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Reilly Picked for Ireland Training Squad

Dewsbury Rams are delighted to announce that Martyn Reilly has been chosen for the Ireland training squad ahead of the 2021 World Cup.

Swinton Lions head coach Stuart Littler heads up the Irish team and has picked 37 players to join up for the training squad. One of those is our very own 23 year old Martyn Reilly and he was ecstatic when he heard the news.

On reacting to the announcement he said: “I am really proud, obviously it is something that everyone aims to do in the game to play on the international stage. I am not all the way yet to being picked for the world cup squad, but it’s a big step forward for me and a huge positive.

“I was five days off of me going in for my ACL operation this time last year, if you were to tell me then that in a years time I would be picked for the Ireland training squad, I would have laughed at you.

“My granddad on my dad’s side of the family is Irish and with the name Reilly spelt like it is, I thought it would look good on the back of an Ireland shirt. My granddad was buzzing when I told him, he was happy. It took a long time to find his birth certificate to prove my Irish heritage, however it all makes up for all those hours of searching to find it.

“I am not really thinking about going forward, I am not putting any pressure on myself really. There are some big players in there who play for some big teams and so to have Dewsbury Rams name alongside them is great it, looks good.

“It is great for me and I am proud to have got this far, and if then I am chosen for the squad to go to the world cup I would be ecstatic. However to just get to this stage I am happy, and all I can do is go and train, meet the lads and get a few run outs and then see where it goes.

“You just have to enjoy these experiences because this time last year I was asking my surgeon if I was going to play again. I am still not where I want to be and I can still progress on the field, but with having time off in the off season I am getting stronger and faster and getting back to where I want to be.

“Obviously I will be around some good players and a new coach, every coach will tell you, they all have a different way of teaching. You pick different things off of different people and it’ll be good to be in a different environment so the only way I can look upon this is a real positive. If I make the squad then great, but if I don’t then oh well it has been good whilst I have been in it, and you just go again for next time.”