember it, but I think the other way – I think everyone will remember this year.

“There are no crowds and no atmosphere but this pandemic is not going to be forgotten – and if we can be remembered as the team that did the business in that year, that would be great.”

JOE BULLOCK WAS TALKING TO PHIL WILKINSON OF THE WIGAN POST