Clubb pleased with loose forward switch
The return of London Broncos at the weekend saw a change in position for England international Tony Clubb, who played against St Helens at loose forward.
Clubb, 24, has played much of his career in the three-quarters, with a sprinkling of appearances in the back row, but following the retirement of Rob Purdham, is now looking to establish himself at 13.
He told the club’s official website: “I’ve been wanting to change position to loose forward for a few years now and I think it’s a position that really suits me. I admit I was feeling it a bit afterwards but it was the first match of the season and no matter how much training you do in pre season it always takes the first couple of games to get your match fitness back.”
Clubb is a product of the club’s academy set up, and has gone on to be one of its success stories.
Since making his debut off the bench against Bradford in February 2006, Clubb has gone on to make more than 100 appearances for the capital club, scoring 29 tries.
He earned himself a call-up to the England national team in 2008, scoring a try on his debut in the 74-0 win over Wales, and scored four tries in the 2010 Four Nations win over Papua New Guinea.
With fellow academy product Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook now plying his trade at St Helens, Clubb believes that the London production line is in full swing.
He added: “The quality of the players coming through at the moment really is top class. The young lads played really well and the great thing is that there’s loads more coming through.
“You saw the number of former academy players in our team on Saturday as well as Louis McCarthy-Scarsbrook for St Helens. It sends out the right message that if an established member of the team is unavailable these young lads are ready to fill in. They were with us for pre season and they know the roles in the team and the way we play.
“It’s a good time for the young players coming through.”
Londoner Kieran Dixon was handed his debut against St Helens at the weekend, while fellow products Jamie O’Callaghan and Olsi Krasniqi also played in the 34-24 defeat.