People tend to view me as Rugby League man, but I actually only played for St Helens for two-and-a-half years, the rest of my playing days were in Rugby Union.
At Waterloo I was fortunate to play in the same backline as Will Greenwood, Austin Healey and Paul Grayson and Ireland‘s Christian Saverimutto. Even the ball boy (Ben Kay) went on to play for England and win a World Cup medal!
As a Waterloo player I represented Lancashire and the North and caught the eye of RL scouts. In my final game before switching codes – for the North against the South West – a young Richard Hill scored four tries and Wigan were mad keen to sign him. Thankfully for England RU he did not take up the offer.
I joined St Helens to fulfil a boyhood dream playing for my hometown club and we won a League and Challenge Cup double in 1996.
Then, out of the blue, I got a phone call from North- ampton who’d been trying to sign Scott Gibbs but the deal had fallen through. I was still under contract at St Helens but they were keen to sell me to finance the signing of Paul Sculthorpe.
I went to Franklin’s Gardens for the princely sum of £50,000 – in cash.
I spent three years there, culminating in the Heineken Cup final win of 2000. I was on the bench but never got on which was disappointing. In truth, I felt Northampton never saw the best of me under Ian McGeechan. The way he wanted to play, passing before contact, did not suit my style which was more about ball-carrying and taking on the defensive line – I had been playing prop for St Helens after all!
My arrival at Northampton coincided with the return of the triumphant ’97 Lions and there was a definite clique within the squad. The Saints’ sizeable Lions contingent were allowed to do one thing while the rest of us were left to just get on with it. I think people forget that it was under John Steele that Northampton won the Hein- eken Cup, not McGeechan.
Geoff Wappett is the man who’s had the biggest influence on my career and I’ll be eternally grateful to him.
I first came across Geoff when I left Northampton for Rotherham at the turn of the Millennium. It was difficult times for the club, with relegation from the Premiership followed by all the hoo-ha about us not being allowed back up after winning the league.
After another knee reconstruction I retired from playing and took up coaching Rotherham’s U21 side alongside Geoff. When Mike Schmid got sacked I was offered the 1st XV head coach job but by then I’d decided I didn’t want to be in full-time coaching.
The hiring and firing culture just wasn’t for me. Instead, I moved back to St Helens to pursue a career in selling steel (the closest I got to being called a ‘Man of Steel’) whilst coaching part-time at Sedgley Park.
After three hard but enjoyable years I jumped at the chance of working with Geoff again at Macclesfield. After plenty of ups and downs, winning the league last season and with it promotion back to National One after scoring with the last play of the game at Darlington Mowden Park was a brilliant way to bow out after six seasons.
I’m now coaching my local club Liverpool St Helens after being invited to help out by Ray French, the Voice of Rugby League, and Stan Bagshaw, kit man for the ’97 Lions.
*This article was published in The Rugby Paper on July 20
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