James Elston | Transition

After a nine-year professional playing career with Dewsbury, York and Rochdale, James Elston went on to become chief executive at Wakefield Trinity before starting up his own business supplying, fitting and servicing central heating boilers.

That business, Boiler Central, has gone from strength to strength in recent years and now operates across the UK from its base in Wakefield.

In this fascinating video, James chats about how his playing career and experience as a sports administrator have helped his successful business career, and shares some useful tips and advice for players looking ahead to their own transition.

James has been an ever-present on RL Cares's annual fundraising cycling challenges since they began in 2017 and will again be saddling up in June 2024, when Boiler Central will be principal partners of the Wild Atlantic Adventure.

I was fearful of taking the next step because I thought rugby league was all I knew and I always thought I'd stay in the sport. In the end that big leap out wasn't so big after all because I realised that all the principles I'd learned as a player and administrator stood me in good stead to be successful.