Mixing
Jermaine McGillvary gets mistaken for clubmate – despite England heroics
23rd June 2018,
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JERMAINE McGillvary can go another step towards being recognised as one of the world’s best wingers in Denver – just being recognised at all would be progress.
For the England man is growing tired of being mistaken for Huddersfield team-mate Michael Lawrence.
McGillvary was the star of the World Cup but that did not stop one man approaching him thinking he was the Giants’ back-rower.
He has also revealed that earlier in his career, he was told Jermaine McGillvary would not make it in Super League!
Now he wants to be recognised as an international winger, as the man who carved out a career in rugby league after working in a DIY store, as the man who made it after once getting lifts to training as he could not afford to travel!
“I’ve been mistaken for Michael since I was at Batley,” admitted McGillvary. “Once I went into Huddersfield town centre when a guy said, ‘Hi Michael, how are you doing?’
“’I went to watch that Jermaine McGillvary at Batley. He’s good but he won’t quite make it at Super League level, He’s all right but a bit too small.’
“I never used to get wound up but in the last two years I have a bit. I just walk away now but not when it’s kids, I’ll sometimes have a joke when they ask if I’m Jermaine McGillvary, I’ll say I’m Michael Lawrence.
“But when it’s adults, I’m like, ‘Come on, he’s six foot odd and lean as hell. I’m small and stocky with no neck. You must know the difference.’”
McGillvary is the poster boy for doing things the hard way after being on the dole after dropping out of college aged 18 and working nights at a B and Q Warehouse in Huddersfield before taking up rugby again.
Even after being given a deal at the Giants, times were tough, which is why he does not get ahead of himself and starts every year with a completely clean slate no matter what he has done in the previous 12 months.
That includes scoring seven tries as Wayne Bennett’s men reached the World Cup final and the stick he took on social media certainly helped put that away.
“I never take anything for granted,” added the 30-year-old, who will represent his country in Denver tonight (Sat). “In my mind, I’m fighting for my position all the time. I’m confident in myself but what helped was I got absolutely s***loads of stick before the World Cup!
“I felt like I’d killed someone. Before I played Australia I said, ‘If I play badly here, everyone is expecting it. So I might as well go and have fun.’
“Going to the World Cup and seeing that stick was the biggest moment of my career. It was the first time it’s had an impact. I thought, ‘I’ve been on the dole and Paul Jackson and Steve Snitch had to pick me up from my house as I couldn’t afford to get to training.’
“But I reset everything after a season, no matter what I’ve done.
“It was fairly easy for me to reset even after last year. I just forget about it and I don’t like to dwell on anything I’ve done, good or bad. I just move on.”
JERMAINE McGillvary can go another step towards being recognised as one of the world’s best wingers in Denver – just being recognised at all would be progress.
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