CONNOR BARLEY has admitted that he questioned his career in rugby league before joining Goole Vikings.
The 21-year-old winger has been one of the Vikings’ standout performers since arriving ahead of this season, scoring six tries in his first eight matches and earning a place in Rugby League World’s Championship Team of the Month.
Yet only a few months ago, Barley was contemplating exiting the sport altogether following a turbulent period.
A product of the Hull KR academy system, Barley left the Robins last year in search of regular first-team opportunities.
A move to Featherstone Rovers followed, but the club’s financial difficulties and eventual administration forced him to look elsewhere.
That led him to Goole, where Vikings director James Clark and head coach Scott Taylor offered him a fresh start.
And Barley is now a man on a mission, saying: “It’s been a really refreshing start for me here.
“Playing and enjoying my rugby again was something I really needed.
“Over the last couple of years I hadn’t really enjoyed it as much as I should have and there were times when I felt like things just hadn’t worked out for me.
“But since coming to Goole that fire in my belly is back. I just want to play rugby and play it well.
“I really feel for the boys who had to go through everything that happened at Fev, but for me it ended up being a blessing in disguise.”
Despite being a free-scoring outside back, Barley is no stranger to putting his hand up to do the dirty work coming out of defence.
“I’m just doing my job,” he continued. “A winger is there to score tries, but that’s not really what I judge my game on.
“The stuff I pride myself on is the backfield work, bringing the ball out of our end, getting quick play-the-balls and helping put the team on the front foot.
“That’s something we were always taught at Hull KR. As outside backs you’ve got to do the tough stuff that sometimes goes unnoticed.
“The tries are just a bonus.”