Tuesday 1 November 2016 18:50, UK
Josh Charnley has come a long way in three weeks, going from celebrating his match-winning try for Wigan in the Super League Grand Final to being four days away from his rugby union debut with Sale Sharks.
That debut will come five miles down the road from Old Trafford in the Anglo Welsh Cup - the first steps in a code-breaking challenge that Charnley hopes will see him follow the example of Jason Robinson by making his mark for club and country.
"You want to represent your country," Charnley said. "You want to put that shirt on to make yourself proud and do your family proud."
"So, yeah, it's an ambition of mine. But, at the moment, I'm just trying to get into this team and try to stay in."
Watching him train, it was plain to see Charnley is already displaying the attributes that persuaded Sale to pursue him so vigorously. A four-year contract means both player and club can afford to be patient, but there's clearly excitement at what he has to offer and how far he can go in the game.
"He's an X-factor signing," was the ringing endorsement from Mark Cueto, Sale Ambassador and record Premiership try scorer.
"He'll probably hate being compared to Jason Robinson, who's such a freak of nature, but, guys like Chris Ashton made the switch and he's been really successful on the wing. So, the basics are exactly the same: You've got to be quick, you've got to be fit, you've got to know your way to the try line - and that's certainly what Josh has got."
Charnley has not come into rugby union stone cold. His education started as soon as he accepted the challenge of switching codes, soaking up knowledge from the likes of Cueto and Sale Director of Rugby Steve Diamond as well as putting in the extra time to attend matches and observe training sessions.
He admits his positional sense and understanding of his role at the breakdown still need work, but he's getting there.
"In defence, I keep going back 10," he conceded with a laugh and wry smile. "It's natural instinct.
"I've been playing rugby league since I was 6. It'll take a few weeks or a couple of months, but I'm slowly getting the gist of it. I picked it up a little bit today. It's just if I'm not needed in attack, working out where I need to be."
Friday's clash with Wasps at the AJ Bell Stadium will provide the truest test of how far he's come in such a short time. A first-team run out will be the culmination of Charnley's first two weeks working with Sale, and it arrives at not a moment too soon for his boss.
"He understands what he's got to do," Diamond said. "He's got all the things that not many people have, power, pace, skill. He just needs to show that.
"He's got to learn a little about what we do when we get tackled. In league, you keep the ball, while in union, you've got to get rid of it - and that's the main difference. That'll come easy to him, I think, so, I'm looking forward to him starting."
