After seeing three of his clubs hit financial strife in just four years, ex-Bradford star Tom Olbison quit rugby league to work on the trains - only to end up on strike.
It’s remarkable that the former second-row, who made his Bulls debut alongside superstars Sam Burgess and Steve Menzies, can still raise a smile at it all. Having represented England Academy with future internationals Jonny Lomax, Kallum Watkins and Elliott Whitehead, he packed in the sport aged just 29 after a horrendous run of luck. Olbison made almost 150 appearances for Bradford before they were liquidated in 2017.
He moved to Widnes but they hit their own financial issues, eventually going into administration, and he joined Toronto for the 2019 campaign. But the unfortunate forward suffered a triple whammy when the cash-strapped Canadian outfit stopped paying players and went belly up 18 months later. Olbison, relegated from Super League with Bradford and Widnes, is now working as a train depot driver in his home city of Leeds.
But he doesn’t look back in anger. Asked if he’s one of the unluckiest rugby league players around, he joked: “I’d be well up there wouldn’t I? It seems like there is some omen following me. With relegations, administrations, liquidation and financial difficulties, I’d be in over my head! But I didn’t look at it like that. It was more about what was important at home.
“With Toronto, it was the middle of Covid, the lockdowns and we’d just had our second child in April (2020). So I was thinking about my family’s safety and how bad’s this virus is going to get rather than I’m at another club with money troubles. I won’t lie. It was an issue.
"I had to worry about bills and where the next month’s money was coming from. But it wasn’t the be all and end all. An opportunity with the trains came up and I jumped on it. It went well. And I ran with it.”
Olbison, still only 31, admits the money isn’t as good working on the railways. Indeed, like thousands of other rail workers, he started a two-day strike yesterday. But he has no regrets making that bold career decision two years ago. The Yorkshireman insisted: “You can’t go around thinking that.
“It’d have been nice to keep on playing. But I don’t see it as doom and gloom. I’d done it for 11 years or so so it’s not like I’d not had a good run at it. Granted, it was not in the most successful teams! But I wasn't an 18-year-old looking to ply his trade and I did something I enjoyed for a long period so I can’t look back with regrets.
“When it ended at Toronto, there were a few sniffs from clubs. But they just weren’t viable for me. Likewise, when I started on the trains there was chance to play part-time but I weighed it up and what was important for me and my family at that stage. Of course, I do miss it at times - I’d played rugby league since the age of six. But I’m not missing those freezing, cold pre-season training sessions they’ll all be doing now!”
