05 June 2024 , 10:21
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He was the flying winger nicknamed ‘Bond’ who had a licence to thrill for Wigan - yet still can’t believe his Wembley feat.
Mark Preston scored twice in their famous 1990 Challenge Cup final win over Warrington. But he admits feeling like an imposter in a side littered with some of rugby league’s greatest-ever stars. However, the prolific wideman with pace to burn, was undoubtedly the real deal as the club chalked up the third of an incredible eight successive Cup final victories.
England B rugby union international Preston amassed 57 tries in just 77 games for Wigan after crossing codes from Fylde in 1988. And, as the rivals prepare to meet again at Wembley for only the second time on Saturday, none are more cherished than that brace 34 years ago. Preston, 57, recalled: “I do remember most of it.
“I’m bound to remember the tries but I remember a lot of the day and the night, too. It’s a great memory. And a pinch yourself moment. I was a season-ticket holder at Wigan as a kid going along to Central Park week in, week out with my dad.
"The next thing I’m signing for the club I love and playing with players I used to worship from the terraces. At times I thought ‘how the hell am I in this team?’ It was full of superstars. And me! Shaun Edwards, Andy Gregory, Ellery Hanley, Denis Betts, Andy Goodway… just incredible.
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“And Dean Bell. The best centre I ever played with. He took all the big hits and made all the big hits. As a winger, I was well looked after by him. He was tough as old boots.”
1990: A group photograph of the Wigan Team after the Challenge Cup final against Warrington at Wembley Stadium in London. Wigan won the match 36-14. \ Mandatory Credit: Bob Martin/Allsport (Getty Images)Preston, sold to Halifax for £50,000 in 1991, was dubbed Bond by the legendary Joe Lydon. He explained: “When I signed, a few players, like Ellery and Shaun, were full-time but not many. So we trained in the evening and I’d come straight from working as an insurance underwriter. I always had a suit on and it was Joe [Lydon] who said: “F****** hell, it’s Bond again!’
“I’m on the Wigan past players group with Shaun Wane and all the lads and they all still call me Bond. It’s just stuck. None of my rugby friends from Fylde call me that but when I go to Halifax or speak to Bentos [John Bentley] or Waney, it’s always Bond.”
After racing 75m for a stunning first-half try against Warrington, Preston finished off one of Wembley’s all-time great scores when adding his second in a 36-14 triumph. He admitted: “It was an amazing try. Shaun Edwards, who had a broken cheekbone for most of the game, picked up a loose pass in our 20, Andy Goodway sent on to Steve Hampson who broke, then Ellery took it on and Shaun again.
Mark Preston in action for Wigan in the 1988 Summer Sevens (Sig Kasatkin - RLPhotos.com - 07790 227720)“[Warrington captain] Mike Gregory came up with an unbelievable cover tackle after he’d run about 70 metres. But Shaun must have known I was there, flipped it inside and I just fell over the line. It was only when I watched it afterwards I realised how good a team try it was.
“It won Eddie Waring’s Try of the Year. I’ve still got the little trophy. And I didn’t really do anything! But what a player Mike Greg’ was. He was another taken too soon. Greg’ was just the sort of player you’d want in your team.”
Preston added: “The one disappointment when I really reflected on Wembley was the fact that I got taken off. John Monie just took me off and put Bobbie Goulding on. I’m not sure why. No one had ever scored three tries at Wembley. I’m not saying I would have. But I might have had a shout and you’d have almost been guaranteed the Lance Todd Trophy, regardless of how well you’d played. It didn’t matter, though: we’d won the Challenge Cup.”
Former All Black Frano Botica arrived ahead of the following season, though, ousting Preston off his left flank and into the reserves. A few months later, he moved onto Halifax - and not long after that another electric union convert by the name of Martin Offiah joined the Wigan machine.