In profile with: Lee Kershaw

IN PROFILE WITH LEE KERSHAW…

Lee Kershaw was born in Bradford in 1999 into a rugby mad family. His Dad had played rugby when he was a child without ever being professional but it was a real rugby household with his two brothers playing and his sister - who now plays for York Valkyrie. It was a supportive household growing up; “I am a product of people telling me I can do something rather than I can’t.” As a child Lee first started playing rugby union for Baildon and stayed there until the age of 13 with spells also at Skipton & Bingley. 

At around this age Kershaw started playing Rugby League and it was when he was playing for Keighley Albion that his talents were first spotted. In his early years playing he started out as a centre and regularly playing in the age groups up to challenge himself further. 

“When I was younger I played because I enjoyed it, like most kids but when I played I wanted to get better so I would put myself in more situations to train. When I was 14 I went back to Baildon, I used to train but the adults would train after and I would stick around and try and join in a little bit. I was basically playing seven days a week.”

The average day as a teenager was spent going to the gym in the morning before heading to college and then back to training in the evening. By this point he was playing in the Wakefield academy but living in Dewsbury which meant long days and not a lot of time for any other hobbies. Despite joining Wakefield at 15 and well on the way to forging a career as a professional Kershaw says it wasn’t really something he thought about much, 

“You still feel like a kid when you’re playing sports, I still feel like a kid now when I play because it’s the only thing I’ve ever done. When I did go to Wakefield I did the academy but I was up in the first-team by 17. I was training with giants - they were massive compared to me!

“I used to get up in the morning and my mum would take me to training and it was 3 trains back home - those days were so long but I never complained.”

Chris Chester was now the Head Coach at Wakefield and at that point Kershaw was playing with the first team, in between loan spells at Oldham however he says this was a key stage in his development and if he has any regrets it was that he didn’t do the “extras” to “be Super League ready”.

“If I had my time again I would go back and do more - I would do much more and I would have progressed much faster.”

The Super League debut came in 2019 against Leeds Rhinos and it’s a day that Kershaw says he can recall with every detail;

“I remember Chessy (Chris Chester) called me and said ‘you don’t have to come to recovery, just train for the week so you can play’. I remember getting the train there, as I didn’t drive, and it was one of those days where everything worked for me. I scored a try, I made good yardage, no tries came from down my side and I got Man of the Match!

“I remember the feeling of relief more than anything - I've trained all these years to play this one game and after that I knew I had reached my goal and now it was about setting new ones.”

The following years at Wakefield saw the club fighting against relegation but having the opportunity to learn off senior pros in his position Ben Jones Bishop & Tom Johnstone was ideal for his development. By 2022 Kershaw was now playing regularly in the Wakefield first team and then came a call to play for England Knights but unfortunately disaster struck as he suffered from an ACL injury but Wakefield stood by him and gave him a new two year contract.

After spending almost ten years at Wakefield it ended with relegation from Super League which brought mixed emotions;

“I played more but didn’t win more, everyone says I finished the season well but it’s kind of hollow because it doesn’t really matter if you’re losing. For the club it might be a good thing for the long term to rebuild and find the winning mentality again.

“I was shocked that I wasn’t going to stay (after relegation), I spoke to Darrell Powell and the chairman and then there was back and forth and it didn’t happen.”

So, then came an off-season where lots of Super League clubs showed an interest and Leeds Rhinos invited him in to train to maintain fitness however no firm offers materialised. At this point newly promoted London Broncos saw an opportunity;

“London was always one of those clubs that my agent was talking to and then I got invited in for my trial and they were a Super League club which was what I wanted.

“It was a big step though and I said I’m not sure if I’m going to enjoy it, moving away from home and being away from everyone but I’ve been so surprised by how much I have enjoyed it.”

Lee has started the 2024 Super League season in fine form and has scored three tries in his opening 4 games.

Lee is sponsored by Michelle Dodd for the 2024 season.