HOPE FOR FUTURE

Q Tell us about your journey from Hope Vale to the Cowboys. How did it unfold? A I went to school in Abergowrie and I boarded there for six years and got put on a scholarship at the Cowboys when I was about 14. The scholarship required I went to school every day and I do all the right things and at the end of 1999 I came to Townsville here, started training with the Cowboys and the rest is history. I found some new friends down here, enjoyed footy, enjoyed training and had one goal, which was obviously to play first grade and play on TV and I did all the stuff that comes along the way with that and enjoyed my time here and it was a great.

Q What’s the key to getting more kids from the Cape area to realise their talent and replicate what you were able to achieve? A All the schools, all the communities I go to, you can see the talent there. You give them a cricket ball, they can hit a wicket from 50m away, give them an AFL ball they can kick it as far as they can and rugby league. You can see they all have the opportunity to get away from the communities. Obviously education is the key first, playing sport in the meantime, and going back and making their community a better place. I think the hardest thing is obviously getting over homesickness. It’s the opportunity they need to experience the wider world. They don’t know any different. I was the same when I came out of Hope Vale. I got to travel the world playing the sport that I love and I enjoyed it.