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The man who would have been the shortest player in Las Vegas has been usurped by a Warrington team-mate who will be the oldest.
Warrington Wolves, coached by Sam Burgess, got their Super League campaign underway on Sunday with a hard-fought 20-12 win against his brother Thomas’ Huddersfield.
The match was a step up in Warrington's preparation for their March 1 clash with Wigan at Allegiant Stadium and the result also means the NRL Hall of Famer won a bet with his sibling which will force Tom to take a bungee jump.
Sam had to choose between 168cm Oli Leyland and 36-year-old Stefan Ratchford to partner England captain and former Canberra Raiders playmaker George Williams in the halves and opted for experience.
Ratchford repaid Burgess's call by playing a key role in two Warrington tries, while former St George Illawarra fullback Matt Dufty was involved in both and also set up another for himself with a kick.
“It’s just the way I felt on selection day - it was pretty hard to pick between them,” Sam Burgess said of the decision to opt for Ratchford, who turns 37 in July and is 17 months older than Jillaroos co-captain Ali Brigginshaw.
“They’ve both been pretty good. You know, I just went with a bit of experience. Oli’s been awesome and he would have done a great job for us as well.
“It’s not Stef’s role, really. But he’s so experienced he can do anything for us. There’s value in having him for that stuff, he’s a calm head and he’s close to George and Duff - that’s probably what got him over the line.”
Burgess conceded Ratchford would probably be the oldest player in Vegas - “he’s older than me” - but stressed, “you do realise we’ve got one game before Vegas - in our world, that’s a long time”.
However, with only one training session before the next game, against Catalans on Friday night, he also conceded there would be few changes.
Of his Giants - and giant - sibling, Sam said: “He didn’t talk to me all week".
“He’s got a bungee jump to do," Burgess said of Tom. "He bet me if he won, I’d have to do a bungee jump. If he lost, he’d have to do bungee jump.
“He’ll add a bit to them [Huddersfield]. As the season goes on, he’ll go into his role in England. The comp’s a bit different here, it’s a different style of play. I thought he was good. He’s a big body, he’s hard to handle."
Burgess described five-eighth Williams’ performance as being “as scratchy as I’ve seen him”. First choice no.7 Leon Hayes is out injured.
James Harrison, an England international, and PNG Kumuls centre Roderick Tai also missed the cut.
“It wasn’t a very polished performance," Burgess concluded. “I expected us to be a tiny bit better. We lost our way a little bit.”
