JERMAINE McGillvary is refusing to believe he has made it as England’s first choice winger, he believes he was ‘garbage’.
And he is not taking anything for granted, especially a place in the squad for what he admits will be his final World Cup chance.
The Huddersfield ace was one of the shining lights of an unimpressive Four Nations, which saw England miss out on the final.
But he has revealed national boss Wayne Bennett told him he would not have had him in his squad based on last year’s performances as the Giants finished bottom of Super League before saving themselves from relegation.
Now he is not getting ahead of himself, despite making the 31-man train-on squad ahead of the mid-season Test against Samoa and the Autumn’s World Cup.
McGillvary said: “For me personally, everything starts again. People say I did well in the Four Nations but I say no as we didn’t make the final or make a great impression. I don’t think I did well, so I start again now.
“First of all, I have to try and have a successful season with the Giants as last year we were terrible and I was inconsistent. I was garbage compared to my standards that I have for myself.
“Wayne had a talk with me about why he picked me. He said he knows what I can do, I just need to believe in myself – after that I had no fear as I had a coach who believed in me, even if I messed up.
“He said, ‘It’s been a hard season for you boys.’ I said, ‘Yeah, I’ve been terrible.’ He then said, ‘I haven’t picked you for what you’ve done for Huddersfield this year. If I was picking on form, you wouldn’t be in my squad but I’ve picked you for what I know you can do and any mistakes you make, I’ll cop it.’
“I haven’t analysed what I did or didn’t do. I could’ve scored 10 tries and played the best game I’ve ever played but did we make the final? No. If I was rubbish and the team did well I’d be more happy for that.
“The World Cup has entered my head in the sense that I’m 29 in May, so if I am to make it, it would probably be my last chance but I know I won’t make it if I’m not playing well.
“There’s only so many times a coach can pick you on what you can do, you have to go out and do it. This year, both myself and the Giants can’t have a year like we did last year. It’s unheard of to get picked in an England World Cup squad when you finish bottom of the league.”
McGillvary and Huddersfield are on a mission to right the wrongs of last year, which saw coach Paul Anderson sacked and replaced by Rick Stone, who has put the players through the wringer in pre-season to boost fitness.
However, he knows that being fit can only take you so far. It is the mental side of rugby league that can be the difference, as he found out when England lost 17-16 to New Zealand and 38-18 to Australia.
Now he hopes to put some of those lessons into practice with the Giants in 2017.
McGillvary added: “England shouldn’t have been chasing a drop goal against New Zealand then we stuck with the Aussies for so long before falling away, yet they weren’t doing anything differently than they were at the start of the game. They waited for us to crack and we did, then they blew us away.
“If a Super League team didn’t score for a couple of sets, they’d be throwing the ball around but the Aussies did the same things – kick long, chase hard and kept the opposition at their end – and kept doing it all game.
“When I came back to Huddersfield, people kept asking me, ‘What was it like playing against them and what did they do?’
“They don’t get bored of doing the simple things. If they’re down on your try line and don’t score for 10 sets, they’ll keep making you defend and taking it out of you before getting you at the end of the game. It takes a good set of players to do that, they don’t make mistakes.”
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