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When we think of the men that play rugby league for our clubs each week, I don’t think I am alone in thinking “how lucky are they?”
These men are given the opportunity each week to wear the jersey of a team which is a focal point of their local community and play rugby league in the best competition in the world.
In Australia, sport is so central to our way of life, so anyone that gets to play sport professionally for a living is immediately thought of as ‘living the dream’.
So often the life of a footballer is depicted as one of glitz and glamour. They train hard but they play hard too. Nights out on the town. Beautiful women. Multi-million dollar contracts. Autographs. Television appearances. Adoring fans. Celebrity status. Thousands of Instagram followers.
So when players like Mitchell Pearce, Josh Dugan, Blake Ferguson or Todd Carney are found misbehaving (particularly when they reoffend), the same comments resurface – ‘boofheads with too much time and money on their hands’ and ‘they don’t know how good they have it’.
The stories about players misbehaving are the ones which dominate the mainstream media and I often wonder whether this is really what we, as the Australian public want to be reading about? What I think would be far more powerful would be to profile and to shine the spotlight on some of the lesser known players with great stories.
Whether that be Kyle Turner from the South Sydney Rabbitohs that spends four hours a week volunteering at Weave Youth Service teaching children in the local community to read or Eloni Vunakece from the Sydney Roosters who made his first grade debut at the age of 28, these are the stories I find far more compelling.
This week, I thought I would share one of these stories with you.
Yesterday as I was watching the clash between the Manly Sea Eagles and the Newcastle Knights, during the half-time show, Kevin Walters and Matt Shirvington made some comments which clearly indicated that they knew very little about Knights winger, Nathan Ross.
Comments about where Ross played his junior football and about the symbol he flashes when he scores a try all indicated that the commentary team needed to do a bit more homework.
Ross made his first grade debut for the Knights against the St George Illawarra Dragons in Round 21 of last year at age 26. It’s not often that we see a debutant at age 26, but for Ross it was the realisation of a dream that he had been working toward his whole life and slowly but surely he is becoming a cult figure at the Knights.
Born on the Gold Coast, Ross has played rugby league for several clubs. It all started with junior rugby league for the Burleigh Bears and the Coogee Randwick Wombats. His career has seen him play for Toulouse in France, Lakes United, the Kurri Kurri Bulldogs and finally, he found a home at the Newcastle Knights where he played several years in NSW Cup.
He was named fullback of the year in NSW Cup in 2014 (scoring 17 tries in 16 games) and was re-signed at the end of that year on a two-year contract.
The road to an NRL debut was one, according to Ross which was full of sacrifice and setbacks including “injuries and coaches saying [he] was too small”. Aside from the challenges of playing rugby league, Ross also juggled a job as a health and safety inspector and care of his two year old son, Ziah who, according to Ross “is the reason [he] does everything in life”. In order to be a positive role model for his son and ‘encourage him to chase his dreams, do what you love and not worry about the money’, Ross admits that he had to walk the walk before he talked the talk.
You’ll notice that whenever Ross scores a try he puts his fingers together to make up the letter ‘Z’. That letter Z is for his son, Ziah.
Ross is also a larrikin and will make you laugh. He did springboard diving in high school (which explains how he is able to leap through the air like a superhero), was captain of his chess team at one stage and happily admits that Love Story is his favourite Taylor Swift song.
Ross is taking the 2016 season one week at a time with the ultimate goal of cementing his first grade position. With three tries already this season, 687 metres made and becoming known for his spectacular leaps through the air to take the high ball, it looks like he already well on his way to achieving his goal for this year.
So the next time the Newcastle Knights play, keep your eye on the speedy winger from the Gold Coast. He plays with a tenacity, toughness, perseverance and dedication which embodies the Novocastrian rugby league community and is someone who is playing rugby league for the love of it.
Ross has often said that ‘rugby league has a funny way of giving back’. I’m confident that for a man that has dedicated so much of his life to his ‘dream of playing first grade’, rugby league will have a funny way of rewarding him in the end as well.
And to the Newcastle Knights fans, yesterday’s loss was not easy. Particularly difficult was seeing Jarrod Mullen carried off the field following a hamstring injury late in the game. It is clear that under new coach Nathan Brown, the team has a lot of growing up to do.
It has been acknowledged by most that the club is in the process of rebuilding and despite the efforts of players like Trent Hodkinson, Sam Mataora, Dane Gagai and Korbin Sims, this is going to take some time.
But stay true – with players as committed and devoted as Nathan Ross, the only way from here, is up.
This is @mary__kaye from @ladieswholeague.