The Big Interview: Jason Robinson

BY ROSS HEPPENSTALL

JASON ROBINSON is sat talking about his Jamaican heritage at Emerald Headingley, where his Jamaica side face England Knights on Sunday, and not far from where he grew up.

Born in Leeds to a Scottish mother and a Jamaican father, Robinson’s ancestry clearly matters to the legendary former winger.

Earlier this year he was invited onto the newly-created Super League Man of Steel panel before becoming Jamaica’s joint operations directors with Rugby AM’s Alex Simmons.

After a glorious career in rugby league and rugby union, helping to drive forward the Reggae Warriors as a serious force is motivated by several factors, not least paying back to his roots.

“It’s who you are and it’s important that we know that,” says Robinson, one of most successful cross-code players of all time.

“If you don’t know who you are, and where you come from, then how are you going to pass it on?”

Robinson’s biological father William Thorpe, a Jamaican living in Leeds, abandoned him before he was born.

As Robinson recounted in harrowing detail in his 2003 autobiography, he grew up in some of Leeds’ toughest districts with a violent stepfather who would beat his mother.

The scars of that harrowing childhood will probably never fully heal but around nine years ago the 45-year-old met his father for the first time.

Robinson adds: “My dad wasn’t there for me but it’s important that I pass my family heritage on to my kids.

“I said to the missus ‘we need to get to Jamaica’ because the fact I’m 45 and have never been there is ridiculous really.

“Getting involved with the rugby league team is a personal thing and also something I feel I have to give back to.

“It’s quite important for us all and I am one of quite a few people within the Jamaican set-up who needs to explore that. I think it’s important for everybody.”

Thorpe still lives in West Yorkshire, as does Robinson, who says: “Do I see my dad now? Not that much to be fair, but I’m sort of fine with that.

“That sits alright with me in terms of there are some things that are maybe not meant to  be on a level that you want, so that’s fine.

“One of the key things for me was meeting him and I’ve kind of answered a lot of things in my own head, which has helped me to move on.

“I never had him in my life for thirty-six years so if you’re never had that then you’ve never been reliant upon it.

“In many ways you don’t miss it the same when it’s not there because you’ve never had it.

“You never know… things change and things might change for the better.

“You just never know do you? He’s not too far away, so it’s just one of those situations.”

Despite appearing to keep his father at distance, Robinson is clearly proud of his Jamaican heritage and has revelled in being part of the Reggae Warriors.

Robinson explains: “I’m half Scottish and half Jamaican, so I’ve come full circle in a way.

“I grew up in Harehills and Chapeltown, parts of Leeds with a Caribbean community and quite deprived areas as well, and I look at my journey now after doing some amazing things in rugby.

“I spent ten years in rugby league, won sixteen major trophies, and then switching to rugby union and playing in World Cups for England was just amazing.

“I’ve been retired for 12 years and when you’re playing, you just look forward but now I have the opportunity to look back.

“If I could achieve what I did, then how many more kids could there be from Harehills and Chapeltown who have a talent and may even get into rugby league?

“Being involved with Jamaica is great for me because as a young lad we all like to identify with someone.

“I looked at guys like Ellery Hanley and if you’re a black kid and you see a black man in a team then it’s something you can relate to.

“I think it’s so important for rugby league – we talk about diversity now – and there are players at Super League with a Jamaican and Caribbean heritage.

“We need to tap into that market. You go to a Leeds Rhinos game and you’ll see very few black people in the stands.

“How far are we away from Harehills and Chapeltown? A couple of miles if that.

“There is a disconnect but we want to bridge that gap and let people know that rugby league does exist and some of the top players are Jamaican.

“Some of the top players you can see at Headingley are within a short bus ride away from the Caribbean communities in Leeds.”

Robinson is clearly passionate about Jamaica, who secured a place in the 2021 Rugby League World Cup with a famous win against the United States last autumn.

Robinson is looking forward to helping promote the emerging nation’s league profile as they prepare to play the Knights at Headingley on Sunday.

The fixture will provide the Reggae Warriors with their stiffest test yet but also offer the side chance to promote itself around the areas where they will feature when it comes to their maiden World Cup in two years’ time.

Robinson says: “We’re going to be going into the schools, we did some stuff on Thursday with the team, and we were in and around the West Indian Carnival in Leeds during the summer.

“We were getting into the community and saying ‘these guys have qualified for the World Cup in 2021. Come and get behind us, come and watch us and see what rugby league is all about’.

“I’ve been speaking to some of the guys about what Jamaica will bring to the World Cup when it comes around – the carnival, the colour and the music.

“It’s a great sport and an exciting sport, so why wouldn’t you like it?

“First of all, you’ve just got to let people know that it exists because there is a lot more else out there to catch people’s attention.

“We’ve got to make it accessible for all, not just here in Leeds or in the UK but we want to take the players to Jamaica next year and play over there.

“Also, for them, it’s an opportunity for the players to find out about their heritage.

“I was brought up as a Scot, my mum was Scottish, and I obviously didn’t know my dad.

 “I was brought up with the Scottish culture but I’ve never known the Jamaican culture and that’s why I’m so keen to go there.

“Alex (Simmons) is the same. We’ve got these roots but we’ve not really tapped into them.

“One of our targets next year is to take the boys to Jamaica and help strengthen the game over there by playing and coaching.

“There is an emotional connection there for us all. We are just trying to engage with the community and sponsors, to build on what Romeo Monteith (head coach) started fourteen or fifteen years ago in Jamaica with a bag of balls and cones.

“To get to where they are now is brilliant. I played in three World Cups, I played in three World Cup finals, and I know what it takes, so we want to equip the players as best we can with the resources that we’ve got.

“We want to try and engage with the local community and with businesses and make a difference.

“It’s not a Cool Runnings story where everybody is having a laugh.

“We want to win games and that starts on Sunday against England Knights.

“We want to win the game, it’s as simple as that.

“It’s great for the guys here together this week who have got to know each other a bit better, but ultimately it’s about performance.

“Sunday is about delivering it and it’s up to the players to do that.”

Jamaica has some high-profile players, not least Wakefield Trinity winger Ben Jones-Bishop and new Huddersfield signing Ashton Golding who helped them to that historic win over the USA to reach the World Cup for the first time.

But experienced Giants loose forward Michael Lawrence – who once represented the England Knights – has also joined up with them for Sunday.

Around 2,000 free tickets are being provided for under-privileged families from the community so they can experience a matchday live at Headingley.

With help from Leeds Rhinos Foundation, Chapeltown Cougars, Rugby AM and Leeds Rhinos, it is the sort of initiative that Robinson hopes will drum up support.

Robinson adds: “It’s brilliant. This is my hometown and Leeds is a great place for so many different reasons.

“The fact we are based here now for this game is brilliant.

“A lot of people are giving up their time because it’s a personal thing and we’ve all got our own story.

“We haven’t got massive resources and the fact is we have got people wanting to be involved in it.

“They won’t get much, it will cover some basic expenses, but the flip side of that is an England rugby union player getting £22,000 a game.”

But for Robinson and co, the significance of driving Jamaica forward goes deeper.