Kieran Treadwell aims to get new year off to a flyer after reaching latest Ulster milestone

There will be time to look back at it all in the future for Kieran Treadwell, but the Ulster milestone he reached on the Friday before Christmas seems like an appropriate moment to reflect.

The 28-year-old got to run out before his team-mates joined him that evening on December 22 to mark his century and a half of games for the province and it fell nicely for him that he got to do this at Ravenhill. It was an emotional moment for the player who took a punt when leaving the English system seven and a half years ago.

“I just decided that was it, it was time for a change and time to go for it,” Treadwell explains. “I had been at ’Quins since I was about 15 so it felt right for me at the time.”

“It was a really big decision because I’d never really lived away from home. I lived in an academy house but that was probably only three days a week then I went home with my washing.

“It was a big decision at the time, but it has been good, and I have really enjoyed my time here.”

Treadwell has matured since joining Ulster, having learned some valuable lessons in his time at Ravenhill.

“I was told from a young age to put on some weight and some size and that I had got a good frame. I was always quite quick so (it was a case of) ‘if you can carry, you’ll be alright,’” he says.

“My first week’s pre-season here I pulled my hammy, so I thought that was the decision made for me really. I needed to lose a bit of weight.”

“I feel good now. As you get older and more experienced, you know the player that you want to be so you can sort of make those decisions yourself and ask the coaches how you are going to get to that point.”

Moving on to more pressing matters as he is poised to have another crack at Leinster – a side he has only beaten once in 10 times of asking since rocking up in Belfast – and an opportunity to turn the tables especially after experiencing three defeats to Leo Cullen’s squad last term.

“It is a tough place to go but I think the main battle is with yourself,” he says. “We know that we can go there and do it and that is not blind confidence. That is being confident in our own ability.”

“Looking back, I think we have left some opportunities out there and I think that is where we need to be more ruthless and actually finish those opportunities.”

On a more personal basis, Treadwell has his own mark to hit and isn’t one for growing into a game; he wants to be in the thick of it from the off.

“I always have that in my goals that I want to get one gainline carry and one dominant tackle in the first 10 minutes and that is what I always go after.”

Aside from his carrying and defensive work, Treadwell’s bread and butter is at the lineout – an area Ulster will be targeting to unsettle their hosts whose accuracy in this area has been poor recently.

“The lineout in the game as a whole is massive, it is the winning or losing of the game. If you have a good lineout drill it sets us on the front foot to make those strides with our gain line carries and the plays that we want to play. It is a massive part of my game being a second row, but we need to be on the money every time.” ​

There is no doubt Treadwell would like to get one over their provincial rivals.

“We always seem to start pretty well down there, but it is just that last bit and we need to finish them off,” he says. “It’s about being clinical and controlling what we are able to control and stick to our game plan because it does work, and I believe in it.”

And Ulster must keep the faith to get their new year off to the best start.