Dewsbury trio eye World Cup glory

Sam Burgess is one of three Dewsbury players set to feature on Saturdays World Cup Final against Australia. Picture: NRLPhotos

Sam Burgess, brother Tom, and Alex Walmsley have all been named in England’s 17 man squad as they aim to become the first British side in 45 years to be crowned world champions.

All four Burgess brothers began their careers at Dewsbury Moor, with Sam and Tom now playing in Australia’s NRL for South Sydney Rabbitohs.

Walmsley started across town at Dewsbury Celtic before joining Batley Bulldogs and then earning a big move to St Helens after a string of impressive performances.

Dewsbury Moor ARLFC and the Irish Nash in Westtown — home of Dewsbury Celtic — are set to be packed to the rafters as current players and supporters cheer on their former players in the showpiece final.

The three Dewsbury lads have been rooming together during the World Cup and Walmsley admits they will be aiming to do the town proud and bring the World Cup home.

Walmsley said: “It’ll nice to have a day to make the town proud. I’ve roomed with Sam and Tom on this tour and we’ve spoken about Dewsbury and the different names back there.

“We’re all very proud about where we come from and it’s great to put the town on the map so to speak.

“I’m sure there’ll be plenty down at Dewsbury Celtic and Dewsbury Moor tuning in come Saturday morning and it would be amazing to go on and finish this job.”

Walmsley was playing for the Leeds Met University side just five years ago but the 27-year-old is now set for the biggest stage of all.

He added: “We can’t be anything less than 100 per cent. Anything less than that won’t be good enough. It will be very tough against the favourites. They are number one for a reason. We have to complete high and it has to be spot on for 80 minutes on Saturday so that we can give a performance of high quality to really test them.

“We have to kick well, chase well but we know we can do this.”

Another Dewsbury son, Mike Stephenson, scored a try when Great Britain last won the World Cup against Australia in 1972.

The Irish Nash in Westtown will be serving breakfasts from 8am ahead of the 9am kick off, while the Dewsbury Moor club will opening at 8.30am.