Wolfpack centre Greg Worthington manages to stay close to home but still see world

TORONTO — A hometown boy, Greg Worthington grew up in Queensbury and still lives in the English village.

“I think if I left there I’d probably get a nosebleed,” he said. “I’ve always lived in that village. I enjoy it up there. it’s a beautiful place so I can’t see myself moving any time soon.”

Yet somehow, Toronto Wolfpack coach Paul Rowley convinced the 27-year-old centre to play rugby league some 5,500 kilometres away from his West Yorkshire base.

As a result, Worthington is managing to see the world while staying close to home.

“Luckily my job has opened it up that I get to come over to a place like Toronto and carry on with my job while staying a bit of a home bird,” said Worthington, whose broad smile is matched by the expanse of ink adorning his chest. “So I’ve kind of got the best of both worlds.”

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Worthington and the first-place Wolfpack (17-1-1) host third-place Whitehaven (15-3-1) on Saturday. A weekend win plus a victory next week over second-place Barrow (16-2-1) will assure Toronto of first place overall and automatic promotion to the second-tier Championship with one game remaining in the Super 8s playoff round.

The Wolfpack roster is essentially English, with a smattering of Australians, New Zealanders and Pacific Islanders. While Australian-born Rhy Jacks and Tom Dempsey are Canadian internationals via bloodlines, Victoria’s Quinn Ngawati is the lone Canadian-born player.

So while the Wolfpack call Toronto home, they live in England. On this side of the Atlantic, they bunk down in what used to be the Pan American Games athletes village — now college residences.

Their families are back in England, with Worthington’s wife about to give birth.

His wife, father and uncles have already made the trip to Toronto with Worthington talking up his Canadian base, from the friendly locals to the nearby beaches.

Listed at six foot and 200 pounds, Worthington is a powerful runner who has helped feed fellow centre Craig Hall and winger Liam Kay for a combined 47 tries this season.

“When he’s good, he’s very good. And he has a big influence,” Rowley said of Worthington, whom he first recruited for the Leigh Centurions.

“He’s definitely a leader. I don’t think he realizes just how influential he can be at times. He’s a consistent performer for us and is very well-respected.”

Growing up, Worthington played for the local rugby league team in Queensbury — a squad he now runs as head coach in his free time.

“They’re all my mates that play there, who I went to school with — the vast majority of them,” he said. “So it makes for a good laugh as well as getting some hours in on the coaching side.”

Worthington joined the Huddersfield academy at 16, coming close to making the first team on several occasions. At 20 he joined Featherstone Rovers in the Championship, scoring 54 tries in 101 appearances.

The last two years of his time with Featherstone were his first as a full-time pro.

“I went to a winning team, a winning culture,” said Worthington. “The lessons I learned from that club were unbelievable. I owe a lot to that club for getting me to this stage of my career.”

After four seasons, he switched to Leigh in 2014 and was reunited with Rowley in Toronto when his contract expired.  

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Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press