'Face didn't fit': how Leeds Rhinos exit led to England honours for Leigh Leopards star Owen Trout
Former Leeds Rhinos forward Owen Trout feels he has “proved people wrong” by playing for England.
Trout, 26, was born in Wakefield and joined Rhinos’ youth system from the Stanley Rangers community club. He made his first team debut in a Challenge Cup tie agianst Workington Town in 2019, under then-coach David Furner and featured on two more occasions that year. Surprisingly, he was transferred to Huddersfield Giants the following pre-season – when Richard Agar was in charge – as part of a deal which took Kruise Leeming to Leeds.
After 50 Betfred Super League appearances for Giants, he joined Leigh Leopards ahead of the 2024 campaign and made his England debut as a substitute in last Saturday’s defeat to Australia in the first ABK BeerAshes Test at Wembley. Leaving Leeds was a blow at the time, but Trout reckons the move helped him achieve his “dream” of playing Test rugby.
Of his exit from Rhinos, Trout – whose brother Kyle Trout is coach of Hunslet RLFC – recalled: “At the end of the day, it’s the coach who runs the team. My face didn’t really fit in his vision, which is completely understandable. Luckily, I was fortunate enough to get that opportunity at Huddersfield and then Leigh and I think I have proved people wrong, especially after doing my ACL [anterior cruciate ligament]. I think people were just going to see me as a Super League player, but I always saw myself as an international and I am there now.”
Reflecting on his journey since departing Rhinos, Trout said: “When I signed at Huddersfield from Leeds I did my four years and started building up from there. A lot of people wrote me off and I feel like I have proved a lot of people wrong. I signed at Leigh and I’ve done two years there - I have still got another year left - and I have just been on the up.
“I got the recognition from Shaun [Wane, England’s coach], I got in the big [training] squad and then in the 24 and in the team last week. Playing for England has always been part of my goal, I am loving my time, loving playing rugby and I am really thankful to Shaun and the rest of the staff for giving me the opportunity.”
Trout’s first appearance for England was bitter-sweet. “It’s a dream come true, but we didn’t get that fairytale ending,” he stated. “It is a series of three and it makes the next one a really big game for us. We want to get that win to take it all down to the third game.”
England trailed only 8-0 midway through the opener, but were left to rue a series of missed chances in the first half. Trout, who is set to retain his place for Saturday’s rematch at Everton FC’s Hill Dickinson Stadium, admitted: “We gave away too much cheap ball. It’s not the end of the world, it is an easy fix - we just need to start completing our sets and giving ourselves a fair share of the ball. Then it should be a different story.”
Trout felt there were positive signs in the first half at Wembley. He added: “It was very nervy, the team as a whole, but we’ve had the first game now and got the nerves out of the way and we can really push on for game two.
“The main core of the group hadn’t played together for a year and for me, it was the first time I’ve been involved in a game at this speed. I really enjoyed it and I’m looking forward to game two.”