WHAT can we tell you of Nathan Roebuck that you don’t already know? Well, for starters, his background and his story epitomise the principle that’s behind everything Mike Ford does — the principle that Oldham boys should feel a desire to play for their home-town club which, In turn, should be “big enough” to attract them.
As a town, Oldham ranks alongside Leigh, Wigan, St Helens or parts of Cumbria as a place where local lads are brought up on rugby league and in recent years Super League scouts from Wigan, Saints, Salford and Warrington have arrived in town in their droves every Sunday morning to watch “our” best kids selling dummies, making the hard yards, showing they know how and when to pass, taking a high ball at top speed or producing ball-handling skills of a Terry Flanagan or a Brian McTigue.
The days when loose-forwards produced moves at the back of the scrum with their No 7s or when prop-forwards could almost make a ball talk may have gone for ever, but there is always room for the lad with the X factor — and, indeed, you have only to look at any Super League or high-ranking Championship side to find somebody there who learned his trade at Waterhead, Saddleworth or St Anne’s, writes ROGER HALSTEAD.
The number of local lads who have been lured to Super League is phenomenal and even Leeds Rhinos, from the “wrong” or “other” side of the hill, as some would say, have set up camp here in the hope of finding another Kevin Sinfield, Iestyn Harris or Barrie McDermott. They may have found one in young Jack Sinfield. Time will tell.
Ford wants to change that mass exodus of talent, but he is realistic enough to know that if he is to snare some of it he will have to take Roughyeds up the ladder, out of League One and into a situation in which he at least has a fighting chance of competing with the big boys.
In the meantime, local lads who have had a taste of the big-time and are now mature enough and wise enough to know it’s not all a bed of roses, are of special interest – and that’s where Roebuck comes in.
Aged 24, he is a Grasscroft boy, who started at Saddleworth Rangers when he was six. He went to Friezland Primary School, Saddleworth High and Oldham Sixth-form College, signing for Warrington and joining their academy scheme when he was in his late teens.
Standing 6 ft 5 and weighing in at 15-stone, he is an impressive and imposing lad who made one Super League appearance for the Wire against Salford at the A J Bell Stadium. He played on the wing with another Oldham lad, Josh Thewlis at fullback. Both scored that day and Thewlis, as we know, went on to become an established Wire star who won an England call-up.
Just to give you some idea of how popular were Oldham boys at that time, James Greenwood played for Salford and Elibe Dora was on the bench for Warrington, whose head coach back them, Aussie Steve Price, said it was a great time for the club’s young Oldhamers.
Andrew Henderson was his assistant boss and when he went to Keighley as Director of Rugby, Roebuck followed him and became a firm favourite of the Cougar Park fan.
He was there in 2022 when Cougars hit the headlines by walking away with League One, but things didn’t go his way in the Championship in 2023 and eventually he left Keighley with an impressive record of 15 tries in 16 games and a legacy that won him a place in the hearts and minds of Keighley fans. One of his tries was against Oldham at Cougar Park – a special day for the lad from Grasscroft.
At the time, Roebuck said he had been playing with niggles and injuries and he wanted a break from rugby in order to recharge his batteries and rekindle his love for the sport. He became a science technician at the Bluecoat School and started training again at Oldham.
He has never had trouble scoring tries (career record 19 in 19 games) and it was n o surprise when he scored on his Oldham debut at Gateshead.
He has signed initially for the rest of this season.
Keighley’s loss is undoubtedly Oldham’s gain — and Fordy is no doubt chuffed to bits to have got his “made in Oldham” crusade up and running.
