MICKY Higham is enjoying being a role model for the younger players at Warrington Wolves.

Having recently been awarded a three-month testimonial, the 33-year-old feels it is important to be able to share his experiences with those who have stepped up this season.

“It is nice when the younger lads come over and they do speak to you about this and that, I’m really pleased when they do come to me,” said the hooker.

“It’s not been one of my strong points, speaking up over the years. I have gradually got better so I’ve always say to them ‘if you want to speak, you know where I am I have been in your position and know how tough it is’.

“The young lads, I think they do respect me anyway, when I speak to them they do listen and ask questions, which is a good sign, but it’s not good when you’re at that age! It’s nice to give some stuff back as well.”

And Higham remembers the support he got when making the grade as a youngster at Leigh.

“It was really early days at Leigh and I was only a kid,” he added. “The game was slightly different then. You could have a drink on a Thursday night and still play Thursdays, you can’t do that now!

“As a young kid they had seasoned pros like Sam Baldwin, Timmy Street, a prop forward who used to be there, they were really good for me and made it enjoyable.

“I really enjoyed my rugby then, but they knew when to rein the young kid in, it set me in good stead.

“It was probably 18 months, two years there with the first team and I think it did me really good.”