THE LONG MYLES: TITANS SKIPPER'S TRIP TO 200 CLUB
INJURIES AND ORIGIN HAVE DELAYED ‘FAT KID’ NATE MYLES’ 200-GAME MILESTONE BUT TOMORROW HE WILL NOT BE DENIED
NATE Myles was an “incredibly fat” teenager who played a game of rugby league roulette and lived to tell the tale.
The Gold Coast Titans captain will play his 200th NRL match against the Roosters in Gosford tomorrow and his journey to the memorable milestone has been one filled with adventure.
Myles was an overweight prop from Cairns playing in the high school Confraternity Shield when his NRL dream started to take shape.
St Augustine’s College coach Lionel Williamson, an 11-game Kangaroos representative, had told Canterbury Bulldogs scout Mark Hughes that Myles was an NRL star in the making.
Hughes took Williamson’s advice and brought the teenager, along with his older brother Callan, to Belmore.
They lived in a Bulldogs sharehouse on York St with a couple of other Cairns products and some teenagers named Johnathan Thurston and Sonny-Bill Williams.
“We weren’t really liked around those areas,” Myles said.
“It was all local kids playing SG Ball (under-18 competition) and we were referred to as ‘imports’. It took a while for the guys to warm to us.
“They sat the new seven recruits down and told us one of us would make it (to the NRL).
“It wasn’t fantastic news but you take it how you want to.
“You can get carried away with yourself and pack it in and go home or you can stay there and give it your best. “Some of us got lucky.” Luck won’t lead you to 28 State of Origin appearances for Queensland and nine Test jerseys.
Myles has forged a 10-year first grade career on persistence and determination.
He was earning $100 a week as an electrician’s apprentice and even tried his hand at plumbing in among labouring jobs.
“It was a culture shock,” he said. “We were working when we got there and only one of us had a licence. We’d walk to the train station to get to work at 5am.
“We were stubborn and only there to play football. That was our focus but our parents were telling us to work. It was difficult. There’s no doubt about it.
“There were some tough times for sure but it’s what you had to do.”
Myles admits he was a slow learner. The temptations of being in Sydney with his older brother and good friends were hard to resist.
But there was a shining light in the bedroom next to him.
“Sonny’s ability to train stood out. He blitzed everyone,” Myles said.
“There’s a certain degree of natural ability you get blessed with but he would have made it if he didn’t have talent because his mindset was phenomenal.
“I was too cool then, I just bagged him and said he tried too hard. I was incredibly fat as a 16-year-old.
“We were losing weight because we were fat but he was putting it on.”
Thurston and Williams played in the Dogs’ 2004 premiership team and Myles got a start in the World Club Challenge the next year before he had even featured in the NRL.
He was playing alongside Willie Mason, Mark O’Meley, Steve Price, Andrew Ryan, Roy Asotasi, Reni Maitua and Williams in what was one of the most imposing forward packs ever assembled.
“I was lucky because I was on the back of a great forward pack and I jumped on the back of that,” Myles said. “We were winning games because of those players.
“Mase and O’Meley didn’t want to come off until they were buggered so I’d walk up and down the sideline holding the interchange card for six sets. I was just a substitute for when they were tired.”
The substitute earned a Queensland debut in 2006, and then moved on to the Sydney Roosters, where he broke into the Australia team in 2010.
Williamson, who’s still coaching St Augustine’s after 31 years, has sat back and watched his greatest product develop into everything he thought possible.
“He had a fantastic attitude and determination towards what he wanted to achieve,” Williamson said.
“He wasn’t going to let himself down.
“He struggled at times being away from home but he’s made it through and proven his capabilities.
“He always gives everything he’s got and will never let anyone down.”
Myles admits he wasn’t blessed with the natural talent of Thurston or Williams.
But he knows what he’s had to do to get to where he is today.
“You’ve got to have good fortune but if you’re not in it you won’t win it,” he said.
“You’ve got to get yourself to a point, then luck plays a part for sure.
“I wouldn’t say I’m lucky to get to first grade. I had to make the sacrifices to get there. To stay there was another thing.”