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Twenty years ago, a Polish primary schoolboy was getting to grips with life in the Northamptonshire steel town of Corby. His parents had moved from Gdansk, giving up successful careers back home to start a new life in England. Young Mikolaj Oledzki had never even seen rugby league on TV – and yet this week the Leeds prop is preparing to play world champions Australia at one of the world’s most famous stadiums.
“Sometimes I still look around and I can’t believe I’m in this position,” he said at Wembley on Tuesday afternoon. “That nine-year-old boy wouldn’t believe it if you said I’d be playing professional sport, never mind at the top of it. I didn’t know what rugby league was.”
How did he feel when England coach Shaun Wane called him up for the Ashes series? “When Shaun rang to tell me to say I’d been selected, I was lost for words. I didn’t know what to say to my partner. I looked at my kids and had tears in my eyes.” Oledzki fills with emotion as he recounts this story, choking up. And who can blame him?
There were times this year when Oledzki feared he would miss the series. Not only did he have nine weeks out with a facial injury but he struggled to return to the levels that had earned him a place in the World Cup squad. Four years have passed since his England debut against France and Oledzki has only played once more for his adopted country: a World Cup group game in 2022 in which he failed to convince Wane that he should feature in the knockout stages.
“It didn’t go the way I wanted to,” says Oledzki, who has been a mainstay of the Leeds Rhinos pack since making his debut eight years ago. “I was very disappointed with my performance. I knew I was capable of more. I was so disappointed that what Shaun saw wasn’t a true reflection of what I’m capable of. So, to be in this position again, included in the squad of world-class players to play against the best in the world – and also to show Shaun what I can handle and he can rely on me if and when the opportunity comes – it’s another pinch-myself moment.”
Wane was in contact with Oledzki throughout the ups and downs of 2025. “What’s great with Shaun is you always know where you stand and there’s no grey areas,” the 26-year-old says. “Everything’s black and white. He’s an honest guy. He tells you what goes through his head. When you’re not playing well, he’ll tell you the things to fix. That’s all you can ask for.”
Oledzki has his aunt and uncle to thank for his rugby league career. When he moved to Corby, his mother (who had been a professional rower and sports coach in Gdansk) and father (who had spent Mikolaj’s childhood working away on ships in the Atlantic) ended up working in unenjoyable factory jobs. Realising there must be better opportunities, they followed Mikolaj’s aunt and uncle – who worked as a doctor and surgeon respectively in Harrogate – and moved to Leeds. Little Mikolaj’s life changed forever.
He has come a long way and is no stranger to overcoming odds. England will be up against it this weekend. They have not beaten Australia since the 1995 World Cup opener at Wembley and they have a diabolical record in London. Australia have played eight, won eight in the city since then. Oledzki would love to change that record. “I’m always grateful for every opportunity that’s come my way. Sometimes I’m even surprised myself when I look around and I think, well, here we are. I can’t believe it. I never want to have any regrets. So when my chance comes, I’m grabbing it with both hands.”
Clubcall: Los Angeles Rams
By Tuesday afternoon, almost all evidence of the NFL game between Jacksonville Jaguars and LA Rams had been extinguished from Wembley Stadium other than a couple of signs on a corporate lounge wall and fading marks on the pitch. But the connection between those two teams and rugby league goes back to the mid-1950s when the Rams general manager Tex Schramm – who later ran the Dallas Cowboys – agreed in principle to allow his Rams players to spend their off-season playing rugby league at the Coliseum. Organisers met with Schramm’s sidekick, Pete Rozelle, to plan it. While the American Rugby League Football Association never got off the ground, Rozelle’s career went stratospheric. He eventually became the commissioner of the National Football League.
Fulham FC – who, like the Jaguars, are owned by Shahid Khan – were involved in the launch of professional rugby league in London in 1980. And Leeds, Halifax and Huddersfield played a pre-season tournament at the Jaguars stadium in 2001. Jacksonville has remained a hub of rugby league in the US ever since, the Axemen winning four national titles.
Foreign quota
While Australia half-back Nathan Cleary was getting ready for the Ashes opener this week, his younger brother Jett was preparing to play for Ukraine against Greece. Half-back Jett is having the month of his young career: he helped New Zealand Warriors win the State Championship and then kicked five goals on his Ukraine debut – a 56-12 win over the Netherlands in Uden 10 days ago. Last Saturday he led them to a comfortable victory over Italy in Udine, watched by his father Ivan, the Penrith boss, and his mum, whose own mother, Maree, was born in a Nazi concentration camp in Ukraine. If Nathan has as good a month as his brother, England are in trouble.
Goal-line drop-out
We will have to wait until the Ashes concludes to find out the dates and venues of the 2026 Rugby League World Cup. The last two men’s spots will go to France or Jamaica (who play off in Albi on Saturday) and South Africa or the Cook Islands (who meet in Sydney on 9 November). Fiji and Nigeria meet in Ottawa at the weekend to play off for the final spot in the eight-team women’s event. Meanwhile the England wheelchair team are now in Australia preparing for their first ever Ashes series under new captain Lewis King.
Fifth and last
Having retired from playing last season, The Last Leg presenter Adam Hills is pushing for a second physical disability World Cup to run alongside the other three tournaments next year in his homeland. “I won’t be playing for Australia at the next PDRL World Cup, but what I can do as RFL president is make sure there is a next PDRL World Cup,” he said. “I’ve had a few meetings in Australia, and with the RFL and IRL. It’s looking really positive. There’s no point just doing it once. It’s really easy for PDRL to be forgotten about. So fingers crossed.”
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