Leicester<\/a> and Swansea, so the family lineage was strong. Until, one day, the dream died. \u201cIt was quite difficult in the Forest academy. I was always second string and after a while I thought, \u2018I\u2019m not doing that\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\nHappily, he wandered down to Moderns RFC in Nottingham and found his tribe. Torturous sessions on the Wattbike in Leicester\u2019s academy reduced his weight to a more nimble 114kg \u2013 at 6ft 2in he is back about 126kg these days \u2013 but on-field progress was a slower burn. His route to regular first-team rugby at Tigers was blocked by the ageless Dan Cole \u2013 \u201cI was convinced the man was superhuman\u201d \u2013 and Logovi\u2019i Mulipola and his \u201cfrustrating\u201d early England days as a fringe squad member also sapped his spirit. \u201cThere were a couple of times driving back up to Leicester after being released on a Tuesday or a Thursday when I\u2019d think, \u2018I don\u2019t want to do this any more\u2019.\u201d Johnny Cash\u2019s anthems \u2013 particularly Highwayman and American Remains \u2013 became his weekly therapy.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, the turning point was a \u201ctough\u201d England tour to Japan and New Zealand in the summer of 2024 where he never featured. The management basically told him it was time to up his defensive game and scrummaging consistency. \u201cI thought, \u2018Right, this is it, this is my turnaround.\u2019 In my notebook I wrote, \u2018Next year is my year.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Run, scrum and hit\u2019 were the words of advice that Joe Heyes took to heart from his Leicester coach Michael Cheika. Photograph: Garry Bowden\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n
A pep talk from then Leicester coach Michael Cheika also proved pivotal. \u201cHe\u2019s a very confident, successful man and he empowered me a little bit. He basically said, \u2018You\u2019re a tighthead. Just run, scrum and hit.\u2019 I thought, \u2018OK, I can do that.\u2019 That broke me out of the \u2018doom loop\u2019 spiral I was in.\u201d<\/p>\n
For better or worse he also decided to have a more positive mindset \u2013 \u201cBefore I probably didn\u2019t like my own company\u201d \u2013 and to embrace his quirky side. A massive history buff \u2013 \u201cI spent far too much time in the toilet reading Horrible Histories\u201d \u2013 he can currently be found masquerading, among other things, as a Napoleonic soldier in a role-playing online wargame.<\/p>\n
In addition the engaging Heyes \u2013 \u201cI\u2019d like to think I\u2019m a very kind person\u201d \u2013 is an unapologetic fan of long country walks and decent food. \u201cI\u2019m a big fan of cooking with butter. I\u2019m not massive on supplements. If I want to get my protein, I want to eat something nice. I don\u2019t want to waste it on a shake.\u201d Before travelling out to England\u2019s training camp in Spain, he spent three hours preparing ramen broth for his girlfriend, Anita. So far, though, he has resisted posting his culinary triumphs on social media. \u201cI saw Chris Robshaw\u2019s Beef Wellington. Pretty horrendous, wasn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n
By now something else should be clear: Heyes is properly good fun. He tells a particularly hilarious tale about competing as a junior hammer thrower in regional finals in Birmingham \u2013 \u201cI had three throws and didn\u2019t get any of them out of the cage\u201d \u2013 and admits to an occasionally childish sense of humour. \u201cI went back to Ireland for Christmas to see family and we went past a \u2018reduce speed now\u2019 sign which had the \u2018s\u2019 and the \u2018d\u2019 missing. I couldn\u2019t tell my brother why I was laughing \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
There is even a hint of the absurd about his current home, an 18th-century Grade II-listed cottage in a Leicestershire village with almost comically low doorways. \u201cMy girlfriend is 5ft 5in and I\u2019m envious of her. I\u2019ve had people hitting the bridge of their nose walking in. Getting a nosebleed isn\u2019t a nice welcome to a house.\u201d The dull monotony of many pro sporting lives, gloriously, is for others. \u201cPeople try and fit into moulds and try and be something they\u2019re not. I think, \u2018Screw that.\u2019 If you\u2019re an individual just be yourself. If you\u2019ve got something quirky about you then let\u2019s see it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The more upbeat Heyes feels the better he seems to play. He wore the No 3 jersey in the wins over Australia, Fiji and New Zealand in November and is now within touching distance of his first Six Nations start, although rooming with the 20-year-old Bath prodigy Billy Sela this week has banished any complacency. \u201cYou just look at him and think: \u2018These youngsters are superhuman freaks. I wasn\u2019t in that shape when I was 20.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
So roll on the Six Nations. With an Irish mum and a dad with Welsh heritage \u2013 \u201cMy dad\u2019s English but if the football\u2019s on and it\u2019s England v Wales he\u2019ll be supporting Wales\u201d \u2013 this tournament particularly resonates. \u201cIt was always my dream to play in the Six Nations when I first started rugby. My mum wears an Irish hat and an England scarf, or vice versa. I think that\u2019s great \u2026 it\u2019s what it\u2019s all about.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joe Heyes used to be a goalkeeper for Nottingham Forest\u2019s academy team, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, who were both goalkeepers. Photograph: Paul Childs\/Action Images\/Reuters<\/p>\n
Now is his opportunity to repay all those who have assisted him on his long journey. \u201cI couldn\u2019t have done it without my family. They kept prodding me to keep doing it. People see 23 players turn up at the weekend but there\u2019s so much that goes on in the background.\u201d In retrospect, he is now grateful for the hard times. \u201cIt would be boring if everything always went well. A lot of my hardships have made me who I am.\u201d<\/p>\n
So good luck to England\u2019s cheerful linchpin, an inspiration to \u201cbin juice\u201d survivors everywhere. As he puts it: \u201cThe story\u2019s not over but it\u2019s a nice story of resilience and sticking at it.\u201d Here\u2019s hoping they play some Johnny Cash at Twickenham next Saturday. Or maybe The Bangles. Because, finally, it\u2019s a Heyes-y shade of winter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For some people the road to the top is painfully long and winding. Joe Heyes used to be…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":449171,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-449170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=449170"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449170\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/449171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=449170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=449170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=449170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}