Wigan's Joe Greenwood admits he feels the pain after chopping logs at parents' farm

JOE Greenwood has been putting himself through the pain – by helping out on his parents’ farm.

And the Wigan man admits chopping up a ton of logs left him feeling more sore than some rugby league training sessions.

Greenwood also has other reasons to curse the coronavirus outbreak – he would be in his new home in the Saddleworth area of Greater Manchester otherwise.

It also robbed him of his debut for Leeds, the club he supported as a boy, during a loan spell because HE had symptoms similar to Covid-19.

The back-rower, who has also found himself doing landscaping at the home of partner Stephanie Rice’s parents Julie and Keith, said: “It’s quite hard work chopping logs with an axe, especially when you fill a ton bag of them.

“I was sore after that, more than after rugby training!

“It’s been a bit of both physical and rugby training. After chopping the logs into small pieces, I was passing them into the bag like I would a rugby ball.

“And I’ve been helping out at my missus’ parents house doing some landscaping just to pass a bit more time while I’m also doing a post-graduate course in things like business leadership and management.

“But the purchase of our house nearby is still going through!

“All the paperwork was sent to the solicitor but everything shut down. We’re nearly there now, though, and hopefully we’ll be in in the next couple of weeks.”

When, or if, rugby league gets back up and running again, Greenwood will be after time on the field after dropping down the pecking order at Wigan.

He thought a two-month move to Leeds – whose shirt he wore as a kid growing up in Saddleworth – would give him what he wanted.

But after being told he would play at Catalans Dragons, he fell ill and the symptoms made it look like possible coronavirus.

The trip to France was off, the game was off, after that rugby league was off and the hopes of realising a childhood dream were off.

He added: “In the week before the Catalans game, I came down with a fever and the first reaction was, ‘It might be coronavirus.’

“I didn’t feel right and at first the doctor asked for paracetamol and checked me over – my temperature was through the roof and I started feeling worse and worse.

“I had a swab test, which eventually came back negative, but Leeds had decided they weren’t going to go to France.

“Before then, I was told on the phone I was going to make my debut but even if I didn’t fall ill, I don’t think they’d have travelled anyway because of the situation.”

After seeing a move to his boyhood club turn sour and returning to Wigan without playing a game for Leeds, Greenwood is not bitter.

In fact, he feels it made him a more rounded player, insisting: “I learned quite a lot, it was a different culture and a different environment.

“It was a life learning experience too and I’d like to think I fitted in there well. It was a good challenge.”

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