MATTY English hopes to turn a photograph into real life by following in Chris Hill’s footsteps.
A decade ago, the Huddersfield prop posed for a picture with the then Warrington star he looked up to.
Huddersfield’s Matty English admits he is learning from veteran team-mate Chris HillSWPIX.COM
Now they are team-mates at the Giants, he knows what has made Hill so good for so long and is taking it into his own game.
Only with the added ability to pay for a coffee.
English, 26, said: “Chris has been there and done it all. He’s more of a mentor, he leads by his actions, so you get on the back of him.
“He’s a competitive guy. If you’re at the side of him in a training session, he wants to beat you and that brings the best out of you. Everyone ups their game when he’s around.
“It’s taught me about what it takes. Little things like how he prepares, it’s an insight into how he’s done it for so many years.
“It’s funny, I had a photo with him a few years ago and I thought, ‘Who’s this guy? Big Chris Hill.’ To be playing alongside him is crazy. Watching him play for England, I always wanted to be a Chris Hill.
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“I must’ve been 15 or 16, so it was a long time ago and it was away at Warrington, I went as a fan.
“So it feels a bit surreal to be sitting beside him having a coffee – he never pays though!”
While Huddersfield are bouncing after four straight wins, St Helens are trying to get back to their best after successive defeats were followed by a 58-0 thrashing of hapless Hull FC.
‘Honest conversations’ were had between boss Paul Wellens and his players after the Challenge Cup passed them by.
Hill, currently out injured, is proving a great example to English and his team-matesSWPIX.COM
Now they only have Super League to focus on, they are ready for Huddersfield, who are definitely not ‘boring’ and have a friendly foe in Super League’s top try scorer, winger Adam Swift.
Wellens said: “They’re a team in form. One that’s playing well and has its confidence back. Not just the team but individuals are playing with confidence again.
“They make themselves very difficult to beat first and foremost. Get that right and they’ve individuals who can trouble you.
“I wouldn’t class them as boring and Swifty’s done brilliantly. He’s good friends and keeps in contact with a lot of us. I’ve been delighted to see how his career’s progressed.”