But as time went on my friends were more into rugby and that led me down that path. James Stokes is one of my best friends from school and he went on to play for London Irish, and Max Trimble, who played a lot of games in the Championship for Coventry, was also there.
It was while I was playing age-group rugby for Nottinghamshire and the Midlands that I first got noticed and Leicester wrote me a letter inviting me down for a trial with about 40 other lads. I managed to get picked off the back of that, and I was over the moon because, by then, I had my heart set on becoming a professional rugby player.
Leicester were the biggest and most successful team in England and it was quite daunting knowing the calibre of players in front of me in the back-three pecking order. At one point I worked it out that I was the club's 14th-choice winger. I went from boy to man very quickly, and I am grateful for that because it's just what I needed. But a few other academy lads got chewed up and spat out of that old-school environment.
During my time at Leicester I was sent to Nottingham on loan and had a really enjoyable time playing under Glenn Delaney. I'll always be grateful to him because he played me a lot as a 19-year-old in a really competitive league and that helped me develop as a player. My dad is a Notts County fan so it was also really nice to run out at Meadow Lane, albeit as a rugby player not a footballer.
I played eight LV Cup games for Tigers but once I got to 21 I sensed I would have to move elsewhere to realise my goal of playing in the Prem. I didn't feel like I had the confidence of Matt O'Connor at all, and the old Tigers CEO, Simon Cohen, confirmed as much when I bumped into him by chance a few months ago and asked him the question. I actually got on all right with Cockers (Richard Cockerill), I think he saw the fight in me, but at the end of the day he wasn't picking the backs.
Esta historia es de la edición July 28, 2024 de The Rugby Paper.
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Esta historia es de la edición July 28, 2024 de The Rugby Paper.
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Great that we found a way to win, says Sleightholme
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