Ireland international Gareth Gill has his sights set on a potential move to England in 2016 after breaking into the national side at last month’s European Cup.
The 21 year-old made his full debut for Ireland in the final of the competition, as his country fell to a 30-4 defeat at the hands of Wales.
After switching codes two seasons ago to join the Ballynahinch Rabbitoh’s he never looked back, and eyes a chance in England in the next chapter of his career.
“Every time I speak to someone about going over to play the game in England they always ask what sort of experience I have and as soon as I say that I’ve played for Ireland their ears just pick up instantly,” he said.
“I’m happy enough just to come over and play any level, over here you don’t get the chance to play week-in-week-out whilst if I was in England I would be playing more often.
“The level that I play at honestly doesn’t bother me, as long as I get to play the game more and my mind would never change over getting offered money.”
His rugby league career was just 80 minutes old before he was selected to gain representative honours, as Ulster came calling for his services after a hat-trick on his Ballynahinch debut from prop forward.
Winning the Interpros with Ulster saw him catch the attention of the international set-up, playing firstly for the student side before being drafted into the first team, taking the same route to the full set-up as Irish rugby league legend Brian Carney.
After finding himself lining up alongside Super League names such as Scott Grix and Liam Finn in the Ireland side, Gill believes Irish-born players can learn a great deal from their presence.
“This year there were seven of us born in Ireland and if you look a few years back the teams were made up of Irish heritage players such as Pat Richards and Shannon McDonnell,” he added.
“It’s good now to see a lot of Irish players in the team but obviously we do need those professional players who play the game week-in-week-out.
“Scott Grix and Liam Finn brought so much experience to the team and obviously because I was on such a lower level those guys brought me on so much.”
