From the outside, anyone watching Eastwood in 2020 would have been immediately impressed by the Woodies new recruit at fullback. 

A pale skinned, blonde kid with a funny accent was one of Eastwood’s best most weeks, particularly towards the backend of the season. 

It appeared to be a recruiting and strategic masterstroke from the Woodies and coach Ben Batger. 

To bring in an experienced fullback over the from UK to help young flyhalf Tane Edmed manage the game in his first full season of first grade. 

Turns out though, that that wasn’t the case at all. 

Chris Bell wasn’t an experienced fullback, he’d never played the position before, and Batger only had to travel to Coogee, arguably now a UK county, to find him. 

“Initially I was only going to be over here for five months so I wasn’t planning to play too much rugby,” Bell told Rugby News. 

“When I realised I was going to stay, I wanted to get back to playing a good level so I went and had a chat with Batg (Ben Batger). 

“Immediately, I liked him as a coach and as a person and he was really honest about where the club was and where he wanted it to get to. 

“From day one, the boys all really welcomed me. They still think I’m a backpacker and that I pick grapes for a living but besides that, they’ve been great.”

Despite a lack of experience, Bell starred in the Woodies No.15 jersey in 2020 and played a crucial role in his side’s somewhat unlikely run to the grand final. 

In 2021, following Tane Edmed’s ascension to Super Rugby, Bell finally got a chance to play flyhalf and has quickly raised what was already a pretty high bar based on last year’s efforts. 

“Flyhalf is the position I’ve played all my life. I’ve never really played anywhere else before last year when I moved to fullback. 

“I’m a lot more comfortable in the No.10 jersey where you can have more of an impact on the game. I feel like I play with a lot more rhythm and can have a much bigger impact at 10 compared to when I’m playing fullback.”

Bell had such an impact in the Woodies impressive 28-25 victory over Southern Districts last weekend. 

Eastwood played the majority of the match with 14 men, after an early red card, but were led brilliantly by Bell who kicked his team into the right parts of the field all afternoon even with half the Rebels’ forward pack trying to take his head off. 

With 10 minutes to go, he also landed a long range penalty goal that ended up sealing an unlikely victory for the away team. 

“I knew they were probably going to come flying out of the line at me, so I was ready for it. I didn’t want to go away from the plan to play territory though and I got cleaned up a few times early but if anything that probably motivated me a bit,” he said. 

“As soon as we got the penalty, I said to Murph ‘give me a crack’. I was feeling pretty comfortable and striking them okay so I thought it was worth a shot with 10 minutes to go. Fortunately I got it there and it ended up being the difference.”

Bell’s tactical kicking was outstanding and something he developed throughout last season while wearing the No.15. 

“It made me really aware of how much work you have to do defensively as a No.15. Most sides play a similar style where the wingers move up and back in a pendulum so you have to cover a lot of ground from side to side to do that. 

“It made me realise how much space there is in the backfield and I’ve really noticed that this year when I’ve been trying to kick into corners. 

“Now I try and play around a bit with the fullback a bit more. If I can get him up into the line to make a tackle, well then I know that there is going to be more space in behind. 

“In attack, I also realised how much room there is in those wider channels if you can give the outside backs early ball. 

“It definitely changed the way I look at the game, which is a real positive I think.”

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Considering how the past 12 months have played out in the UK and in Bell’s hometown of Leeds, the 25-year old said he’s pretty happy with his decision to stay in Sydney and to play Shute Shield. 

“It’s an amazing competition,” he said. 

“In the UK, all the grades play at 3pm so you never get to watch anyone else and that’s one thing I love about the Shute Shield, it’s about the whole club not just your team. Being able to get down to the field early and watch the lower grades, it’s really cool and something I’ve enjoyed being a part of.”

“For me personally, it was pretty incredible to play in a Shute Shield grand final in my first season. 

“The atmosphere was awesome, even with the limited crowd and although we didn’t get the win, it was still a really cool thing to be apart of and something we want to be back doing again later this year.”