In-form winger Jermaine McGillvary isn’t thinking about the glory of finishing top of Super League’s tryscoring charts.
All he’s thinking about is helping his hometown club reach a first Super League Grand Final!
McGillvary made it 25 tries for the season with his four blockbusting scores in the 48-10 home Super 8s destruction of Warrington Wolves to move three clear of Wigan’s Joe Burgess in the tryscoring charts.
But even though McGillvary accepts finishing top would be a major accolade, it’s the last thing on his mind.
“I seem to be asked at the start of most seasons if I’ve set myself a target when it comes to scoring tries,” said the 27-year-old.
“The simple answer to that is ‘no’.
“I’m not a winger who’s all about tries. My bread and butter has always been about yardage, my carries and getting us playing on the front foot.
“As long as I’m getting us those quick play-the-balls, then I’m happy.
“Don’t get me wrong, I love scoring the tries, but they’re really just a bonus to the other things I do.
“Like the rest of the boys, it’s all about making sure we do our individual roles well to make us into an effective team. That’s what will ultimately bring us success.
“And right now it’s working.
“When I get onto that pitch, all I’m thinking about is helping us take that next step towards reaching a Grand Final. I’m certainly not thinking about how many tries I’ll score.
“With the way things are going at the moment, we feel we’re capable of going all the way in the competition.
“Our confidence has grown even more with the manner in which we beat Warrington. The feeling within the squad is that if we can do that to Warrington, then we can do that to anyone.”
McGillvary once again produced a man-of-the-match performance in the win over the Wolves, although he thinks some of his teammates deserve a lot more recognition.
“I’ve got one of those jobs where it’s so much easier if the players inside me are doing the business, which is the case right now,” he added.
“I think it’s fair to say that 90% of the tries I’ve scored this year are down to the work of Leroy Cudjoe and Scott Grix, who are both in great form at the moment.
“Leroy, in particular, is absolutely carving defences to bits, and every time I score I seem to be going over to him thanking him for setting me up. A number of times, I’m sure he could ‘show and go’ and score himself, but instead he keeps feeding me.
“And I also think Aaron Murphy should get a lot more credit than he does.
“He’s an outstanding players and the most under-rated I know.
“As well as scoring the tries, he does all the tough stuff at the back really well.
“He keeps on going under the radar, and I just don’t know why, because he’s such an important player for us.”
