Tommy Makinson: Representing my country brings a tear to my eye
Golden Boot winner Tommy Makinson said representing England means everything to him, and his next aim is to earn a cap for Great Britain.
The St Helens winger only made his international debut for England in 2018, but went on to score four tries in as many games for his country.
Makinson’s performances on the international stage saw him crowned the 2018 Golden Boot winner, and now he wants to play for Great Britain against New Zealand, Tonga and Papua New Guinea on their tour of the Southern Hemisphere this autumn.
“Wearing that England shirt pulls something extra out of you that nothing else can,” Makinson told loverugbyleague.com.
“I don’t care what anyone says, you put that shirt on and it brings a tear to your eye. You are representing the people before you, friends and family, and its just a special moment and to perform like I did in them games last year is something I loved.
“I grew up watching the Great Britain games on TV. Watching games like those makes you realise how special it is to represent your country and to get a Great Britain cap would be something on my list year.
“Wayne [Bennett] is an unbelievable coach and he just gives us all extra confidence, like Justin [Holbrook] does at Saints. They make you want to play at your best and fortunately for me, I got the chance to play internationally for England last year which was a huge honour.”
St Helens won the League Leaders’ Shield last year but lost in both the Challenge Cup and Super League semi-finals.
And Makinson hopes Saints can go one better in 2019 and lift major silverware.
“Sadly last year we only one won out of the three we wanted last season,” Makinson added.
“We just didn’t really perform to how we could have in them big games and it is something we can learn from and improve on. Hopefully this year we can go one step further in both and pick up some more.
“2014 was the last time we won one of the main two, and a club like this can’t go on for that long.
“A lot of the main players in that 2014 squad have moved on and the main players in this team have stepped up, so we’ve got to bring silverware to this team. It’s too good of a place not to win Challenge Cups and Grand Finals. We’ve got to aim to win things this year.”