Robbie Paul

Bradford Bulls and New Zealand stand-off

When me and Henry were growing up, there wasn't a day when we didn't have a rugby ball in our hands.

We would go to our local park and practice our sidesteps against each other, do our defensive moves and all the other skills.

Henry used to wake me up on a Saturday morning to see if I wanted to go and practice kicking with him.

But because Henry was the main kicker, that meant he would take the kicks and I would stand under the posts and kick the ball back to him!

Henry was the main kicker in the Paul house

However, the guy under the posts serves a purpose kicking the ball back to him, I suppose.

Henry is two years older than me, so he always had an advantage in size and experience.

But he never once skinned me on the pitch! I used to make him take a backwards step.

But he was always full of encouragement. We have always been close.

Having an older brother helped me raise my expectations. Henry is such a perfectionist - I had to raise my levels just to compete with him.