Amateur RL: Injured Tagg takes the positives from a hot journey with the Lions

This was despite him having to be wheeled through to the final flight separate from the rest of the squad after an injured ankle, sustained in the first carry of a bruising game against Fiji Bati Residents.

“I complained about my ankle when we landed at Abu Dhabi and they wanted to send me to the hospital there, but after what happened with Lee Postlethwaite, who broke his shoulder and had to stop in Brisbane, there was no way I was missing the flight home.” Reflecting on the tour as a whole, he said: “I’ve never had an experience like it before. It was very hot, way too hot for me. Of the games, I think they went really well.

“I defended well and we’ve done a lot of defending. The teams we played threw the ball about and we made a couple of errors. The Aussies were like running into concrete!”

Despite that, Tagg picked out that game against the Australian Affiliated States as his highlight. One thing was on his mind more than anything. “Rest,” he chuckled. “Seriously, I wanted to see my family, my daughter and my wife. I had a couple of nights where that was really, really tough.

“It was the first time I’d been away from my daughter for so long and a couple of the lads were there for me.

“Everyone got on with everyone which made it a lot better.”