Life after rugby league has seen Nick Scruton go from prop to cop via a little honey trap.
The ex-Leeds, Bradford and Wakefield front-row now works on the beat as a policeman. But that was only after he realised beekeeping might leave him stung for cash. Hard-hitting Scruton won the Grand Final and World Club Challenge with hometown Rhinos in 2008.
His career was cut short by a serious shoulder injury while playing for Hull KR in 2019. He was still only 34 and hadn’t planned for hanging up his boots just yet. But Scruton has revealed life tackling criminals in some of the roughest parts of Bradford has helped the transition.
He said: “I’ve got to play to my strengths so if anybody big and nasty needs locking up they send me in. And I do like that. I still get an adrenaline buzz which is one of the reasons I wanted to join the police. I’ll never be able to replace that feeling of charging in from a kick-off and knowing you’re going to get bashed.
“But when you’re about to smash a door in and don’t know what’s on the other side, you get an adrenaline kick from that. Or a job comes in, there’s a bloke with a knife and nobody else to go so you’re in. I’m a PC response officer in Bradford West and we do have one of the highest crime rates in West Yorkshire so it keeps us busy. But I’m loving it. I’ve embraced the carnage.”
It’s far different from Scruton’s initial career plan post-rugby. He explained: “When I was still playing, I tagged along with my wife Alice’s uncle who's a commercial beekeeper. I really enjoyed it and could see myself dropping into that. I’d a five-year plan where I’d have a decent business to rely on when I retired from rugby.
“But I had the carpet pulled from under me when I had to retire just two years into that. I just wasn’t in a position to rely upon beekeeping. Plus I was terrible at it anyway!”
Scruton, 37, has urged current players to start thinking about life after rugby. He said: "I'd a good career and made decent money at times. But there was a point where the police thing might not have happened. I was thinking ‘What will I do?' We had tears and sleepless nights.
"But there’s a lot more advice nowadays and Rugby League Cares does a lot of good work. They were there for me. It’s definitely advice for any young, aspiring player: rugby league doesn’t last forever, unfortunately. Although you do get wrapped up in your rugby league bubble, that bubble can burst at any time.”
