MARC Sneyd has revealed how his stellar 2016 ended with him being frozen out in the cold – but he could not have been happier.
For the Hull ace rounded off a brilliant year by sleeping in igloos alongside new wife Sabrina on honeymoon.
Now, though, his thoughts have turned to backing up a sensational season by inspiring his side to even bigger things, and not limping along to the end.
Last year, Sneyd scooped the Lance Todd Trophy for being man of the match as Hull finally ended their Wembley drought by winning the Challenge Cup.
But there is no resting back and sitting on his laurels after becoming a terrace hero – he has his sights on doing even more.
“We had a part-successful 2016,” Sneyd said. “The Cup win was huge for us but the way we finished the season was fairly disappointing.
“I’m not too sure whether we ran out of steam, that’s what I’d put it down to.
“Five or six of the players had the best year they’ve ever had last season and they all had it together. That showed with what we did but we’re looking to kick on now and I am on a personal level.”
Listen to Hull fans, particularly at games, and you would think Sneyd is an icon. Whenever he strokes through a conversion or penalty, his name echoes around the KCom Stadium.
But he revealed it happens whenever an FC fan sees him, whether it is at the ground, in a café or in the supermarket.
He is also ready for opposition fans to be chanting his name whenever things go wrong.
“It’s pretty hard to escape in Hull because it’s such a big rugby league city,” he added. “It does happen from time to time but it doesn’t really bother me, I’m quite happy for it to happen – it’s quite humbling.
“If they stop doing it, I must be doing something wrong!
“And I know opposition fans will do it too. I remember last year I had a game where nothing went right and it go bellowed out a few times and I could hear it!”
Sneyd, 25, is almost as laid back as one person could always be – he only seems to get animated when his beloved Manchester United are involved!
But his attitude of dealing with something when it comes around and not getting ahead of himself has stood him in good stead so far.
It also landed him in an igloo in Lapland when he married Sabrina at the end of last year. Her job as a teacher meant they only had a four day window for a honeymoon and as the scrum-half says: “There’s no point flying 18 or 20 hours to spend two days somewhere and the have to fly back.”
That attitude is the same when it comes to his aspirations, both for Hull and England after he missed out on the 31-man train-on squad ahead of the mid-season Test against Samoa.
He said: “If England happens, it happens. All I can do is keep playing well, it’s completely out of my hands whether I get picked or not.
“All I can do is keep doing my best. If I’m happy with the way I’m performing every week for Hull, that’s the main thing.
“After that, everything is out of my hands – the main target for me and Hull in 2017 is to just kick on. I was fairly happy with what I did last year but this year, I need to take a step further.”
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