Harley enjoyed highbrow lockdown but focus is now on day job
For those of us who spent much of lock down leafing through potp oiler paperbacks, glaze-eyed binging on Netflix and indulging in a Back to the Future triple bill marathon, Glasgow and Scotland for ward Rob Harley puts us to shame.
The 30-year-old, who holds the Warriors’ appearance record and has 21 caps for Scotland, is keen on writing and has a taste for high-end literature as an escape from the more physical exertions of life as a professional rugby player.
Harley explained :“I read quite a lot. It was easy to do because everything was there. I am studying so it gave me the chance to focus quite a lot on the studies. I was reading an Ursula Le Guin anthology of science fiction stories. I read a good book on Afghanistan called No Good Men Among the Living, which I would recommend.
“And during the phase out of lockdown, when we were travelling to Edinburgh back and forth, I thought that was a good chance to use that time as well, so I finished The Brothers Karamazov on audiobook during the time we were travelling back and forth to Edinburgh. Not always cheery, but I found it quite funny. I am trying to write but unfortunately I read a lot more than I wrote during lo ckdown. It’s much easier to read, I guess.
“I’ m studying Classics through the Open University.
“A few of the other players have criticised me for not doing something specific and career-focused but I essentially picked something I was interested in.”
After Dostoevsky’s late 19th century classic which explores themes like God, free will, and morality against the backdrop of a modernising Russia, it is back to the day job for Harley now and a focus this week on making amends for that 30-15 loss to Edinburgh in the 1872 Cup last Saturday.
“We are pretty confident ,” said Harley .“I think there’ s some clear pictures from that game where, early on especially at the breakdown, we made a lot of mistakes.
“You look at the Edinburgh side, it’s a quality side, they have a lot of good players and that has to play into it. For us, looking at what we’ve done, we weren’ t perfect, it’ s our first game of the season, we have some pretty clear things to work on and hopefully we have the chance to redress that on Friday.”