JOCK OUT THE BOX
JOCK Campbell’s journey from second XV footballer to Super Rugby player will reach its highest point tonight when The Southport School graduate makes his starting debut for the Queensland Reds against the Sunwolves at Suncorp Stadium. The 23-year-old started at University of Queensland and will now play the biggest game of his career less than 6km away.
JOCK Campbell’s journey from being a second XV school footballer to bursting onto the Super Rugby scene is a flagship story for the Queensland Reds and his next big step will come tonight when he makes his starting debut.
Campbell built his way up through consistent club form for University of Queensland and impressing for Queensland Country in the National Rugby Championship.
The 23-year-old kept knocking on the door and was rewarded with two bench appearances in South Africa last month. He has now been elevated to the No. 14 jersey to face the Sunwolves at Suncorp Stadium.
“Everyone sort of likes to talk about me working my way up, they sort of like that story I guess, but I don’t know, to me it’s just pretty normal,” The Southport School product said.
“I knew I was ready to take the opportunity.”
That doesn’t mean he saw his rise coming this fast, though.
“I knew if I played well in NRC I would have a shot but 12 months ago if you said this would have happened, I would have taken it any day of the week,” Campbell said.
“To debut in a place like Pretoria, that amazing and very daunting stadium, it was an amazing experience and I’m very grateful.”
Now the challenge is for Campbell to stay at the top in a Reds side that will come out
of the mid-season break with momentum in hand.
The Reds are fourth of five in the Australian Conference standings but are just six points off the Melbourne Rebels’ lead.
“We’re just working towards being more consistent and we know if we play the way we want to and the way we can, we’ll have a good shake at making the finals. We verse all of the teams again so it’s on us,” he said.
“The biggest thing for me is obviously just trying to get better. I have just got to keep learning – there’s a lot that I can improve on in my body and my rugby smarts and stuff like that.
“Not necessarily bulking up but recovery and prep and nutrition, just getting all of that down pat. It all helps. You don’t really start noticing that until you start training every day and your body is getting sore.”
The Sunwolves clash kicks off at 7.45pm.