THE crossover from rugby league to rugby union is becoming more closely intertwined as stalwarts of both codes mix ideas.
The likes of Shaun Edwards, Andy Farrell, Mike Forshaw, Martin Gleeson and Jon Clarke are just some of those that have made their name in both codes – at both playing and a coaching level.
One man who has never ventured into the world of playing professional rugby league is 37-year-old Mike Brown.
Brown, who has made his name in the 15-man code for the likes of Harlequins, Newcastle Falcons and Leicester Tigers, has 72 England caps to his name.
But, being from Southampton, he didn’t really have the opportunity to play rugby league despite a ‘tempting’ offer from the rugby league side he supports.
“From a young age, I’ve loved rugby league and I still do now,” Brown told League Express.
“My team is Wigan but I don’t know why, probably because they were successful whenI was growing up and I enjoyed watching them win with the great players they had.
“I never really had the urge to go and try play league as I was from the south so there wasn’t really much option to.
“The only time that made me think (about joining league) was after an England game in 2013 or 2014 and a lot of the Wigan staff came and watched because Andy Farrell was a coach back then.
“So there was Kris Radlinski, Shaun Wane and a couple of others and they said if I ever fancied playing league then to give them a call which was nice seeing as I’m a Wigan fan.
“It was tempting because it was Wigan, but I was playing for England then and everything was going well.
“Apart from that not really but I think it’s more down to the options in the south, I was more of an enjoyment spectator wise rather than playing.”
Brown did spend some time with Super League side Leeds Rhinos in the first half of 2022 in a bid to gain some vital experience for when he does hang up his playing boots.
And the 37-year-old was mightily impressed with what he witnessed.
“As part of my transition in getting ready to hang up my boots, I was getting into different environments in elite sports.
“Longy (Sean Long) was a coach then, but the season before, Longy had been a coach at Harlequins and he invited me to observe the environment, sit in meetings and watch them train.
“It was really interesting, it was interesting because they had been going through a really rough patch. I thought I would go in and sense an environment where their heads were down and low in confidence but there was a good buzz about the place, everyone trained hard with a good energy.
“I said to Longy after ‘if you get one win you will be fine and it will roll on from there’ because the environment – which I believe feeds into everything – really impressed me and they got to the Grand Final. It was an interesting trip.”
When asked about which players could potentially make the move into league, Brown was adamant that Owen Farrell would make it in the 13-man code.
“The easy one would be to say Owen Farrell because he has grown up watching it. He could very much step into that playmaker role, there isn’t too much difference there so Owen stands out.
“George Ford grew up watching it and could cross over.”
