FROM watching Wigan in cup finals at Wembley during their golden era to spending five seasons playing for his hometown club, Martin Aspinwall knows exactly what makes the Cherry and Whites tick.

Sharing a dressing room with club icons like Andy Farrell and Adrian Lam as an up-and-coming centre fresh out of the Warriors’ youth system was initially daunting for Aspinwall, but it provided him with lessons which have benefitted him through his entire career.

These days, Lam is back at Wigan as head coach and Aspinwall is playing at loose forward as Barrow Raiders captain, where he is gearing up to face his former side in this afternoon’s pre-season game at Craven Park.

Even at the age of 37, he will be going through the same meticulous preparations and sticking to the same high standards instilled in him at the Warriors, even if at the time it did not seem like a big deal.

“As a young boy, I grew up watching the club and supporting them at Wembley, and then to train and play with some of those players you idolise is a bit surreal, but at the time, you just get on with it and you don’t really see it like that,” said Aspinwall. “It’s only later on you look at it and think it’s quite a big thing, really.

“The standards are so high; Andy Farrell was a really tough taskmaster and set the bar high, then you had Adrian Lam who was someone I looked up to and probably one of the best men I’m played with in my career.

“The calibre of the players and the standards they set was so high and as a young player coming in, it’s quite daunting at first. You’ve got to gain their respect in a way because your attitude has to be spot on, and if you’re not like that you get found out if you’re lazy or have a bad attitude.

“It set me in good stead for the rest of my career.”

Aspinwall’s time at Wigan was during their relatively fallow period after the turn of the century, with a sole Grand Final appearance in 2003, losing to Bradford Bulls, his high point.

But the past five years saw club stalwart Shaun Wane build on the revival started under Michael Maguire, guiding Wigan to three Grand Final wins and a Challenge Cup triumph.

And Aspinwall believes Wane, Lam and incoming head coach Shaun Edward’s intimate knowledge of the culture at the club is key for them.

“They’ve been entrenched in that club,” said Aspinwall.

“I think previously, there was a dip, maybe when coaches came in and probably weren’t part of the Wigan culture, but then Michael Maguire came in and he made a big difference even though he wasn’t anything to do with Wigan previously.

“Then it’s kicked on with Shaun Wane and now Lam, and probably Edwards in the future. They know the passion in the town because they’ve been there and experienced it, and the players buy into that.”

Wigan’s squad for today’s clash with Barrow features a mix of first-team players and promising youngsters, but Aspinwall knows they will still provide an ideal test for the Raiders ahead of the Betfred Championship opener at Batley Bulldogs a week tomorrow.

“It’s still going to be tough because of the way they train,” said Aspinwall. “Wigan are very professional and train very hard, and everything is full-on there in that environment.”