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Clarkson goes from laying bricks to adding foundation to Rhinos' Wembley hopes

In a few months, Chris Clarkson has gone from part-time player and bricklayer to one of the more unlikely building blocks in Leeds' Wembley-bound team.

The 20-year-old back-row forward, who is in line to play against Warrington in Saturday's Challenge Cup final, was still working with his father on porches and conservatories earlier this year after nearly being released at the end of last season.

"You have to make a decision on players at 19," says the Rhinos' chief executive, Gary Hetherington. "In the end we released 11 and Chris was very much one of that pool.

"He'd been nowhere near the first team, but our coaches, Barrie McDermott and Willie Poching, said we had to find a way of giving him another year.

"He carried on with the bricklaying and playing part-time and his commitment has been terrific."

Clarkson admits that he never expected to play in the first team this season. "I thought I'd play a bit of Academy [rugby] and that would be it," he says.

Instead, an injury crisis in March gave him a chance out of position against Wigan and he has been in and around the first team ever since, earning a full-time contract in July. "Somebody must have dropped out and I got a phone call the night before telling me I was playing in the centres against Wigan. My heart dropped a bit, but I must have done OK and I've just tried to do my best since," he says.

"He's been the find of the season for us," says his coach, Brian McClennan. "He's a terrific kid and has a great temperament and a big engine. Technically, he's very good in defence and, in attack, he's a player who can bob up and jag a try."

With Wembley selection in mind, McClennan says that his latest prodigy "has been doing himself some favours by the way he has been playing".

That all points to a remarkable double involvement for Clarkson on Saturday afternoon, as the under-12s curtain-raiser to the main event features his old school Temple Moor High.

drive from www.independent.co.uk