RYAN’S TRYING HARD

RYAN ATKINS reckons the reason he scores so many tries is that he can’t pass.

The Warrington centre, 32, went fifth on Super League’s all-time try list at the weekend with his 174th touchdown.

It’s an achievement that he’s rightly proud of and he hopes to climb even higher before he retires.

But Atkins (right) modestly admits that he’ll never go down in history as one of the classiest centres ever.

He said: “Some centres pride themselves on supplying tries but I am not one of the more skilful centres that have graced Super League.

“I am a bit of a brute force kind of centre. I tend to get more tries myself than my winger, but it is something I try to work on. I am not one of the most skilful centres and that’s why I have tended to score a lot.

“But I know what I bring to the team and luckily the coaches I have had appreciate what I do.”

Atkins is 15 tries behind Leeds’ Ryan Hall and 25 behind Keith Senior and Paul Wellens, who have both retired.

Hull KR’s Danny McGuire is out in front with 238.

Atkins, who works as a barber in his spare time, added: “It’s no coincidence that when I started doing things away from rugby, my rugby improved.

“I don’t spend all my time now worrying and stressing about rugby.”