Briers on Challenge Cup

• Assistant Coach, Lee Briers, gives his thoughts on the Challenge Cup having won it numerous times as a player and a Coach.
• Briers: “It’s not about us Coaches, it’s about the players making sure they go out and execute and express themselves on the biggest of stages.”
• See the Warriors in action at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, tickets remain on sale online HERE until 3pm on Friday 27th May.

Lee Briers spoke to wiganwarriors.com to talk all things Challenge Cup, his experiences as a player and a Coach in the competition and more!

“As a player, the build-up was horrendous for me, I was a very nervous player,” he said. “I used to be sick ready for the game and I could never stop that whether I was playing against Wigan, whether I was playing against Swinton it didn’t matter I was always sick.”

He added: “The Semi Finals I thought was always the worst time, I’d lost 5 Semi Finals prior to 2009, so I was sick every single morning leading up to the Semi Final, I didn’t sleep more than a few hours a night and when we finally won and got through to the final I was thinking ‘wow, I’ve got to go through that again.’”

Briers explains that this all changed at Wembley in 2009, as he went on to win three Challenge Cups in 4-years: “When I was in the changing rooms at Wembley, it’s twenty-past two and I’m thinking right I’m ready to be sick, and I wasn’t, I wasn’t nervous. I thought ‘this is strange’, played the game and won it, unbelievable feeling to finally get that first win and it was one of the best feelings I’ve possibly ever had in the game.

“In 2009 my son was mascot, which was great for our family. It’s something that we hold dear to our hearts and have really good memories of that. We beat Huddersfield that year too so hopefully we can do that again. To do it 2010 and get the Lance Todd Trophy, again I wasn’t nervous at all. Fantastic, winning that Lance Todd, in my eyes one of the biggest man of the match awards you can win in Rugby League, especially in this Country.”

He added: “We did it again in 2012, and it was fabulous. I went 13-years losing Finals and Semi Finals and then within the space of three years I had a back-to-back at Wembley, missed a year and then won it again. It was like public buses I suppose, none come and then they all come at once.”

Looking back on why his nerves were different at Wembley, Briers explained: “I only ever realised when I finished playing Rugby and I reflected on my career. Why wasn’t I nervous at Wembley? Every time I’ve played with a Rugby ball since being 4-years old, any patch of grass where I lived in St Helens, it was always Wembley, we were trying to score that last try or drop goal to win at Wembley. Everything I did as a kid was always about being at Wembley, we didn’t have Grand Finals then.”

He added: “I’m a big believer in the 10,000 hour rule – if you do something 10,000 times you master it and I’d definitely done it 10,000 times. So without knowing at the time, I’d already in my mind been there, done it, visualised it and executed it. That’s why I wasn’t nervous and I’m pretty certain about that.”

Briers then reflected on how the Challenge Cup experience differs from being a player, to as a Coach: “It’s totally different. When you’re a player you’ve only really got to get yourself ready, as a Coach you make sure you’ve done all the preparation, you make sure you’ve practiced as well as you can do and we’ve got a really good Coaching group here. We’re all focused on one goal, it’s making sure that everything is clear, no confusion, the lads understand what it’s about, supporting them and giving them confidence.”

Asked if the passion for the Cup is still as big as a Coach, Briers said: “Absolutely – probably more so. It’s great to win it as a player and you probably can’t replicate that but winning it as a Coach when you’ve executed a game plan which you set out to do is something where you get real joy. It’s not about us Coaches, it’s about the players making sure they go out and execute and express themselves on the biggest of stages.”