London Broncos winger Rhys Williams says he in the right stage of his career to break back into Super League after a five-year absence.
Williams first tasted Super League with Warrington in 2010 as a raw 20-year-old young union convert. The flyer spent four seasons with the Wire, going out on loan to Crusaders, Castleford and Salford, before leaving the club at the end of 2013. After a year playing down under with the Central Queensland Capras for a year, he returned home and joined second-division side London.
Based in the capital for the past three and half seasons, Williams has become a fixture on the Broncos flank and bagged 69 tries in just 103 games. Now at 28, a veteran of two World Cups and Wales’ record international try-scorer, he is primed for a return to the top flight.
“I think I’d be more than well-prepared,” Williams tells The Sportsman.
“Leaving Warrington – I was in and out of the team, it was hard to get a run of games together. When I left the club I just wanted to kind of play rugby and London has enabled me to do that and I’m enjoying my rugby. To stay I’m here, I’m quite happy.”
Williams admits his early introduction to Super League was incredibly fast for a player who grew up in the Welsh county of Flintshire on a diet of the 15-man code.
“I came from a rugby union background. My first-ever game of rugby league was an Under-21s reserves game when I was 18. So I was kind of thrown into that and it was a high level, to then pretty much Super League the year after. It was great, I was at a club where they was just high-calibre players.
“Inside me was Matt King who was an incredible mentor and a great bloke. That made it a lot easier with the people around me. To have Lee Briers who was so influential, it made things a lot easier. It was a good group to be part of at Warrington.”
London and Williams have made a fast start to the Championship this season. The Broncos won their first six games of the season in a row, knocking off Toronto and Featherstone, to lead the competition. But they hit a snag over the Easter period, losing three games straight against Toulouse, Leigh Centurions and Halfiax.
Williams has been of one of London’s best in 2018, crossing for six ties in nine appearances. Little was expected of the club this season, after coach Andrew Henderson and key players William Barthau and Andy Ackers left in the off-season, and no new recruits were brought in. However they remain in the hunt for a top four spot and another crack at promotion under rookie coach Danny Ward.
“Everyone’s buying into what Wardy wants and we’ve just carried on from last year,” Williams explains.
“It’s been a smooth transition from Wardy taking over and everyone’s working hard and you can see the results. We’ve learnt from the previous seasons just how tough the Championship is. You gave to start well and we learnt that last year. We didn’t start well last year and we needed a 12-game run to get that lead back.
“We talked about that in pre-season, about learning from previous years, and we just wanted to work hard and be the hardest working team in the league. Wardy’s made a few tactical changes and worked with the young kids a lot. They’ve really stepped up. It’s a big squad now really.
“We lost only two players last year and didn’t really bring anyone in, so the young kids have had to step up. It’s good to see the likes of Lewis Bienek, there’ll be a few more play this year again. It’s just good for the London lads.”
The Broncos have been in the promotion race for the past two years but failed to get back up to Super League. Williams is confident if they can make the Middle Eights again this year then things will be different.
“We got so close last year,” he says.
“To only lose to Warrington by one point and to Catalans by two points, we played poorly against Fev and got a draw. There’s massive confidence to take from that Super 8 campaign and massive lessons. We’re certainly going to, whenever we play against Super League opposition, we’ll have a lot of confidence.”
The form of their bustling winger will be crucial in their promotion push. Now one of London’s veterans and with an impressive injury-free record of more than 100 consecutive games without a break, Williams is at the peak of his powers.
“Age sort of creeps up on you slowly when you think about it,” he admits.
“But when you see Sammy Harris and the other kids popping up when they’re 20 and you become more of a leader in the team, which I’m enjoying. It’s great to be on that side of things now. My routine stays the same – just to work hard on the little things for me, take care of my body and it’s kind of working. I’ve got no complaints, just keep working hard.”
