Wigan’s Cade Cust tells how the death of his father made him a man – at the age of 14
CADE CUST cannot be accused of not being an adult - he grew up the moment a 14-year-old heard the devastating news his father had taken his own life.
The Wigan new boy has the house tidy, the extra beds ordered and the red carpet ready to roll out for when mum Kasey arrives to see his first Super League game.
Little wonder given the way she stepped up after Garry left his teenage son wondering, ‘What do I do now?’
Cust could have ended up down any of life's wrong paths, but he has developed into not only a half-back tipped by many to win the Man of Steel honour after joining from NRL side Manly, but a rounded man off the field.
He said: “That was something that was life changing when it happened.
“I don’t really know how to explain how I felt at 14 but I had a good support base. It’s something that shaped me, though. It made me grow up and mature a lot faster than most young blokes do.
“After it happened, I’ve matured a lot more than maybe I would’ve if I had everything settled and safe.”
Cust knows all about putting in the hard yards to get to the top, after trekking hundreds of miles a week – with his mum driving - from his hometown of Scone to try and make it at Manly.
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But from an early age he was a thoroughbred as he developed at the junior club in what is dubbed 'the horse capital of Australia’ - their version of Newmarket.
Now to take the next step by following in the footsteps of Jackson Hastings, by being the first Cade Cust, starting at Hull KR tomorrow.
The 23-year-old added: “It comes up a bit but I’m more excited and motivated by having that bit of expectation.
“You look at what Jackson did over here and that’s something you want to emulate but I’m not Jackson Hastings, I’m Cade Cust."
