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Stand-off, 21, has had to bide his time for his shot in Australia and battle his demons but he shone against Parramatta and is now ready to kick on for club and country
NRL import Will Pryce considered quitting and feared he wasn’t good enough – but is now aiming for England glory.
The 21 year-old faces Canberra this weekend after making his long-awaited Newcastle Knights debut in Saturday’s thrilling 34-26 win over Parramatta. Dazzling stand-off Pryce joined from Huddersfield in the off-season but had to wait seven months for his chance. He made the most of it, with a try-scoring bow and admitted: “It was one of the best nights of my life.
“I’ve only just come down to earth from Cloud Nine about how good of a week and night it was. To have my family there and get the win, it was massive, everything I dreamt off.”
Dad Leon, the ex-St Helens and Great Britain No6, flew down under specially with his wife to witness his son’s big moment. But Bradford-born Pryce revealed how close he came to packing in. He said: “I had a couple of tough years at Huddersfield. I probably wasn’t being treated the way I wanted to be treated.
“I had that ten game ban [for a dangerous throw] in 2022 when I made a bad decision. “That went down and there was stuff going on at home. But probably the way some of the coaching staff treated me at Huddersfield, I probably felt I wasn’t getting the right training or stuff. I did think maybe this wasn’t for me.
“Then being out here for six or seven months and not playing NRL which is what I wanted to do. That hit me. It put some doubt in my mind and I thought maybe I’m not good enough and maybe I do need to go back to England to play again to start playing some more regular game-time. I doubted myself a little and I am scared of failure but I managed to work my way out of that and the best part is where I’ve managed to get to this point where I am now.”
Pryce did the hard yards in the Knights’ reserves before getting his big shot at the weekend, lining up alongside ex-Wigan star Jackson Hastings, the former Man of Steel and Great Britain international. His elated parents and little brother were in the bumper crowd of 27,424 joined by former Manly, Bradford and Kangaroos legend Steve Menzies who played alongside Leon at Catalans. It’s no surprise the young Yorkshireman is glad he stuck to his guns and he insisted he’d never have walked away.
Pryce said: “Definitely not. I’m here in Newcastle. I signed my contract and love the place. It’s such a good club, the way it’s run by the board, the coaching staff, how they treat me as a player and how much they have taught me as a player, I was never thinking about leaving .
“I was just thinking maybe I’m not good enough and at the end of this year or next, the club might turn around and say ‘you’re not good enough.’ That was probably the most nerve-wracking. But I managed to prove I was good enough and thankfully I’m playing now.”
Excitable Pryce, meanwhile, dropped the F-Bomb in his live post-match TV interview when describing his best-mate Knights centre Bradman Best. He explained: “As soon as the game finished, I managed to shake the hands of two or three opposition players’ hands and then I got grabbed straight away by Fox [Sports]. I don’t think I was concentrating on what I was doing. It just slipped out.
“I was so happy to have got the win with the boys. I hugged a few of them and was just really emotional. It just came out by accident!”
Pryce, who has retained his starting spot for this weekend’s game, wants to follow in his dad’s footsteps and represent England. NRL-based England players weren’t considered for their mid-season international against France, which took place in Toulouse just hours after Pryce was making his mark in that game against Parramatta. Shaun Wane isn’t short of half-back options with captain George Williams and rival scrum-halves Harry Smith and Mikey Lewis.
But Pryce was named in Shaun Wane’s 40-man training squad last year with one eye on the 2025 Ashes series and 2026 World Cup. There is the two-Test series with Samoa this autumn, too, and he admitted: “It’s always been my long-term goal. This year, I set out in my mind that I wanted to play NRL and for England at the end of the year.
“I’ve not managed to tick that one off yet. It’s the pinnacle for me and the pinnacle for anyone’s career, to play for their country. I’d love for Waney to give me a call at the end of the year and to be able to go back over and play in that Test series. If not, I’ve only just played in one NRL game. Nothing is set in stone yet. I’ve got to try and keep myself in that NRL team first and then hopefully off the back of that Waney might have a look at me. But I’m not thinking about it too much.”
He is just concentrating on this weekend when he makes his second display for the Knights. “I’m really excited to go again against Canberra,” said Pryce, about opponents who boast England loose forward Morgan Smithies in their ranks. “They’re a great side and have come in off the back of some difficult games so will be looking to get a win down at Canberra off the back of some home games they’ve got coming up. We need to go down there and play some good footy again. “Personally, I have to keep edging away at my own performances and keep trying to get better each week.”
England second-row Kai Pearce-Paul, 23, is in Newcastle’s side having played all but one of their 15 NRL games this term following his own move from Wigan last autumn. Pryce added: “He’s had a lot of experience in the NRL this year and had some really good performances. It was good to have him there on Saturday. He was really helpful, really enthusiastic about me playing, and he was able to congratulate me straight away.
“I was really excited to play with him again. But it was all just a great experience. Once I found out I was in the team, the coach gave me the heads up and told me to make sure I try and get the family over straight away. They got here on the Thursday and we played on the Saturday. They dropped everything to get here because it’s obviously a last-minute thing once you do find out.
“It was an opportunity them to come and see Australia and experience it all with me. And it’s been brilliant having them here with me.”
