Unsung hero Bruno should inspire us all

MICHAEL Lawrence is one of the unsung heroes of not just the Huddersfield Giants – but the Super League in general.

His professionalism and the way he lives his life is an example to all Rugby League players.

Even when he was a youngster, he trained harder than anyone else.

He’ll probably put that down to former New Zealand international Paul Whatuira. He trained alongside him and made sure he trained at 100mph – and Michael carried that on.

He’s worked hard and played a lot of games – I was in the same team as Michael when he signed.

I remember his debut, against Warrington, and he was this skinny young kid and played as an outside back. He’s done what I did during my career, he’s moved into the centre of the pitch, bulked up and made himself into an excellent forward.

He was probably a bit quicker and bit more skilful than I ever was, but he’s an absolute unit in the middle.

I don’t think there’s enough emphasis on the Huddersfield lads we’ve had in the side and I think it’s great he’s got his reward with a testimonial against Bradford Bulls and I think it’ll be interesting to see how that game goes.

It’ll be a great opportunity to see how the lads look for 2019, but also to recognize Michael’s achievements as a servant to the club.

Bruno is one of these players who just worked harder than everyone else on the field and maintained a supreme professionalism as a player.

I do remember one main game, against St Helens at the last ever fixture at Knowsley Road. He left Francis Meli for dead, kicked the ball on the outside and looked like an absolute superstar. I’ll always remember that game because I’m not sure where he pulled that one from!

He’s always had skill and ability, but he’s not really been able to use it in the middle over the past few years.

He’ll always have my respect for what he’s done. I don’t think there’s anyone like him, he’s never put a foot wrong.

I think younger players have to look up to these lads – Michael, Leroy Cudjoe, perhaps myself and in the future Jermaine McGillvary – for inspiration, not just to Rugby League but to people from the town. We are starting to retain internationals and top-level players for the whole of their careers.

I’ve been looking at our scholarship players this week and I saw 80 kids, some of the best players in the region, feeding through our Academy system and this is a far-cry from the past.

We are starting to bring these players through ourselves and not losing them to biggest clubs.

They want to be there, coached by excellent staff like Andy Kelly, Luke Robinson and Steve Hardisty.

We’re going in the right direction and we’re starting to open a few eyes and be recognised for what we’ve achieved.

The future is really bright, shown by our academy side reaching the last four last year.

I think one of the things I’ve taken out of Rugby League was a sense of belonging and community, that’s why I spent my career here because I wanted to give something back to my own town.

I think this is important on the field but also to the fans.

We need to engage with people and tell them that this is your team, a team of local lads fighting for Huddersfield.

We need to engage with community to bring more people down to the Stadium and it’s easier to do that when people know that we’re bringing local lads through the ranks and building them up to the International ranks.