Humble Bolton hits 200-game milestone

IT’S September 26, 2015. The North Queensland Cowboys are preparing to take on Melbourne Storm for a spot in the grand final.

Prop Scott Bolton is steeling himself for his 150th NRL game, but his teammates are none the wiser.

The laid-back, fishing-obsessed country boy from Innis- fail detests a song and dance being made about him.

It’s why the 30-year-old loves nothing better than dropping in a line in his tinny in his spare time. The solitude of being in nature, away from the pressure of elite rugby league, is his outlet.

If Bolton had his way, he’d probably prefer not to conduct a press conference talking about his 200th NRL game against Cronulla tonight.

That preliminary final two years ago where Bolton kept his milestone close to his chest sums up his team-first approach.

“He’s a really unselfish player and person,” Cowboys teammate Michael Morgan said. “He doesn’t like the limelight too much, and doesn’t like a big fuss being made about him.

“As his teammate we always knew what a good player he is and how important he is to the side, but this year he’s shown a lot more people in the wider community what type of player he is.

“You want to make it a memorable night because it’s a great achievement for him.”

Bolton said he had reminisced about that preliminary final this week and regards it as one of the more special games of his career.

“We went into our first ever grand final after that game,” Bolton said. “I was thinking about that a couple of nights ago. It was probably one of my most memorable games for myself especially, playing that milestone and going into a grand final. I rate it up there with my debut.”

Last week Bolton lost 5kg through illness but still played big minutes against Penrith as injured teammates dropped like flies.

He remains 3kg below his regular playing weight for tonight’s match but just gets on with the job.

With Matt Scott out for the year, James Tamou now at Penrith and Ben Hannant retired, Bolton has shouldered huge responsibility on and off the field, averaging 135m and 31 tackles a game.

He said he has surprised even himself at times on what he’s capable of, having played off the bench for most of his career.