Martin Offiah is a major player in Rugby League. Born in London, he first started playing rugby at boarding school in Suffolk. After school he joined Rosslyn Park, but was snapped up by the Widnes coach and quickly rose to fame in the professional game. A top try-scorer in his first four seasons, Wigan paid a record transfer fee for him in 1992. He plays in the Great Britain side, and for Australia in their season.
In this autobiography, Offiah talks openly about the misunderstandings that have fuelled a contrast of emotions in all those involved in the game. His initial switch from Union to League caused controversy, and Offiah describes the criticisms he had to endure.
Martin Offiah is the most famous rugby league player the British game has ever produced. A dazzling runner and lethal finisher, he has scored over 400 tries in nine seasons with Widnes and Wigan, smashing many records along the way both for his club and country.
Not bad for someone who didn't pick up a rugby ball until he was 11 and had never seen a live game of rugby league until he signed for Widnes in 1987 from Rosslyn Park. In an ironic twist Offiah became one of the very few southerners who went North to seek his fame and fortune. After winning every honour in the game he returned to London in 1996 to continue playing league for the London Broncos and to pursue further honours in rugby union with Bedford, the Division Two club owned by Frank Warren.
For all his achievements, he has had a love-hate relationship with rugby league fans, often being seen as too flash and too aloof in a sport which remains predominantly Northern and working class. In his autobiography, Offiah gives a refreshing insight into the Wigan phenomenon, the coaches and the players, including the controversial sacking of the Australian coach John Dorahy after just one season, and the money which flooded in when the Super League and the Australian Rugby League started a bidding war for players.
Offiah tells of his life away from the game, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Lennox Lewis, Ryan Giggs, Mick Hucknall, and appearing in TV soaps, as he contemplates a career outside rugby. There may have been better players but none, in the history of the game, can claim the national recognition that Martin Offiah has achieved.
