THORNLEY DREAM OF CHARGING LEIGH SURVIVAL BID

IAIN THORNLEY was re-wiring a hotel when news broke that Leigh Centurions were back in Super League – now he wants to give his playing career one final spark.

He spent almost a decade as a full-time player after coming through the ranks at Wigan before joining Catalans and Hull KR.

His switch to Championship Leigh at the start of 2019 was part of a move to plan for life after rugby as he started an apprenticeship as an electrician.

But with that almost complete and the Centurions chosen ahead of five rivals to replace Toronto in the top flight this year, the centre has now been given another shot at Super League that he is eager to take.

Thornley (right), 29, explained: “I was on site at a hotel in Manchester when the decision was announced.

“I had to set my alarm to remind me when it was on, and when it happened I was watching it live on my phone on Sky Go. I was helping to wire the hotel and for five minutes I was watching that with my heart racing.

“It was an unbelievable moment – I thought Toulouse would get in. You could see how much it meant to everybody at the club when Sky showed the decision being read out. “We were preparing to do it the hard way this year on the field through the play-offs, which would have been difficult because there’s some good teams with the same goal.” Thornley isn’t underestimating the size of the test ahead of the Centurions, who will receive around £500,000 less central funding than their 11 top-flight rivals.

Thornley added: “It’s a massive challenge, it’s a massive step up and a short space of time to get to that level. But we’re definitely confident and feel happy the hard stuff that we’re doing now in pre-season will get us there.

“We want to make sure we deserve to be in Super League and stay there.”