SWAILES GOING FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH WITH SHARKS

Sale Sharks starlet Niamh Swailes never knew about Katy Daley-McLean and Sarah Hunter growing up but now the hooker hopes to follow in her fellow Geordies' footsteps.

The Gateshead native spent her early sporting years in the swimming pool rather than the rugby pitch, though an example of what it takes to get to the top was never far away in the form of father and former Premier League footballer Chris.

But after switching to an oval ball as a teenager, the 19-year-old is now going from strength to strength in the Sharks front row and maintains that Geordies, especially in the sporting world, reign supreme.

“Geordies are the best people, I think,” she said. “I moved around a bit when I was younger because of my dad’s job but when I was nine we went to Gateshead and that’s where we stayed.

“Growing up, sport-wise, rugby had never been advertised – you had the likes of Katy Daley-McLean and Sarah Hunter, I didn’t know who they were growing up until a few years ago.

“It’s crazy that I started when I was 13 and didn’t know who these women were and I literally lived down the road, there wasn’t a lot of exposure at all.

“When I started playing rugby, it would take me 45 minutes to get to the closest club and my closest club didn’t have a girls’ team.

“It shows that you can be northern and successful.

“Even though my dad doesn’t play football now, he just gives that totally different aspect on how to be an athlete, the professionalism, he just gets the environment.”

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Swailes has been a team player for longer than she has known, discovering her drive for competitive team sport when achieving personal bests exclusively in the swimming relay.

The teenager swapped DMP Sharks for Sale at 18 and has captained England Under-18-North as well as making her senior club debut against Bristol Bears last season.

This year, Swailes targets representing England once again, this time in an Under-20s capacity.

“I’m definitely a team player, I did competitive swimming when I was younger and that showed when I was in a relay race and I’d get personal best times in comparison to when I was solo,” she said.

“I’ve always been a big personality in any sport I’ve done, using the attributes I already had and channelling that confidence into other leadership roles.

“I definitely have a loud gob, let’s say. When I was younger I was captain for Durham County, I’ve always been a natural leader which made it easier to come in as captain for England.

“My mam really loves rugby too, she’ll wear all my England stash from last season to the gym, she’s my top supporter.”

When it comes to club rugby, the teenager is under no illusions about the challenges that come with developing in the front row.

Swailes is embracing that she may have to learn things the hard way in an Allianz Premiership Women’s Rugby scrum but it will make her a much stronger player long term.

Sharks’ upcoming fixture against Exeter Chiefs this weekend is another opportunity for Swailes to test her mettle against last year’s finalists.

“We’re still growing and we’ve had a few tough matches recently but the heart of Sale is always there,” she said.

“We love to play for each other, and passion is something that we know that we will show on the pitch as a northern team.

“I’ve been very lucky with the game time I’ve been getting for Sale so I just want to keep going on with that and keep developing.

“Playing against women in the scrum especially, you might learn the hard way getting battered by the likes of Lark Atkin-Davies in this league but it’s how you grow, being able to adapt to that.

“We say that the front row develop at a later age so I’m just keeping growing, going at my own pace.”