Huw Worthington started his rugby career in union, but he has put plenty of effort and plenty of miles into building up his league profile since switching codes, writes MARC BAZELEY.
EVERY Tuesday lunchtime, Huw Worthington leaves his family sheep and beef farm in the Welsh hills where he has spent most of his life to make the four-hour trip to London Broncos’ training base at Rosslyn Park for that night’s session.
He has already been at work on the farm since 6am and will return on Thursday night after their second session of the week ready to weld sheds on the Friday, followed by a quick there-and-back on Saturday and spending the rest of the weekend helping out his parents.
It not only underlines the harsh reality of farming, but also how Worthington has never been afraid to travel to pursue his ambitions in either code of rugby, whether that be trekking to London or Whitehaven several times a week or even heading to Australia to scratch that league itch.
“Probably like every farmer’s son, as soon as I could walk I was outside working, basically,” Worthington said.
“For 85 to 90 percent of my life, I have been based on the farm and then travelled for rugby. It’s all I know, really.
“I don’t think travelling concerns me as much as others because just to get to what I’d call a supermarket is half an hour away, so I’ve been used to travelling my whole life.”
Like many of his compatriots, rugby to a young Worthington meant the 15-a-side code, and Welsh fly-half Neil Jenkins and cross-code star Scott Gibbs were among the players he looked up to before pursuing a professional union career with North Wales outfit RGC 1904, Newport-based regional side the Dragons, and English Championship clubs Bedford Blues and Richmond.
Yet other rugby icons included another cross-coder in Iestyn Harris, the maverick genius Sean Long and hard-nosed prop Adrian Morley, with an interest in league for the No 8 piqued initially by watching Challenge Cup matches on the BBC and then the NRL during the pandemic in 2020.
It was at that point Worthington decided he would finally take the plunge and attempt to switch from union to league, having had it in the back of his mind for some time.
“I’d flirted with the idea a number of times, had a couple of conversations and then probably wasn’t quite brave enough to do it – probably because I didn’t know anyone else playing rugby league,” Worthington said.
“I didn’t have anyone to convince me over the line, but as soon as Covid hit, I got really into the NRL and it was the catalyst. I was due to travel to New Zealand in 2020 to play rugby union, so I’d already decided I wanted to go abroad and play for a bit.
“After I decided rugby league was going to be the way forward for me, I thought I’d wait until the borders in Australia were open and learn to play out there where it’s massive and there’s loads of clubs, and do a bit of travelling.
“I didn’t get out there until mid-2022, so it took a bit of time, but that was how it went.”
After initially training with Newtown Jets alongside the likes of Reuben Rennie, Braydon Trindle and Franklin Pele, Worthington eventually linked up with another great historic name of Australian rugby league in Glebe Dirty Reds in the third-tier Ron Massey Cup.
His Glebe debut saw him partnering former New Zealand international Greg Eastwood in the front row, and he impressed enough to earn a place in Sydney Roosters’ New South Wales Cup set-up for 2023.
Injury, visa issues and family matters saw the prop’s spell with the Roosters cut short, yet the lessons from his time down under have served Worthington well since returning to these shores to continue his league career.
“The culture out there is the players are tough and it’s very much a culture of don’t stop until you can’t give any more because the players are all exceptionally fit and used to playing in ridiculous heat,” Worthington said.
“The first game I played for the Roosters in the New South Wales Cup it was 39 degrees and I thought ‘Christ, this is different from playing at Richmond in February in six degrees’, but it was that kind of culture of never give up and that was something I had to learn as I swapped from rugby union to rugby league.
“It was really good for me and I wish I’d have gone sooner, but I wish I’d have started playing rugby league before I went out.
“But it was a great experience and I was lucky to have landed on my feet to join Glebe and then get the opportunity to do the New South Wales Cup.”
Worthington was soon signed by Betfred Super League giants Leeds Rhinos on his return to these shores following a successful trial, although left without making a first-team appearance after spending three games on loan at Widnes Vikings towards the end of the 2023 season.
A stint with London Broncos’ reserve team was then followed by joining Whitehaven, where the 29-year-old flourished under the guidance of Jonty Gorley and later former St Helens prop Kyle Amor, despite financial issues at the club and a year which ended in relegation from the Betfred Championship.
Worthington is now back with the Broncos and is set to be one of the cornerstones of their pack in 2025 as the capital club begin to rebuild in the Championship, and he returns to the Cherry Red Records Stadium as a fully-fledged Wales international.
Earning his first cap, which now sits proudly on the dresser in the kitchen at home on the farm, in October’s 22-16 win over Jamaica and playing in the ultimately unsuccessful 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign are career highlights in either code for him.
Despite the stars from the nation who have previously ‘gone north’, Wales remains something of an El Dorado for the 13-player code. Worthington, however, is in no doubt that there is plenty of talent there for league to exploit, particularly with union’s current travails in one of its traditional strongholds.
“I do think there is huge potential for rugby league in Wales,” Worthington said. “Rugby union in Wales is at a real crossroads and I think people are a bit disengaged with it.
“[Cross-code great] Clive Griffiths is in charge of Wales rugby league development and especially the younger kids coming through, so hopefully the 16-year-olds will look at it and think ‘actually, there might be a better path to playing rugby league to rugby union’.
“There is a lot of talent in Wales and a lot of it – there’s the M4 corridor and down the south, and everything above Brecon, where I was – is pretty much ignored.
“There is a lot of untapped potential and it only takes one person to switch allegiances, and hopefully a couple more might follow.”
First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 504 (January 2025)
