Flower from the Valleys is blossoming with Wigan

Such is Shaun Wane's reputation as a hard taskmaster that, when the new Wigan coach called Ben Flower into his office recently, Flower started racking his brains for what he might have done wrong in his first few weeks at the club.

He need not have worried. Wane merely wanted to congratulate him on his efforts so far and to reassure him that he was very much on the right track.

"I came out of there feeling 10 feet tall," Flower says. It's early in the growth and cultivation process, but he has blossomed since arriving at Wigan.

Born in Cardiff but brought up in Caerphilly, Flower was first exposed to rugby league as a 16-year-old with the Cardiff Demons in the Welsh Conference. "We were taken down there from school," he recalls. "I played a couple of games and took to it straight away."

He played for Wales at Under-18 level but when he began his professional rugby career, it was in union with Newport-Gwent Dragons, where he caught the eye to win Welsh caps up to Under-20s. The seed, however, had been planted.

In 2007, league lured him back when he signed for the Celtic Crusaders. He won his first full Welsh cap the following year and when Crusaders were elevated to Super League in 2010 he was one of a nucleus of "proper" Welsh players. That all ended in tears but not before Flower had made a favourable impression as an all-action second row.

When Crusaders' implosion made them all free agents, the race was on for the homeless players to find new clubs. Wigan, who had already taken on the Crusaders' coach, Iestyn Harris, as assistant to Wane, effectively had their pick of the crop.

They chose Flower and another young Welsh forward, Gil Dudson, and it is fair to say that they are excited by what they've got. "Ben's attitude in training has been superb. He's really kicked on," Wane says. "He's very dynamic. Gil isn't far behind. He just needs a bit of a tweak with his defence."

In pre-season, it is Flower who has run out with the first-choice 17 and might do so again in the first Super League match against Huddersfield on Sunday.

"Coming to a club like Wigan is massive," Flower says. "The first impression is of the professionalism of the place. You've got to be at your best every training session, the competition for places is so strong."

Flower and Dudson represent a new link in a chain connecting Wales and Wigan that seemed as though it had been severed this century. From Jim Sullivan to Billy Boston to Scott Quinnell, there was usually a Welsh dimension to Wigan sides.

Professional rugby union might have largely put paid to that, but the two newcomers are evidence that there are still young players in the Valleys better suited to the demands of league.

Wigan's owner, Ian Lenagan, believes that to be the case and has put his money where his mouth is by setting up an academy in Cardiff, under the aegis of recently retired forward Andy Coley, which is intended to channel the best of that talent to the DW Stadium.

"It's a great idea, because the talent is there," Flower says. "When the Crusaders went under, I felt more sorry for the young players in Wales, who didn't have a target in Super League to aim for any more. Now they have this."

Flower still has a soft spot for his previous club, who have now been rebranded as the North Wales Crusaders, playing down in Championship 1. "I wish them nothing but the best, because the fans in Wrexham were fantastic."

His main priority, however, is to gain and retain a place in the Wigan back row. He and Dudson can be the bridge between the Welsh legends of the past and the next Sullivan or Boston lurking in the Principality.