James Donaldson has revealed how a week spent living with Sam Burgess prompted him to turn down offers from Wigan Warriors and Leeds Rhinos to join Bradford Bulls. The Cumbrian back-rower was highly-sought after as a youngster at vaunted amateur club Wath Brow Hornets and attracted interest from numerous Super League clubs.
John Bastian was keen to bring him into the youth ranks at Headingley and he trained at Wigan and the Bulls, staying with Iain Thornley and Burgess respectively. Donaldson, set to make his 250th career appearance in Leeds’ play-off semi-final at Wigan tonight, said: “I actually went to spend the week training with Wigan when I was 15.
“I supported Wigan, like a lot of Cumbrian rugby league fans do, and had been to watch them in a few big finals. In a scrapbook I had as a kid, I wrote ‘when I grow up, I want to play for Wigan Warriors’.
