Deon not Cross about taking the long way around
DEON CROSS has finally turned his heartache into a dream chance after nine long years of trying.
Few players get their first sniff of
Super League at the age of 25 but that’s exactly what Salford’s new signing has been given.
And the winger, who was rejected by hometown club St Helens as a junior, is determined to grab his chance with both hands.
He said: “It was heartbreaking at the time when Saints released me.
“It was easy to think that was the end of the road and I’d have to get a job.”
Instead Cross, who had dreamt all his life of playing Super League, returned to the amateur game and vowed to find his way to the top somehow.
His impressive part-time form saw Rochdale pick him up ahead of the 2018 Championship season, with a move to Barrow coming the following year and then the last two seasons he has been at Widnes.
But it’s the rejection by Saints that has helped him finally get his chance to prove himself in Super League with Salford.
He said: “I played two years in Saints’ Under-15s and Under-16s scholarship and I maybe got a bit complacent, thinking I’d get into the Under-19s Academy.
“It was hard when I was told there wasn’t anything for me but everything happens for a reason.
“I feel like that experience matured me as a player. That decision by Saints gave me that bit more drive to prove to myself and everyone else that I could make it.
“If I knew then, as a scholarship player, what I know now, I may have got there sooner. But I’m here now and I’ll never take anything for granted.”
Cross has given up his job as a college sports tutor and is relishing his new life as a full-time professional.
He added: “It’s certainly better than working all day and training at night.
“It’s a massive step up in intensity in training but it’s brilliant, I’m loving it.”
Saints and England star Alex Walmsley (below) was also a late arrival to Super League, as was Warrington’s Matty Ashton, after making their names in the Championship.
Cross said: “Hopefully that shows young lads that it’s not the end if they get released by clubs.
“If you stick at it and keep working hard you can eventually get there. I have now and I’m going to make the most of it.”