KRUISE A PRETTY BOY THEN! Leeming the model pro on and off pitch
MODEL professional Kruise Leeming could have been lining up for Warrington rather than Huddersfield tomorrow had his career taken a different turn.
The talented hooker – who spent part of the winter showcasing designer clothes instead of his Giants No. 14 shirt – had a season with Warrington as junior.
Leeming was signed by the Wolves as a teenager but saw his chances there limited by injury.
He explained: “I played one game for Warrington, but then I went to an England camp and dislocated my shoulder.
“I needed to have an operation on it and they never really got a chance to see me play properly.
“It’s a good club with a good culture and I enjoyed my time over there. But I’m happy with how things turned out and I’m loving it at Huddersfield.”
Leeming – who was born in Swaziland, southern Africa, then moved to Halifax at the age of three – has caught the eye with his quick- fire darts from dummy half.
And he has added another string to his bow with a modelling stint for clothing company JMR during the close season.
He explained: “I got a direct message from them through Twitter saying that they were launching a new clothing range and asking if I’d be interested.
“The guy had started up his own business and wanted a good-looking lad, so he asked me!
“The lads have been digging me about it, but it’s good to have different experiences.
“I wouldn’t mind getting into it a bit but I’ve got to concentrate on rugby first, things like that just come off the back of it.”
Huddersfield go into tomorrow’s game without a win in seven and with the focus turning on coach Rick Stone.
Leeming said: “I’ve had some inconsistent games to be fair. I’m had some really good ones and some not as good.
“For me to keep moving forward I need to find that consistency – I want to get to the stage where the difference between my performances isn’t that great. “A big thing for me is that if I was playing in the 19s or for a ‘dual reg’ club then people would look to me for the big plays all the time. “But here we’ve got England players around us – and sometimes I just need to let them do what they’re good at. “Some matches I can go through and just give good service off the floor and make my tackles and that will be good enough for the team. “It’s fair to say we’ve been inconsistent generally and that’s why we’re at the lower end of the table. “We’v e be en u n l u c ky wi t h injuries, and in a couple of games, but we know we can do better.” Leeming is expecting a significant challenge from a Wolves team also looking to claw their way up from the bottom end of the table. He added: “We always knew tha t War r i ngton would come good. “They’ve had a couple of players out as well but when they’ve come back in they’ve started hitting form. “We don’t want to help them kick- start their season by beating us.”