A WHITEHAVEN rugby star has spoken about the decade that he spent at the club.
New Zealand international Aaron Lester played for Whitehaven RL for ten years solidifying his name as one of the all-time greats at the West Cumbrian club.
Aaron moved to Whitehaven in the late 1990s, initially on a few months' contract, he has now been in the UK for almost three decades and has made a life for himself here.
Mr Lester said: "Being from New Zealand rugby was always a big part of my life and I played ever since I was at school, everybody plays rugby, so I was no different.
"When I was about 14, I started watching a bit of rugby league, I started to prefer league to union and started playing it when I was about 15 and enjoyed it.
"The following year I started playing for the area that I lived in, South Auckland, that's how I got into it, it was a natural transition.
"The reason that I got to Whitehaven was because of Stan Martin, I played against a team he'd coached.
"He became the New Zealand 9s coach and he selected me to play for them, we developed a relationship, and the year after that he got the Whitehaven job."
Aaron explained that he was in a contractual predicament and was offered to play in Whitehaven.
He says that he knew some of the other players who were going to be playing and signed a seven-month contract at 22 years old.
Aaron went on to play ten seasons for Whitehaven RL.
He continued: "I never decided earlier on that I was going to stay in West Cumbria, I had various contracts but at about 27 years old I decided that I'd stay in the area.
"In a lot of ways, the Lake District is similar to New Zealand, the landscape in particular but also the people.
"They are quite laid back around here and there are some similarities to the way of life here and back in New Zealand.
"People from different parts of England like to visit Cumbria, and that's because it is beautiful."
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