Pregnant pause can help focus Robinson on Exiles

Now he faces another possible dilemma with news that his wife, Laura, is pregnant with their first child and is due on Challenge Cup final weekend at the end of August.

Robinson and his club side Huddersfield Giants are just two games away from a Wembley return, looking to go one better than two years ago when they were beaten by Warrington Wolves in the final.

Playing at Wembley, or being in the delivery suite for the birth of your child, is an impossible choice to make, so it is with some relief that Robinson heads into tonight’s England game against the Exiles in the CarPlan International Origin Match at Headingley Carnegie knowing he has no such personal drama to worry about.

“All I have got to worry about now is trying to get everyone tickets for the game, which is a little bit less stressful” said 25-year-old Robinson, who starts tonight at hooker.

“Obviously, representing your country is something that I have dreamed about since I was a kid, I couldn’t pass it up, and luckily I have a wife that understands what it is like to be a sportsman’s wife, she was great about it.

“There’s a little less fuss about it this time, and I’m probably thankful of that.

“My wife is due Challenge Cup final weekend, so hopefully that’s going to be another dilemma, although there is a long way to go in that competition,” added Robinson, whose Giants side travel to Castleford Tigers in the quarter-finals on July 24. “It would be a very nice dilemma to have, and one I would like to have.”

Robinson was part of Steve McNamara’s England side which under-performed in the Four Nations at the end of last season, losing to New Zealand and Australia, and he believes the introduction of an Exiles match – with the opposition made up from the best overseas players in Super League – can only help the national side improve so they can compete with their Antipodean rivals.

“Playing for England is something I have always wanted to do, I was fortunate to get my opportunity last year,” he said.

“I really enjoyed the tour, but obviously the results and performances I was a little bit disappointed about. I wish we could have done a bit better but the experience overall and playing for England I was quite chuffed with and something I want to replicate again this week at Headingley.

“I am really excited about Friday’s game, they are a really talented team and it’s going to be a good test. As a player, it’s one you want to play in.”

There will be some familiarity at Headingley, with club team-mates finding themselves on opposing sides. For example, Robinson will find himself squaring up to New Zealand duo David Fa’alogo and David Faiumu. Danny Brough would have also been in that group, but the scrum-half has been ruled out for eight weeks with an ankle injury, while Giants team-mates Eorl Crabtree and Leroy Cudjoe were cut from the 22-man squad on Wednesday.

“What makes the game interesting is we will be very familiar with the opposition players – playing them at club level week-in week-out, it’s an unusual situation.

“David Fa’alogo and David Faiumu, I was only playing with them last Sunday night and I have been filling in some of the England lads on what their strengths and weaknesses are.

“It’s an interesting concept. We will be trying to get one over on them to get the bragging rights next week when we are back at Huddersfield training.

“I think the Exiles game is a great idea. I hope the fans turn out on Friday and get behind the game.”

Robinson believes the mid-season international is a stepping-stone in class, and can replicate the State of Origin games Down Under.

“You can’t turn up against the best players in the world and expect to bond. I think the Australians have had the advantage over the years, playing the Origin games, with the intensity they are played at. The Exiles games will, hopefully, create something similar.”

Playing Down Under at some point in his career definitely appeals to Halifax-born Robinson but with a long-term contract signed at Huddersfield, it is not high on his list of priorities.

“It’s something that I would like to have a crack at, playing in Australia, a different type of lifestyle,” he said. “To go and play in arguably the best team competition in the world and to have a go. I wouldn’t say I have not thought about it but I have committed my future to Huddersfield Giants, when that contract ends I think I will be 30, so whether that works out I am not so sure.”

The Giants are flying high in Super League – they travel to Wakefield Trinity Wildcats on Sunday in Super League – and Robinson is desperate to finally end their search for silverware.

Twice they have come close in recent seasons, losing to Warrington at Wembley in the Cup final before being edged out in the play-offs at St Helens last year.

“We are going good as a group at Huddersfield, finding that little bit of consistency which is something we have probably lacked in the last couple of years,” said Robinson. “We are starting to challenge the so-called bigger teams for honours. We have fallen short a few times before and that’s probably been down to our own consistency levels.

“We are not that far off but I suppose that’s what professional sport is all about, it’s about inches and small things. It was a huge disappointment losing at Wembley. We were the form team going into that and we disappointed on the day. Last year we went to St Helens, again with some good form in the play-offs, and fell short just at the last hurdle again.

“I think we have learned from those occasions, grown as a group and we can use those lessons to our own advantage.”

With Brough and Simon Grix injured and Robinson, Fa’alogo and Faiumu on duty tonight, Giants coach Nathan Brown will have to utilise his squad.

“We have got a healthy squad at Giants and it’s at times like this when you need it,” said Robinson. “Some of the young lads will get their opportunity now.

“Losing Brough is a huge blow for Huddersfield and England, I don’t think there’s any argument that he is the in-form scrum-half in Super League. He is probably the reason why we have become more consistent this year. I spoke to him after Sunday’s game, it’s really disappointing for him.”