Ronan Michael is Ireland's latest convert to rugby league and now armed with an academy contract with the Huddersfield Giants - he is eager to blaze a trail for other Irish players to follow.
He was in studio for Thursday's OTB AM, telling Eoin: "I'm playing rugby league less than 2 years at this stage. I only started playing when I was 17 and now I'm sitting here in the studio and I'm absolutely amazed.
"I had to take a break from rugby union and we were looking for other opportunities and other sports to be playing, maybe 7s, and you've seen rugby league on the TV, the NRL but I never really heard about it in Ireland.
"So I just came across Rugby League Ireland - I just got involved and started playing. I played two games against Wales last year with Ireland under-17 versus Wales under-16 and I got seen there and headed over to Huddersfield for a week in February with a few other lads and then got the opportunity to go back on trial in July."
Looking back to the stresses of exam time, he said: "We were flat out during that time. I suppose I was focusing on the Leaving Cert and after I went for the first week in February, I put it to the back of my mind, my head was down for the Leaving Cert.
"Lucklily enough I got asked back to Huddersfield just after the Leaving Cert. During the time of the Leaving Cert I was training away the Longhorns up in Ashbourne and playing with their senior team and keeping the head in the books at the same time.
"I was using rugby league as a way to get away from the Leaving cert - a way to de-stress and an alternative to focus on."
Michael is also keen to show others in Ireland that they can convert to rugby league with the possibility of making a long-term career out of it: "I'm happy to say that I'm looking to be a stepping stone for people. I want to create that path, showing that there actually is something that can come up if you're playing well with Irish Rugby League.
"It's unfortunate that less people are getting involved - if we got more numbers and more people involved saying 'Ok, I'll give this a go' - coming across from union, coming across from Gaelic Football - the next thing you know, we'd have a proper set-up."
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