Deli bars, Energy drinks and Cafes: Life after Rugby League

Brutal, fierce, exhilarating; three words that describe the game of Rugby League. A sport that prides itself as being one of the toughest sports in history.

Played by supreme athletes that have to deal with the physical demands the game puts on the body. For some, the career can last more than 20 years, but for others, the demand can be too much with careers cut short through injury. Unfortunately, last week saw Wigan Warriors Dom Manfredi announce he would be retiring at the young age of 28. After being medically advised to stop playing the game he loves, Dom will hang up his boots at the end of the season.

The game we all love can have extreme highs but can also have extreme lows. With players not certain how long their careers will last. With that in mind, players and coaches have already set their sights on life after the game.

One person whose best playing days are yet to come is Salford Red Devil’s Harvey Levitt. At the young age of just 24, Harvey has looked ahead to life after rugby.

With his future in mind, he decided to open his new healthy eating business ‘Fast and Fresh’ with friends David Manfredi and Plymouth Argyle footballer George Cooper in his hometown of Warrington. “One of my good mates came to me with the idea of opening a shop and I really liked the idea as I have always wanted to own my own business. We weren’t sure at first what type of food. We thought about possibly an Italian but with the three of us involved in sport we thought a healthy eating business would be good”.

The deli is located on Bridge Street just across the road from the new market development. The food provided focuses on healthy eating, particularly the types of food recommended to athletes.

“It has a deli bar which is your salads, and you get to pick what veggies and meat you want in it and we have healthy smoothies. We have wraps, so you can pick from the deli counter what you want going in the wrap. We have just started doing prep meals. We have got a chef who is keen to do prep meals, so we have left it up to him and he has come up with a menu which we will keep changing every two weeks.

“I am eating the prep meals myself and I know a few of the Salford boys have been buying off me as well which is good. You are obviously supposed to always eat healthily, and it does help to have your own business, after training you can just nip down for some healthy food which is good”

Having opened it’s doors on the 22^nd of May, he reflected on how the first month has gone. “The first two weeks were really good. It is just about getting established at the minute. Some days are hit and miss which is expected during Covid but the first month has gone really well for us, we have recently joined Just Eat so hopefully we are just on the up now”.

You can check out Fast and Fresh here: https://instagram.com/fastandfreshwa1?utm_medium=copy_link

Having opened the new business, Harvey is fully focused on playing rugby with the plan of potentially expanding the business once he finishes his career.

A man with a highly successful career in Rugby League is Brian Noble MBE. The former Bradford Northern player turned Super League and Great Britain coach is now involved in a new sports energy drink FYX, which focuses on repairing the body after exercise.

The Super League winning coach with Bradford Bulls spoke about how he came involved in the drink. “When I was over in Australia working for the BBC, a neighbour came to see me and we discovered how huge health and nutrition is in Australia. She discovered collagen when we were over there which is one of the fixing proteins for women sold in the beauty industry for regeneration. It has been found that it is great for sports people for repairing ligaments and provides all the things you need for a healthy body”.

After researching in more detail, a drink was formulated which they believe will be a ‘wow’ over here.  “There are two fantastic flavours. It is basically collagen water, sugar-free and has got everything that is good for you in there, including moringa tea, and white tea. There is one drink focused on the body and one for beauty.

“In Rugby League, there is a hell of a lot of attention paid to nutrition and what should and shouldn’t go in your body. All the ingredients in the drink should go in your body to help you in relation to being a top performer”.

Former St Helens, Salford and West Tigers player Mark Flanagan retired at the end of the 2020 Betfred Super League season. With his playing career now behind him, he is putting more focus into expanding the coffee shop business he opened with Jon Wilkin called Pot Kettle Black.

“Prior to opening in 2014, I played over in Australia in Sydney and every afternoon off training we would spend time in these cool cafes. Great coffee, food and service. It was just a nice environment to spend your time in. Then when I joined St Helens, Jon Wilkin and I would go for coffee but it would always be Costa or Starbucks nothing like the environment over in Sydney. So, we thought why don’t we open one together, we can’t play rugby forever and it would be something as a side project until we retire”.

“The idea of owning his own business is something Mark has thought about since he was young. “I have always thought about having my own business, my dad has had his own businesses which have been quite entrepreneurial, and I have always been like that from a kid, I used to sell ice pops on the school bus during the summer. I would buy them for 10p and sell them for £1. I have always been interested in business”.

Since opening the coffee shop back in 2014, the business has developed over the seven years it has been open.

“When we opened, we did coffee and sandwiches alongside it. We then bought the business next door and started making brunch and that progressed to us opening our own bakery.

“Since then, we have opened a 1200 square foot bakery in Salford with two massive ovens and a couple of delivery vans. We supply ourselves and deliver to numerous places in Manchester.

“The plan now is to expand again, we have one in Manchester city centre, another in Spinningfields which is closed at the moment due to Covid and at the end of next week we are opening two more. One in Manchester airport and another in Angel Gardens in the Northern Quarter of Manchester. So, when they open, we will have three and the aspirations are to open more after that”.

You can check out Pot Kettle Black here: https://twitter.com/mark_flash_flan?s=21

All athletes are well aware of how short sporting careers can be. When out on the field everything can be changed in a second. Players looking forward to the future and life after the game is becoming more popular throughout Super League.

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