ADAM Swift hopes to be a hometown hero to deny Sam Burgess a Wembley place in his first year as a coach.
If he does do the business for Huddersfield in his own back yard, do not expect wild celebrations.
The Giants winger is St Helens born and bred – he will meet his team-mates at a nearby pub rather than drive all the way to West Yorkshire to travel back on the coach!
Now to plot their course to Wembley at the ground he made it to Super League – while being an apprentice aircraft engineer - just two miles from his home.
Swift said: “It’s five or 10 minutes from me and I don’t have to travel to Huddersfield to get the team bus – I’ll meet them at a pub around the corner.
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“It’s a home draw for me and I moved to Huddersfield from Hull FC because of home. I had to put my family first and we all wanted to come home, myself included.
“I wanted to get my kids back around their family, their grandparents and my missus wanted to start things in her career too.
“It was the right time for me to move home. I knew I’d have to commute to any club I went to and I’ve a nice little car pool with a few lads who live in my area.”
That car pool includes Andre Savelio and Jake Bibby, plus plenty of arguments – mostly around whether the latter is from Wigan or St Helens.
“He’s from Billinge, so it’s a Wigan postcode but under St Helens Council,” Swift added. “His house is closer to St Helens’ ground than Wigan’s.
“So we give him a bit of stick over that. He doesn’t want to claim he’s from St Helens, even though he’s from the St Helens Council area!”
If Huddersfield are to shock Warrington – and give Rugby Football League chiefs more of a challenge to sell Wembley tickets – Swift is the man who can do it.
A total of 16 tries, including five in the Challenge Cup, in just 12 matches shows his prowess. Going back to Hull FC last year, it is 28 in 23.
But only expect a celebration if his efforts guide Ian Watson’s men to a second showpiece in three years – the thought of angering Burgess is a reason!
The 31-year-old added: “I’m not one for celebrating. I’m very rarely animated – I’ll put the ball down then let all the lads come to me and they do all the singing and dancing.
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“It’s a thing I’ve just got in my head. I’m a big believer in karma and I’m not one of those players who’ll rub it in as there may be a point where I mess it up myself or cost the team.
“I’ve always had it in my head that if I do a celebration, the winger I’m facing will turn around and do what I’ve done to him.
“I may throw the ball up in the air if I score at St Helens, who I had a season ticket for when I was a kid before being the last under-18 to sign a pay-as-you-play deal.
“But Sam’s a big fella, that’s why I probably won’t celebrate if something does happen!”
