SENIOR UPS AND DOWNS
QTake us through your senior footy career. You spent some time in Sydney before joining Tweed Seagulls in 2015?
AI played for Lismore Marist Brothers all through juniors into seniors and left for Sydney when I was 18. I signed with the Parramatta Eels under-20s and got assigned to the Guildford Owls down there and made their team of the year, which means I didn’t play many 20s games at all. From there, I had an option to move to Wentworthville, who had a team in a higher competition. I played Ron Massey Cup for them and cracked the under-20s side in Round 13. I came off the bench and then started from Round 14 onwards and played out the season. At the end of my 20s career, I signed a two-year deal with the Eels, with Ricky Stuart. It was a dream come true, to be a full-time footballer, but I tore my groin in the pre-season. I got an operation and couldn’t run so was in the rehab group. One Saturday, I was sitting on a rower doing extras and Brad Arthur, who had replaced Ricky Stuart, walked up to me and said “Will, I want to have a chat”. He pulled me aside and said “Will, you’ll never play NRL for me. I don’t want you at the club, but I can’t
sack you”. I thought, “all right, I’ll prove you wrong”. I didn’t (laughs) and he didn’t want to know me. So I was wallowing in my self-pity for about six months there and then I finally got a release and didn’t know where to go or what I wanted to do. So I went home (back to Lismore) and Mum and Dad said “why don’t you play for Tweed? They’re a Q-Cup team up here, worst-case scenario you play A grade”. I didn’t want to play footy for Marist Brothers because I’d feel like I’d failed. So I went up to Tweed, played one trial game for A grade and got picked for Q-Cup. I started a two-year deal with them and started to really fall in love with the game again, which was unreal.
QHow did a boy from Lismore end up in tropical Far North Queensland?
AI did Kokoda at the end of one of those years with Tweed and had a really good time over there just thinking about what I wanted to do and what I wanted to be. I had a trial game at that point with the Titans. They
had a look at me and didn’t have much interest. I thought “there’s no future for me here, the Titans don’t want me”. So I went to Thailand for a month and did a training camp over there – Muay Thai, jiu-jitsu – trained my ass off, as hard as I could. I had no club at that point, but two or three were interested. In the end, I narrowed it down, through the help of Mum and Dad over email, between the Pride and Newcastle. I got back from Thailand on a Saturday and flew up here on Sunday to speak with Tybo (Northern Pride coach Ty Williams). I got along with Ty – he was good to my family and he spoke to Mum, as well as Dad, which is rare in football and that impressed me. The next day, I was getting on a plane to go to Newcastle. Tybo asked me what is it going to take for me to stay – I said I want a train-and-trial with the Cowboys, I want a chance. He rang me two hours later and said “you’ve got it”. I flew home Sunday, packed my life up into my car and trailer and was in Townsville on Tuesday. I rented a house, did the train-and-trial and it was the best experience of my life, by far. And that’s how I ended up at the Pride.