Iestyn Harris is back enjoying his game after proving there is life after Super League.
Veteran stand-off prepares for trip down memory lane
Iestyn Harris is aiming to help Featherstone Rovers topple his former club Warrington Wolves in the fifth round of the Carnegie Challenge Cup on Sunday.
The Welsh dual-code international joined Championship outfit Featherstone after his contract with the Bradford Bulls expired at the end of last season.
Harris, 32, had been tipped to join engage Super League newcomers Celtic Crusaders but instead opted to drop down a division with Featherstone in order to play under another former Great Britain stand-off, Daryl Powell.
The move to part-time enabled Harris to combine playing with a plethora of other activities, including becoming a television and radio pundit.
And he will be an important man on Sunday, when Rovers aim to claim the scalp of the Wolves in a repeat of the Wembley final of 1974, which was the last time Warrington won the cup.
Warrington is where it all began for Harris, who scored 516 points in 92 appearances at the Wilderspool club from 1993-97, when he made a record breaking £350,000 move to Leeds.
"It was an exceptional start for me under Brian Johnson and Clive Griffiths," he recalled.
"It was probably the most enjoyable time of my playing career under them. There were some great people at the club at the time, the likes of Jonathan Davies, Allan Bateman and Kevin Ellis.
"I've certainly got fond memories of the club and it's going to be interesting playing against them.
"They have under-achieved again this year. They have a lot of international-style players but they didn't have too good a start and pressure was put on the team but they have been playing well recently.
"It's going to be an extremely difficult game and it's going to be an eye-opener for some of the Featherstone boys."
Competitive
Harris is perfectly placed to gauge the gap between Super League and the Championship and he admits to being surprised by the playing standards outside the top flight.
"Super League is really competitive this year but I think the Championship is as well," he said. "There are some very good sides in the Championship this year.
"It's a lot better than I expected. There are some extremely good individuals that could certainly jump up to the Super League level.
"Andy Kain was probably a bit young when he had his chance but he seems to have matured into a really good player and, if he was at a Super League club now, he'd certainly give whoever was in his position a run for his money.
"It's been an eye-opener and it's something I'm really glad I did.
"The difficulty with the Championship is that you're asking lads to work all day and then come in at night to train and then play at the weekend.
"If Warrington are slightly off their game and we're on form and playing to the best of our ability, then I feel the game will be pretty close."
