A Workington man who swapped rugby league for Australian football has helped Great Britain to retain the European title.

Myles Hudson helped the Bulldogs to lift the AFL Europe Championship trophy at the weekend, seeing off Denmark in the18-a-side final.

GB beat France, Croatia and Ireland to reach the shootout for the prize and did enough to retain the silverware after clinching it three years ago.

Hudson, who was born and raised in West Cumbria but now lives in London, was not the only Cumbrian in the squad, with Carlisle’s Michael Sharp also part of the successful side and the pair made it into the Team of the Tournament.

“We were quite confident going into it,” Hudson said.

“There were some extra teams in this year and Denmark were one of them so they were a bit of an unknown quantity, although we knew they were a good team.”

The 29-year-old is a former Elbra Rangers and Salterbeck Storm rugby league player, as well as an amateur footballer, who started playing Aussie rules while he lived in Manchester after finishing university in Newcastle.

The sport stuck with him and he now captains Wimbledon Hawks in the AFL London, which hosted the competition last weekend.

Next up for Great Britain in 2020 will be the Australian Football International Cup in Melbourne next year and Hudson will hope to be selected for his national side and make that trip with a view to improving on their fifth-placed finish last time out.