Conor Coady was a flying winger once. A winger, anyway, possibly less of the flying. What he wasn't though was a proper rugby league player. Which is awkward, as he was born and raised in St Helen's, rugby league's heartland. It turns out he never showed any talent for the sport.
'You're joking, aren't you? I'm a big softy, mate,' he exclaims when asked about his ambitions in that department. There may be a few Premier League centre forwards who wish to take issue with that.
He did, however, play at school, albeit unenthusiastically.