2020 Chris Hill Testimonial Brochure

2010 saw Ian Millward take over. I really got along
with Bazil, and in 2011, we’d played Batley on a
Thursday on TV, and we got stuck in traffic. We just
got there in time before it was pulled from the TV
schedule. We won the game despite the poor
preparation and on the way home my agent, Ron Hill
called me.
I was on the pitch after 30 minutes and stayed on for
the rest of the game.
I was still part time at the club and gym and I needed
to make a decision as a father of one, do I find a trade
and do the rugby as a back up?
Ron called, “Warrington want to sign you, tomorrow!”
There was a real sense of urgency about it and it was
a yes from me.
Then Huddersfield called and said they were
interested!
The offer was similar to Warrington but I was invited
down to watch their next game, versus Warrington.
Kathryn and I chatted, and the travel would be an
issue. We wanted to stay where we are for the family,
so I said I wanted to take the Warrington offer.
I met with Warrington’s Neil Dowson at Leigh,
with Bazil, and signed the contract. I‘m sure
Bazil helped shape the move as he was good
friends with Warrington’s head coach, Tony Smith
Soon after, we were to play in Blackpool at the Arriva
Train Cup Final and I was keen to finish the year off at
Leigh. I was loaned out to Leigh for the rest of the
season and we picked that trophy up with a late try.
I was back and to to Warrington for some training while
still playing for Leigh, as I was a Warrington player,
and stood me in good stead for when I was to start the
following year with the likes of Adrian Morley, Garreth
Carvell, Matt King and Mickey Higham, who I knew
well anyway.
So my time at Leigh was over, and the fond memories
I’d gathered, as I headed to Warrington and
pre-season in Australia!!!
Emirates were the club sponsor, so off we
went for three weeks training – and that’s
when I made my Warrington debut. At
Redfern Oval against South Sydney Rabbitohs.
We won which made us world champions in a
pre-season kind of way.
The season started, and I couldn’t break into the first
team. Tony Smith asked me to play in the under 21st
against Huddersfield on a Thursday, just to get some
game time and of course I said yes. The following day
Tony rang me to say Gaz Carvell was ill and would
I fancy sitting on the bench – “YES” was my reply!
We played Huddersfield away the following
Saturday, and I took the bus and sat on the bench,
still aching from the previous game.
That was my first game – and I never looked back.
I started almost a dozen times from the bench then
became a first team starter.
I started in the Challenge Cup Final that year against
Leeds, and Kylie Leuluai knocked me out in my first
carry! I often remind him of that! I couldn’t remember
the first 15 minutes of the game!
I also started in the Grand Final that year, so from
leaving Leigh, to pre-season in Australia, and then
starting in both major finals , my first year was a bit of
a whirlwind.
To cap it off I was selected to join the England Knights
at the end of the year to play France.
But the best yet was to come....