First posted on PATREON and SUBSTACK
By STEVE MASCORD
VILLEFRANCHE-DE-ROUERGUE is a town of 11,000 on the Aveyron River in the south of France, probably best known for its 12th-century monastery.
…which is fitting, because it’s here that a young man from the rough and tumble south-west of Sydney came a couple of years ago seeking salvation via with the local rugby league team.
“I think I was just probably not putting myself around the right crowds and stuff like that, so probably wasn’t doing any favours for myself,” says London Broncos centre Brandon Webster-Mansfield, set to be a key player in Sunday’s Championship grand final against Doncaster.
“Villefranche … not many people speak English there, very hard to sort of (get by)…
“I just quit playing NSW Cup at the Rabbitohs at the time, I was just sort of over it. I took the opportunity to travel the world and I found my love for footy again.”
With more and more players from Australia’s second tier coming to Super League, there will be more stories like this 25-year-old. Webster-Mansfield has never played NRL – just NSW Cup and reserve grade – but sometimes this issues are as much off the field as on it, young men try to find their place the world.
From growing up in three different parts of the Macarthur region back home, to Villefranche and now London, Brandon Webster-Mansfield has tried a few places on for size.
Last year’s Broncos coach, Mike Eccles, heard a whisper about this strong, aggressive three-quarter and sent him a Facebook message. No deal was done, Webster-Mansfield briefly returned to Australia before signing an 18 month contract with London.
After enduring a season in which the club looked like it might die, the Australian is now a starting side mainstay who has supplanted Papua New Guinean,Alex Max.
He’s bounced around on the field, too: from Western Suburbs to St George Illawarra and onto South Sydney. But in the Broncos and London, there seems to be finally stability.
For rat-tailed young man fleeing the rat race, there is finally peace and purpose.
“I want to play Super League and yeah, I know that I can be up there and I know I can do it with the best – and I would love to do it with London.,” he says confidently. “That’s my ambition at the moment.”
During the 1895 Cup final win over Widnes, Webster-Mansfield was a powerhouse, even rushing to stand between a team-mate and an aggressor at one stage. But coach Jason Demetriou said he was “too hard on himself” and needed to get over his internal frustration if he was to realise his potential.
Webster-Mansfield explains: “I sort of was just hitting myself on the head (in a game) so he said, ‘no, just don’t do that – it’s not good for you or your team-mates’. It’s obviously a struggle for perfection, so I just want to get everything right, as everyone does. That’s probably why I get frustrated.”
As for being on-field bodyguard, Webster-Mansfield is unapologetic.
“That’s my brother out there. If you touch him, you touch me as well. I’m sort of there for my mates. I sort of pride myself on: I got your back, you got my back. (But) I didn’t want to get into a fight! I’m not gonna get suspended!”
At London this year, the brotherhood has been real: many of the Broncos live together or near each other in the Richmond-Staines area and given the number of foreigners, spend far more time together than players at other clubs.
“I wouldn’t say I’m a massive city guy, but I like living in Richmond. They’ve got a few boys living in the crew. It’s actually, like, sort of making a family of it. Home away from home, as you’d say.
“I’ll go home at the end of the season to see my family. I’ve got two kids, two kids back home. Yeah, it’s hard. I’ve seen them a few months ago, so, yeah, I definitely make sure I go home and see all my family.”
And the side that takes the field on Sunday at Plough Lane won’t be together again and there has been no announcement on Webster-Mansfield, either. Super League seems to beckon but there is uncertainty about who will take the club there.
One way or another, though, in Brandon Webster-Mansfield, a rugby league’s soul has been saved.
“I guess being away from Australia and … taking care of myself and all those other things, just sort of lit a fire back under the belly,” he says with obvious sincerity.
“Just, um, what that kid dreamed about once upon a time…..”
Image: Olly Hassell/SWpix
