It was early 2018, and the Raiders coach had a keen eye on two prospects from Wigan - Ryan Sutton and John Bateman.

The pair were in town for the first ever English Super League match on Australian soil, and the Cronulla Sharks were already circling for their signatures.

But coach Stuart had a plan. He told the pair to meet him and recruitment boss Peter Mulholland at the Marulan truck stop, almost halfway between Sydney and Canberra.

This was not the glitzy eastern suburbs of Sydney, and was roughly 17,000km from the working-class streets of Wigan.

"It was the weirdest place I've ever been to," Sutton recalls.

"We sat down, I had some cheese and ham toastie and it was the worst thing I ever had. I don't think it was ham, I don't know what it was, processed meat or something. It was my first experience at a truck stop."

Bateman was just as repulsed by the fare on offer, but couldn't have been more impressed with Stuart's vision.

"It were literally in the middle of nowhere, we were driving and I said to Sutto 'Mate where are we going', I did not have a clue, and we pulled into this dingy service station," Bateman said.

"He just told us what the club were about and what direction they were going in and what he wanted from us. We both went away from that meeting and we were pretty blown away with where the club were going and we were pretty impressed with Stick as well."

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There's a saying in England that you've done nothing in rugby league until you've proven yourself in the NRL, and this opportunity was too good to refuse for Sutton and Bateman.

They followed in the footsteps of Josh Hodgson and Elliot Whitehead, and were joined by George Williams at the start of this season. Williams' arrival reunited the band of Wigan Warriors - he, Sutton and Bateman all played in the club's 2016 and 2018 English Super League triumphs.

A town in England's industrial north, Wigan grew into a rugby league hotspot late in the 19^th century long before the sport was introduced to Australia.

Sutton and Williams were both born and bred in the Wigan borough, while Bateman is a hard-nosed Bradford boy who crossed the testy Yorkshire-Lancashire divide in 2014, much to the chagrin of unforgiving Bulls fans.

Even today this is a hard-working corner of Britain. Long hours are common, thrift is necessary and winters are still harsh.

It's why Bateman sparks so much fear into much larger opponents. It's why Williams is tough as a prop, despite wearing the number seven jersey.

And it's why Sutton has all of a sudden become impossible to drop from the starting 13.

He missed the big games in Canberra's run to the grand final last year, and was forced to watch that heart-breaking loss to the Roosters as a spectator but he's vowed to not let that happen again.

"Missing out on a big game or big few games towards the back end of the year...if anything it's probably given me a kick up the arse to try and make sure I'm not in that position again," Sutton said.

"It's really given me a real focus and a real direction this year to try and get there again. I don't know if over the last few games that's what's been happening but it's just not taking any game for granted.

"Canberra's been a really good home for me. I ended up meeting my girlfriend over here, I don't think I'm going to go back home any time soon. I've been enjoying my time over here, and just been enjoying playing rugby over here as well. Every week is a real test and you just want to make yourself a better player."

Sutton hasn't been back to the Marulan truck stop.