STRONG FAMILY BOND

You spent some time in Queensland as a teenager. I get the impression you feel like it made you the man you are today.

AI do. I felt a really strong connection with the people I lived with at the time. I stayed with a family called the Coolwells and it became a home away from home. They’re a very wellrespected family in the Brisbane area and I felt a really strong bond to them. I don’t think I could ever thank them enough for the way that they took me in and treated me like their own son. That’s why I’ve got that really strong connection to Queensland. Being a young, indigenous man, to me it meant a lot at that stage of my life. I really was at a crossroads and throwing some opportunities away. I felt down in the dumps. I could’ve moved back home and I don’t know where I’d be had I done that. I’d probably just be playing local rugby league and playing around town. Who knows? So when I look back on what I’ve done, I think about that. The same thing happened at the Storm and I’m really grateful Craig Bellamy gave me a second chance, too.