Chris Ashton urges rugby league to raid union’s top talent as Wigan admission made

Former Wigan Warriors winger Chris Ashton believes rugby league could receive a major boost by persuading some of the brightest young rugby union prospects to switch codes.

Ashton crossed the great divide by leaving his hometown club for Northampton in 2007 before going on to enjoy a hugely successful career in the 15-a-side game.

The Wiganer played for six Premiership clubs, won 44 England caps, and is the leading try-scorer in Premiership history with 101 touchdowns.

As British rugby league continues to lag behind union in terms of its profile – and certainly international game – Ashton reckons clubs should look to snare rising talents from the rival code.

The 37-year-old told Love Rugby League: “We’re seeing less and less cross-code moves now because it’s so hard.

“When I moved to Northampton, Jim Mallinder and Paul Grayson put a lot of work into me and without them I wouldn’t have been able to do it.

“But nowadays coaches haven’t got the time to sacrifice while a player learns a new code, so there is less appetite to that that risk.

“Let’s take the example of someone like Ben Earl, the Saracens and England flanker. If he went to rugby league, and wasn’t a success, then there’s so much more to be lost than gained by such a move.

“If you’re going to take anyone at all from union to league, you’ve got to take a young up and coming player who is not on a big salary and has potential to be a rugby league superstar.

“I’d be looking at someone like Tyler Offiah at Bath – a young kid with potential who is not yet established at senior level in rugby union.

“Could Super League clubs think ‘why don’t we try and get Tyler and make him into a player who could potentially be a superstar?’

“That’s the situation I was in when I made the reverse move by leaving Wigan and moving to Northampton as a 20-year-old. Why could it not work the other way round? We haven’t quite found that market yet, I don’t think.

“But those kind of players – who are on the verge of doing something in rugby union – have got to be the target market for rugby league clubs.

“They should be looking to try and prize them away to rugby league.”

While Ashton switched codes seamlessly 18 years ago, he admitted huge differences remain between league and union which can make switching difficult.

He explained: “There is such a north-south divide between league and union in this country. Down south, no-one ever talks about rugby league and up north no-one hears much about rugby union.

“There’s such a split and rugby league is played almost exclusively along the M62 corridor. Is there a way of expanding that? I don’t know. Is there an appetite to do so? Probably not.

“It’s a hard thing to put your finger on but I watch Super League every week and you can see clubs are pushing and really trying different things with their marketing.

“It’s not for a lack of trying, but as a sport it certainly needs a new set of eyes on it.”

Ashton retired at the end of the 2022/23 season and is now working as a pundit for TNT Sports on their Premiership coverage.

But cut him open and he bleeds Cherry and White as he declared: “Wigan is my team – it always has been and always will be. I’ve followed them since I was a little boy and it’s my hometown club.

“I was at Saracens with Owen and Andy Farrell and what’s crazy is the amount of Wiganers in professional rugby and we all went to the same school – St John Fisher.

“There is a picture of every former pupil who have gone on to play professional rugby and I reckon there are 150 people on there!

“Wigan is just a hotbed of rugby, league and union, and it’s just rugby mad. For such a small town to have such a big impact in two sports is crazy.

“Sale Sharks try and sign players now and offer them more money but these young lads say ‘no, I want to play for Wigan’.

“That’s what I was like and that’s the hook – the prestige of playing for Wigan – and the fact they’re doing so well now certainly helps too.”

Casting his eye over the current Super League stars he most enjoys watching, Ashton said: “Of course I love seeing Jai Field and Bevan French.

“Matty Ashton scores some great tries for Warrington and Liam Marshall just always seems to come up with the goods when it matters most in big games.

“Dom Young is a great talent. He’s another example of someone who, as a young unproven player with potential, was given a chance in the NRL. Now look at him.”