The 25-year-old Hull KR half-back only made his Betfred Super League debut a month ago but now has his sights set on playing for his country as he reflects on “a crazy 12 months”.
Atkin, who will be hoping to help Hull KR complete a notable double over Catalans Dragons on Saturday, says the telephone call from Knights coach Paul Anderson came as a shock.
“I didn’t really have too many words for him,” Atkin said. “I’ve normally got quite a bit to say but it left me stumped to be honest.”
Honoured to be named in the new @England_RL Knights Performance Squad! Very exciting opportunity and can’t wait to get started... https://t.co/GrGd4IzBfw
— Chris Atkin (@CAtkin_93) 7 March 2018
Atkin, a graduate of Liverpool John Moores University who represented England in the 2013 Student World Cup, was playing for part-timers Swinton this time last year, not long after putting on hold his teaching career.
“It’s been a bit of a crazy 12 months,” he said. “After coming over from Swinton, this is another tick in the box, another thing to keep striving for, to help me develop and just see where I can go.”
The Knights are being re-introduced this year to help bridge the gap between Super League and the full England team in the run-up to the 2021 World Cup.
Congratulations to @CAtkin_93 on being called up to the England Knights squad! Full details here: https://t.co/niYJLJFyMe pic.twitter.com/39vbB9a9ND
— Hull Kingston Rovers (@hullkrofficial) 7 March 2018
Atkin, who was man of the match on his Super League debut against Leeds, will have another chance to catch the eye against the win-less Dragons in the televised match in Perpignan.
It is only three weeks since the sides met in a re-arranged round 12 fixture at Craven Park but Atkins is not convinced his side’s emphatic 23-4 victory will count for much at Stade Gilbert Brutus.
“Not necessarily.” he said. “It’s going to be a completely different side to the one we faced a few weeks ago.
Here's our 19-man squad for Saturday's trip to @DragonsOfficiel with Danny McGuire returning to the squad in place of James Donaldson. #ComeOnRovers #RoversOnTour https://t.co/VpXjGdNrSy pic.twitter.com/uW9VCzyaPl
— Hull Kingston Rovers (@hullkrofficial) 8 March 2018
“They’ve a lot going on there and they’ll be really motivated to win the game, especially at home.
“We know we’ve only won one game so far and we’ve got to win this game if we want to keep to our targets of getting into the top eight and the top four come the end of the season.
“We want the win just as much as them.”
🇫🇷 Steve McNamara a dévoilé le groupe pour la réception de Hull KR samedi à Brutushttps://t.co/zN7uXOzU1z
— Dragons Catalans (@DragonsOfficiel) 8 March 2018
🇬🇧 Steve McNamara has named the squad for the Saturday home game against @hullkrofficialhttps://t.co/q877F2a20P pic.twitter.com/aBsjCm7A0K
The Catalans, who are the only team yet to pick up a point so far, are still without both half-backs Luke Walsh and Sami Langi because of injury, whereas Rovers are expected to have veteran Danny McGuire back alongside Atkin.
The former Leeds skipper missed the Robins’ defeat at Salford a fortnight ago with a rib injury but will catch the flight to the south of France on Saturday morning as long as he comes through the team’s final training run.
“Danny did a bit of light training yesterday and hopefully he’ll come through on Friday,” Atkin said. “I think he’s ready to get back out there now.
Danny McGuire is getting READY#SLLeeHKR pic.twitter.com/V8N6gEogSz
— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) 8 February 2018
“Having Danny back will be a massive boost for us. He’ll help me out a lot. We’d started to build that partnership and it was disappointing to not have him at Salford.”
