IT’S LOCK & ROLL Fans get a kick out of Sneyd’s trick show
EXCLUSIVE
TOILET roll, a rugby ball and basketball hoop, plus some amazing skills have turned Marc Sneyd into a global star.
The Hull scrum-half is already one of the biggest names in rugby league, as a two-time Lance Todd Trophy winner.
But now sports fans around the world know his name as well, after ESPN asked Hull if they could use film footage of his lockdown antics.
Sneyd, 29, said: “It’s crazy to think about. It’s a bit strange but I’ve just been trying to fill my time somehow in lockdown.”
Sneyd’s first challenge saw him do keepie-uppies with a toilet roll before volleying it clean through a basketball hoop in his garden.
He moved on to forward kicking a rugby ball through the hoop and then – even more impressively – doing it blind with an overhead kick.
But Sneyd was so good that he irritated himself.
He said: “The overhead one went in at the second attempt which annoyed me because that was supposed to be my activity for the whole of that afternoon.”
Sneyd, whose kicking game helped Hull win the Challenge Cup in both 2016 and 2017, added: “Kicking a rugby ball has always come quite easily but the toilet roll one took a while to perfect.”
He has also been kept busy in lockdown by the arrival of baby Phoenix, a sister for two-year-old Maximus.
He said: “If there has been a silver lining it has been the chance to spend more time with my wife Sabrina, Maximus and our new little girl.
“She was born on March 8 so grandparents were able to see her – but only once – she’s two months old now so it’s tough for them.
“But she’s absolutely fine which is the main thing, Maximus is loving that we’re at home all the time and Sabrina has been brilliant.”
Super League is expected to return initially behind closed doors, probably in July at the earliest.
Sneyd said: “We have just got to go with what is best for the sport and more importantly the wellness of the players. People are excited to watch rugby league again but the wellness of the players has got to come first.
“Players are doing their best to keep fit but we cannot have this amount of time off and expect to go straight into a full game of rugby league.
“We will need to do a couple of weeks of contact training otherwise you will see a flood of injuries.”
As long as players are given adequate time to train together as squads, Sneyd says the majority will be okay playing without crowds.
He said: “Fans will be a little disappointed but having live sport back on TV is better than nothing.”
Hull parted company with coach Lee Radford just before lockdown, putting assistant Andy Last in temporary charge.
Sneyd said: “I absolutely love Radders and he did a lot for me so it was a tough one but that’s sport I guess.”