First grade choice over fishing fancy
FISHING or football? That was the ultimatum North Queensland Cowboys coach Paul Green issued Scott Bolton on the day they met in late 2014.
Bolton could have played out the remaining years of his NRL career as a bench forward whose job was to hold fort while Test prop Matt Scott had a breather.
Or he could have developed into North Queensland’s saviour when the Cowboys needed him most.
“I made a choice a couple of years ago to put football first,” Bolton said.
“When Paul Green arrived here, on the first day I met him, he sat me down and asked me whether I wanted to be a full-time footballer or a full-time fisherman.
“That came as a bit of a challenge from him and it turned the back end of my career around.
“I was a bit complacent. I was just happy enough playing first grade at the Cowboys and probably not really striving to be my best.
“I was happy playing 15 minutes a game and just being in the side with a great bunch of blokes.
“I am an Innisfail boy, so often, being homesick, I used to drive home two or three times a week.
“Each trip is six hours of travel so that can’t work longterm if you want to be a professional footballer. I decided I wanted to achieve more and have a sense of belonging in the team.”
That belonging arrived this year, Bolton’s 11th season in the NRL. The 30-year-old was elevated to Scott’s starting front-row partner after James Tamou defected to Penrith.
When Scott suffered a seemingly season-ending knee injury in Round 2, Bolton became his club’s No.1 front-rower.
Bolton has started every game in 2017 and will again lead North Queensland’s charge in Sunday night’s grand final against the Storm’s big men Jesse Bromwich, Nelson Asofa-Solomona and Jordan McLean.
He came off the bench in 2015 when the Cowboys claimed their first premiership but this year would mean so much more given the role he has played in the absence of Scott.
“I’ll enjoy this one a lot more because I’ve had a bigger role in the team this year,’’ Bolton said.
Midway through the 2015 season, he had to explain to Green why he would be missing eight weeks of football through the taxing State of Origin period.
“I was cutting up crab bait, mongrel catfish. The point of the knife got stuck in its skin and my hand ran down the blade. I slid my (index) finger along the blade and cut two tendons.
“It didn’t hurt or bleed at all. It was quite a weird feeling. I didn’t call Greeny. I was too scared. I called ‘doc’ and he said, ‘Do you want me to call him?’ I said, ‘Yes please’.
“Going into (Green’s) office first thing Monday morning was pretty difficult, especially at that time of the year. I was pretty upset with myself but he was pretty good about it. He understands it’s something I do.”
I WAS JUST HAPPY ENOUGH PLAYING FIRST GRADE ... SCOTT BOLTON