Young Grasshopper mastering his game

Preston Grasshoppers have benefited this season by the presence of the exciting young scrum-half, Nathan Fowles. Signed on a dual registration with his parent club Sale Sharks, the 18-year-old has had a season of highs and lows, as he told me this week.

Pic: (c) Aviva Premiership

Nathan, you’ve been the regular scrum-half since joining the club in the summer. How has the season panned out for you personally first of all?

Well my main reason for going to the club was to get experience at an open age level, at a reasonable standard. Obviously Preston being in National League Two is quite a decent standard, and with the past players who have been at the club, I thought it was a really good opportunity to better my ability and gain more experience.

You joined them in the summer. How did that happen?

I’m dual contracted with Sale and Preston. I train every day at Sale with the first team there, and then train a couple of times a week at Preston, and play for them on a Saturday, unless I’ve got a game for Sale on the Monday night.

You were out with a bad injury for a while earlier in the year. What happened there?

We were playing Luctonians away, and it happened in the first ten minutes. I broke a bone in my foot, and was out for about three months. I missed all of Sale’s A League games. It was a pretty bad time to get injured, but it’s not been too bad since I’ve had the injury. Things have healed up, and I’ve done quite well.

Was that the worst playing injury you’ve had?

It’s the longest I’ve been out. It’s very demotivating going into training and doing the same thing every day, you just feel like you’re getting nowhere. But then eventually it all comes together, and you’re back fit as if nothing’s happened.

Does coming back from injury affect your mental approach to playing?

I was playing really well before I did it, my confidence was high. With the physios and medical staff at Sale, they ease you back into training and just do what you’re comfortable with, so it didn’t really phase me that much. I just listened to them and they said it was fine. I thought that if it’s fine to them, then it’s not going to worry me, so I just got on with it. I’ve seen cases of lads at Sale who have got really down and really wary, but no, I was fine. Sometimes an injury can affect your game, but the way Sale are run, they have the highest quality medical staff, and they rehab you until everything is perfect and back to normal. 

You were part of the Sale Academy at Myerscough College for the last couple of years, how well did that time bring you on as a player?

Massively! I remember when I started at Myerscough I was the third choice scrum half for Lancashire under 16s, never got a start with them, and by the end of my time at Myerscough I had played for North of England, played in the divisional festival to go into the England squad, played for England Colleges, got a contract at the Sharks, and played for the Sale Jets. My career escalated in such a short period of time. I wasn’t academic at school, I was more practical, so for me to go there and do rugby and learn about sport was just the perfect combination really.

Pic (c) Lancashire Evening Post

And since you’ve returned from injury, you’ve made your Sale Sharks debut, away at la Vila in the Amlin Challenge Cup. How was that experience?

It was incredible. To do it in my first year at the club was beyond what I had expected, and also beyond what a lot of people had expected of me, so it was quite nice to prove to myself and others who have watched me in the past and helped me to get to this stage that I am good enough, and I’m heading in the right direction. It gave me a lot of confidence, because it was only two weeks after I had come back from the injury. I had played one game for Hoppers and then I was picked for that one, so I couldn’t believe it really.

And how did that call-up come about?

I honestly don’t know, I remember sitting in a team meeting, and it was just another squad being read out to the players. I didn’t expect it, I was just thinking I was going to be playing for the Hoppers at the weekend, and when I heard my name read out, the staff told me to go and find my passport. The way I thought about it was that they wouldn’t pay for me to go over there if they didn’t think I was capable and worth keeping at the club and having a future there. It was good for my confidence because although I get reports after games, I don’t know whether I’m going to be staying for the next five years or what. It’s good to know that I’m in their thoughts.

So how long are you contracted at the Sharks?

It was originally a year, when I left Myerscough, because I had ambitions of going to UWIC university, but the club have offered me an extension for twelve months, and I’ve accepted that now, so I’ll be at Sale until March next year. A lot of the lads the same age as me are going to be there until the same time, so the club have to decide whether they are going to offer me another contract, and I have to think about where my future goes from there.

So is your plan to stay at Preston next season then?

I couldn’t tell you, it depends on how Sale think I’m developing, if they feel it’s right for me, and if I think it feels right for me. We might agree that it is right for me, because I do get on with all the coaching staff and all the lads down there. I’m enjoying my time playing for Preston, but Sale might turn round and say ‘we want to push you a bit more’ so might take me to a higher level. I’m more than happy at Preston though, it’s a great place to play, the way they’ve boosted my profile and all that they do for me, I couldn’t appreciate it more.

Preston have had a decent season by their own standards have they not?

We’ve had some good results over the season, with players playing really well. Everyone has blips in a season but we’ve come into some good form and the lads work really hard down there.

And are the club aiming for a play-off spot perhaps?

We just have to see how the next couple of games go. With it being the back end of the season, injuries might take their toll, but we’ll see how it pans out because we’ve got a good squad. Even the second team are doing really well in their league, we’ve always got players pushing the first team lads for their spot so it’s a good sign for the future.

Finally, playing alongside a rugby legend like Sean Long, at a club like Preston Grasshoppers, is that all a bit surreal?

I remember as a youngster I used to watch rugby league more than union, and I actually had a season ticket at St Helens with my granddad, so we watched the home matches, and now playing alongside someone that I watched for years as a kid growing up is a bit of a surreal experience, but it’s the same sort of scenario as my first day at Sale. Training with the first team, that was unreal as well, having watched them from being young. I think it just becomes a friendship really, and it’s just like having any other friend eventually. It’s just a bit strange the first couple of times.

2011/12 Season Stats (as of 2 March 2012)

Appearances:

Sale - Amlin Cup 1 (1 x sub)

Preston  - 11

Scoring:

Preston – 6 tries