Well… where do I start with this one, it almost feels a bit dramatic with the emotional feelings of sadness I have at the moment but rugby, whether that be league or union has been my life since I was six years old!
With being told I can no longer play the game because of my neck injury I now have to try get used to loving it as much without lacing up the boots and getting stuck in with the lads on a Saturday afternoon. I’ve met some great people along the way, some are friends for life and my closest friends.
Rugby has taught me a lot over the years, things I’ve used off the field like loyalty, dedication and hard work, not to mention the social skills and how to down a pint quickly.
I’ve played rugby with some very very talented lads who have all achieved big things at their respective levels. I’ve been fortunate enough to have been coached by some amazing coaches from getting into union through Tevita Vaikona, being coached by Simon Middleton at Bishop Burton, Junior Tupai at Beverley, Tim Robinson at Scunthorpe and Tomasi Tanumi, Simon Humberstone, Gary Pearce and more recently Mike Umaga at Hull RUFC.
I have always worked hard to achieve goals, some of my best memories in rugby are getting promotion with Scunthorpe to National 2 completely against the odds. At Scunthorpe, Tim taught people how to enjoy what we do and play with confidence giving you the freedom to express yourself, so thank you for that.
Coming to Hull RUFC for me in hindsight was the right move at the right time, with the coaches down here at Hull always making me better showing me how to use the skills I had for the better and finer tune my skills on the game whether that be through endless telling offs or an arm around the shoulder whatever it was it worked in the end. Without this I wouldn’t have got to where I did in the game so again thank you all involved for that!
We started at National 3, got promoted to National 2 North then National 1 with a core of players just over achieving every week and earning our place in the leagues. I’ve formed some great partnerships, especially with my partner in crime in the middle Ali Heard, and friendships along the way, and that is what I’ll miss the most for sure.
Hull RUFC has been a special club for me because of this group and without it I wouldn’t have met my wife Kelly. Playing for Yorkshire and beating Lancashire was a personal highlight for me in my career but number one is playing National 1 rugby with my mates. We earned our spot in that league and while it wasn’t successful in terms of results, nobody can take our achievement away from us!
Thank you to all the players, coaches and people behind the scenes who have made my time in rugby such a bloody good time! I need to find a new outlet now and hopefully that will be in a coaching capacity but we will see!
HULL RUGBY UNION FOOTBALL CLUB 