Hull Kingston Rovers forward James Donaldson has revealed his gratitude towards the club after helping steer his career in the right direction.
The Cumbrian forward endured relegation with Bradford Bulls in 2014 before making his switch to Chris Chester’s side.
It was a switch that the 24-year-old remains grateful for having established himself as a Super League player following his 26 appearances last season.
“I came to this club on the back of not a bad year at Bradford, but not the most positive and I think here, my career has taken off into the direction I wanted it to,” Donaldson told The Hull Daily Mail. ”
“Again, I’m 100 per cent grateful for the opportunity here and I’ve had to come here and prove myself.
“I’ve said before that I came here at the bottom of the pecking order.
“I wasn’t going to be playing week in week out, I knew that.
“I knew in myself what I’m capable of and I can prove people wrong, I’ve done that.
“I’ve worked hard from day one to prove my point and the hard work has probably got me in the team almost every week.”
Donaldson was part of a huge overhaul in the playing squad last year, with numerous arrivals entering the fold ahead of their Challenge Cup final season.
Inevitably, such a big change in personnel can have an undesired effect, however Donaldson insists he felt at home from the very start.
“To bring that many players in last year and to have that bond that we had from the start of the season, it just seemed to fall into place.
“There’s no idiots in the team, we walk in and there’s not one person you can’t have a chat with, everyone’s best mates.
“But you can see what that’s doing on the field during games.
“We settled into it during the middle 8s and hopefully we can continue that rock going into next season.”
