People of the Pirates with LA
A behind the scenes podcast sharing stories, characters, and community that make Noosa Pirates RLFC more than just a club. From players and coaches to volunteers and local legends, hear the voices driving the pirates forward.
People of the Pirates with LA
DANE CAMPBELL
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🎙️ PEOPLE OF THE PIRATES WITH LA | EP13 – DANE CAMPBELL
This one’s a great yarn with a bloke whose rugby league journey has taken him just about everywhere — Dane Campbell.
From playing in the NRL, to pulling on the Blue & Gold and becoming A Grade Captain/Coach of the Noosa Pirates in 2010 and 2011, coaching again in 2012 and then stepping up as Club President in 2013, Dane has experienced footy from almost every angle.
But this episode goes well beyond the footy field.
Dane opens up about perseverance, setbacks and a couple of serious health scares that have tested him along the way. It’s an honest conversation about dealing with the tough periods, finding perspective and continuing to move forward when things don’t necessarily go to plan.
Rugby league has remained a constant throughout his life. From playing and coaching, to administration, development and recruitment, Dane has continued to champion the game through plenty of different avenues.
That journey now sees him helping build the next chapter of professional rugby league in Western Australia as Head of Recruitment with the Perth Bears.
Plenty of laughs, some great Pirates memories and a really open conversation about footy, leadership, resilience and life beyond the game.
Another quality yarn with a bloke who has certainly lived a bit.
🏴☠️ People of the Pirates with LA – Episode 13.
Once a Pirate, always a Pirate.
THIS PODCAST IS SPONSORED BY THE PERTH BEARS
This episode has been brought to you from the DGMS studios, the home of Don't Get Me Started, Lethal and Money Live and SurfTown. Found at Spotify, Amazon, Apple Music, and wherever you listen to your podcast.
SPEAKER_01G'day and welcome to People of the Pirates with LA. This is a feature of some of the amazing individuals we have around the Noosa Pirates Rugby League Club. Enjoy their stories. The opinions voiced on this podcast are our own and not the official position of the club or the league. And there is a mild language warning. Enjoy Legends. G'day, Legends. Welcome to the next episode. We've got Dane Campbell in. Dane wears many hats and he'll tell us all about it. But mate, welcome to the studio.
SPEAKER_04Thanks very much, Liam. Lovely to be here. Good to be back in Noosa, that's for sure.
SPEAKER_01I know it's been a minute. So you were coaching here what years? 2011?
SPEAKER_04Uh yeah, great call. So 2010, 11, and 12, I believe it was. Uh, and then yeah, one year as president. It all faded for a year. But yeah, three years uh up here, the first year was captain coach, and fortunately got an injury. Um we'll probably speak about that at some point. But yeah, finished up about mid-year as a player, uh, and then that was the rest of it was the coaching element, which was fun.
SPEAKER_01Awesome, mate. And is that where your path into I suppose we'll get to where you're at with the Bears sometime soon and a bit of career stuff, I'm sure. But is that sort of what started you down the coaching back of house path?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, absolutely. So finishing up of my playing career as in hindsight, you know, you make some decisions, right, wrong, or indifferent. But I felt as though I was probably at a stage of my life I was finishing up at Redcliffe, and but I was living here on the coast and I was at Budram and going down forward, I'd done three years, two at East, and then two, one at Redcliffe of the back and forward, three days a week thing, and just felt like I was a bit jaded. Had been you know recently married into having my first child, and then felt like it was the right time to get into you know some coaching. I'd always loved the game, obviously, and felt like I could do something in coaching, felt like I'd offer some opinion and was excited. I actually spoke to Billy Moore. I still remember the conversation and where I was. And you know, Billy at the time was the general manager of the Sunny Coast Rugby League, and we were talking, he said, mate, there's an opportunity to come up. I think Goldie had just sort of was discussing, finishing up, and said there might be an opportunity in News, so they might be looking for a not only coach but a guy that maybe could play halfback because Goldie obviously fulfilled both of those roles, and I was like, Well, maybe it's the right spot, right time, and felt like that was a good opportunity. The club had been going great, they had success, and you know, they were very well known. I thought, yeah, this would be a great first introduction to coaching. And so, yeah, jumped on board and it was fun and uh learn a ton for sure. And then from there, obviously things evolved. I'd always had a passion for the administration side, but yeah, went down the coaching path there for probably you know from 2000 or 2010 through to sort of you know the back end of 2016-17.
SPEAKER_01Amazing. So let's park the footy journey for a sec and let's wander right back. What was a young Dane Campbell like and where'd you grow up? And tell us a little bit about your story in the early days.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, so I'm from a place called Petrie, which is just north of Brisbane, and back when I was sort of growing up, sound very old now, right? But is uh back when I was growing up, it's probably the inland from North Lakes, is probably the easiest way to explain it. Pine Rivers District, and at the time that was probably considered the northern extremities of Brisbane. I never really saw myself as a city person. It was more of like a on the cusp of being semi-rural. You know, I've got Dabra and Sanford out the back, but I was blessed. I had a great childhood and I grew up in an environment where we could get around freely, had plenty of mates by. We had a local footy club, the Pine Rivers Bears. So that was really my first introduction to rugby league was through the Pine Rivers Bears and spent five years there, seven to twelve with my little schoolmates, which was really a positive experience. My dad was a coach, so yeah, my formative years in the game were really positive ones. I mean, I got to the stage where I was probably 12, I think. I made a Queensland team with Queensland Schoolboys, and I felt right, yeah, you're starting to play with some better players. And the natural, I guess, move for me was then to Redcliffe. And a lot of the players that at that sort of young teenagehood gravitated over to Redcliffe, bigger club, and yeah, they were playing in the higher division. So ended up over there and came through the Redcliffe Junior System into the Redcliffe Senior System and went to nudgy college from a schooling perspective, ended up over there, and so had to play a bit of rugby union. That was an interesting one for me. Yeah, being a league kid through and through to end up at a really mad, passionate rugby union school. But in hindsight, really blessed that I got that opportunity to go and be a part of a wonderful you know system at Redcliffe at the time and rugby league, but then also having the schooling that I did, and it's opened up many a door later in life for me that the old boy network that that provides, and you know, so yeah, very, very happy. And then the footy thing trekked around different places to North Queensland, down to Newcastle, and back here to the sunny coast. That's it. So Q Cup debut, already? Yes, yeah, yeah. Yeah, so I was 18 at the time, and back then Redcliffe weren't affiliated with an NRL club. So they were loosely the Roosters sort of picked some players here and there, but never put players back. But we were playing against obviously guys like or teams like the Clydesdales or North Devils were primarily Melbourne's feeder team. You had the young guns were in the competition up in towns or so coming through the Redcliffe system primarily. We were they had one wonderful nursery of younger players, but also that had players coming back out of NRL systems. So things that people like Shane Perry, uh Barry Berrigan Adams, these types of guys, Lukey Scott, they were hardened men. Like they were really tough guys, and they bred this culture of earning your stripes. And I was fortunate enough that yeah, I got to go pretty early in my career. You know, I was 18, as I said, coming off the bench, played a handful of games in year one and backed it up next year with probably 10 or so more. So that was a great learning. I probably didn't realise it at the time, honestly, how big a club they were. They could stand on their own two feet financially and from a footballing perspective against very good teams and had win comps in the early 2000s and had some great players that went on to do some really good things. So yeah, I was very fortunate. Yeah, right spot, right time.
SPEAKER_01100%. So, like you mentioned North Lakes before. Northlakes wouldn't have even been a suburb then.
SPEAKER_04No, no, I remember being Bush. Yeah, you travel across from Petrie, which again, honestly, as a crow flies, it's it's not too far, but uh, you you travel through what is now Northlakes or Mango Hill, and yeah, it was pure Bush. And so it's like crossing from the country area over to the the bayside at Redcliffe, and to see it now, it's insane. Drive through there occasionally to go watch some footy and just go, wow, like yeah, I guess that's my age though now.
SPEAKER_01Urban sprawl, hey. Yeah, absolutely. Reddy back then would have felt like its own little town, really? Like it wouldn't have felt like Brisbane. Not at all. Yeah, you was I think of Ready as Brisbane now. Yeah, but it would have been different talking twenty years ago.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, yeah, you sort of very much had an us versus them mentality, you know, you're out of the way and you're not seen as a big city club, you're not Brisbane Tigers or East Tigers at the time or Norse Devils or even Winham to a lesser degree. But yeah, you you were out on your own, and I think that was always a really fun experience going across the hornybrook on a bus trip. You know, you go to an away game and you come back, and as you get into senior footy and start drinking on the bus, that was that was always an enjoyable time coming back across the bridge. But yeah, it was very tight-knit, and obviously a lot of the guys lived out in that area and had grown up together. That's probably one thing that they did really well is they'd promote younger players from their juniors into their senior team quite early. But those younger players, myself included, were coming into an environment with really established hard men, and they'd look after you and protect you, and you felt safe in that environment, but you also felt like you'd earnt it too. You know, that opportunity you didn't want to let them down. But yeah, in terms of where it is, yeah, it was very much seen as in the sticks, really.
SPEAKER_01Like you mentioned Stari before. Like I remember playing against him, and he was a scary dude. He's a big man. And he basher. So think of that era, that was prime time rugby league drinking culture too. So I bet there was some good bus trips and boys were boys, and for sure, yeah.
SPEAKER_04It was some fun memories for sure, and plenty of good stories, no doubt. But yeah, and they were great people, that's probably one thing that stands out. I feel as they like I'm obviously in the NRL stratosphere and have been now for a period of time, but I think at the crux of it, a footy club is a footy club, and that's the bond and the connection, and you know, whether that's from you know under 18 teams locally or whether that's NRL teams, at the heart of it, they're all good people and you all connect really well. And yeah, but back at that particular time they were uh yeah, super fun times.
SPEAKER_01Amazing. Cup debut at Ready, good second year, and then did you head up north for a time?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, went up to Townsell, thought, you know, young and dumb or young and aspirational is that following the dream. I'd been in the Broncos system as a kid, like I'd come through, played a bit of rep footy, the Bronx sort of give me a scholarship and just felt like all roads led to Red Hill. You know, like I'd finish school and I'd just drop my way over there and I'd be the next NRL player at the Broncos. That was the plan, that was the idea, and quickly come tumbling down at the end of school. I wasn't offered a contract. A lot of my friends were, it was like bitterness about I'm gonna have to earn it a different way. So getting the opportunity to play Cup gave me a platform to be seen, which was positive. Still again, yeah, it's funny how certain things you remember, but I still remember a phone call at the time deliberating whether to go up and join the Young Guns program in Townsville and speaking to Neil Wharton, who was a coach at Redcliffe at the time, and what I had said, mate, I don't think you should go. I think you should stick around here and play another year. Like, yes, you've had a taste, but I want to see you really go and own the year. And I was only 20-ish, I think, from memory and young and dumb. I just said, no, I'm going. I'm off to the Cowboys, I'm gonna be an NRL player up there. And anyway, I got up there and had a really good. I was only there for eight months. I I did the preseason, trained really hard, won a contract, felt like I was in the prime just physically of where I wanted to be and where that sat was you had all the contracted players that the Cowboys top 30 would flow back in to the young guns, and I was sort of in the young guns squad. So if I wasn't playing for the young guns, it was for the the local brothers in the towns of A grade. And anyway, I got through at about mid-year or getting close to mid-year, I was playing some great footy and just wasn't getting a go because the guys above me were coming back, which is fair and just. But just thought, you know what, it's probably time to if I'm gonna be sort of just playing a little bit of A-grade, I'll go back home. So I made that decision to come back to Redcliffe, finish off the year. Unfortunately, I got back. I still remember I come back to Redcliffe and I got back into the cup team, and our first game was in Townsville. And so I had to go back to play against the team that I was obviously training with and ended up hurting my knee and was out for you know three or four weeks, which towards the back end of the year was likely not to play again in cup that year. So I played reserve grade, and what as it happens to be, we won the comp. So that was a fun experience going back and you know, not it was fun, but at the same time you're not really attached to it because you haven't been there, you haven't done the hard yards with the group. So I was nearly like one of those ones that token, you're there and you win it, but I didn't feel deeply connected to that team because I I just hadn't been around long enough and nearly like it cheated your way to a premiership sort of thing. But at the end of that year, I was quite jaded to be honest. I felt like footy I'd tried really hard, I felt like I was not slighted, but I felt like I'd done enough to be an NRL player or think I did, but and I was a bit jaded. I was going to actually have a year off footy, just thought, you know, I'm done here. I just you know I've tried so hard and I haven't got the rewards and all that 20-year-old turning 21, tossing in the OB toys, sort of thing. But funnily enough, I I didn't do the pre-season or pre-Christmas block and then got a phone call from a mate, Lee Coggill, who I'd played junior footy with, and he'd gone over to East Tigers, and he rang me up and he said, Dano, the coach here said that we don't have a halfback, they're looking for a halfback. Would you consider coming over? And I was like, I'll think about it, sort of thing. And anyway, for whatever reason, I decided, you know what, I'll go and have a look. And anyway, I actually had sort of met with East, but I also met with a team called Brothers Valleys. So Brothers Valleys were sort of back in the comp amalgamation of two traditional clubs, and I went to both training sessions and I decided to you know go to the Tigers and probably one of those sliding doors moments that if I had to go on to Brothers Valleys, they finished last in the comp, they got beaten quite a bit and a by a lot. And so I chose to go to East, and of all years, we happened to go to the grand final. Yeah, so it was just one of those remarkable twists of fate that I chose to go that direction and was fortunate enough to end up in a really good system with a bunch of young blokes that probably a bit like myself had been in systems or been around, but hadn't been exposed to the next level. And so guys in hindsight, whether listeners know them, but you know, like Trent Young, Cogsy was there, there was Matt Lockier, we had Charlie Tonga, Dallas McIlwain, the Isaac Kaufman. But names at the time, no one knew. We were all young kids, 20, 21, 22-year-old kids looking for an opportunity, and we all ended up at East at the same time. And of all years, Darren Smith finishes up with the Broncos, he comes back to the Tigers. Steve Renoff, mid-year, comes back from the Broncos to the Tigers, and we go on a run, we make a grand finals. But we got a bunch of young kids. Honestly, it was probably one of the most enjoyable years you can experience because you're at 21, you're living in or you're you're playing in the middle of Brisbane, you're winning, playing with some really great players, and we made a grand final. Probably goes down still to this day, is one of the most epic grand finals in Q Cup history. And I was fortunate enough in that game to have a couple of decent moments at the back end of the game, and that gains a little bit of notoriety, and then the Knights picked me up from there. So, in hindsight, that decision, no disrespect to Brothers' valleys at the time, but that probably one decision to go to East changed you know my trajectory in the game.
SPEAKER_01Like, there's a lot to be said about especially when when we were kids too. Like you didn't have probably the credible advice, the systems, the processes around you that younger fellas or younger women do these days. It takes a lot of luck to make the NRL right place, right time. Yeah, absolutely. Injuries can take it out of your hands when it happens at the wrong time and stuff. So you just gotta keep toiling and take the shots when you get them, eh?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, and you know, I've now seen it on both fronts. I've seen it and experienced as a player, and then obviously now in the job that I do, I've seen it on the other. And you're absolutely 100% right. There's multitude of things that go into it, and you know, sliding doors, moments, good luck, bad luck, injuries, you know, off-field issues, yeah, and even potentially the opinion of a coach.
SPEAKER_01You know, so I was gonna say politics.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, you might have a coach and I that has a certain way of they like to play, and that particular coach really loves your style, and you think it's all going swimmingly, and then all of a sudden, for whatever reason, there might be a change of coach, and the next coach in doesn't see it the same way, and so you might not be the flavour. And yeah, so there's just honestly, there is a lot of luck. Yeah, and I feel as though that me at that particular time my life with East was lucky and then you make it what you you what it is, and we're seeing now with the Falcons, right? The Falcons are on top of the ladder and they don't get any players back, but we were the same at the time where we weren't getting any players back from a feeder relationship. So we were there every week doing the grind, going through it together, the ups and the downs, and yeah, then got the opportunity to go down to the knights as a result, and that was probably a moment of luck again. You know, I go down there. Andrew Johns is the guy, he's the halfback, I'm playing halfback. And underneath that, there was a guy named Stephen Witt, who was his understudy, Kirk Gidley was there. And so I just went down there because it was the only option I had, honestly. And that were gonna give me a go. I was gonna be a professional, so I went down there and trained my ass off and felt like I did a good job in in cup and got to mid-year. Joey breaks his jaw. I remember still to this day, Witty was caught up from reserve grade, so he goes in and does the captain's run, and in captain's run, he breaks down. So they called me from the New South Wales Cup team and said, Dano, you need to come over here. The next day we played against the roosters down in Sydney. So I was like, not one of these today where they build it up for a week and they got the Jersey Prezzos, and it was no mate, you're in the next day. Yeah, again, fleeting moment, sliding doors, and was fortunate enough to run out on NRL Field.
SPEAKER_01What was that debut experience like for you?
SPEAKER_04In hindsight, quick, really quick. You know, the build-up to it obviously I didn't have a week to think about, I had 24 hours to think about it. And we were playing the roosters at the old SFS, the now Alliance Stadium, and got the bus down, and obviously you're on the bus, everything's a bit nervy. Then you get to the game, and then you know, you're running out, and you've always pictured this from, you know, you would have been the same, Liam. Like anyone who plays the game has aspiration of one day maybe being an NRL player, and you had this vision of what it could look like and what it could feel like, and all of a sudden I remember walk, you know, running out of the tunnel at the SFS, this iconic venue in a knight's jersey, and it's like, wow, we're playing the roosters, and then you look around and you go, holy shit, like there's Minicello or Luke Rickardson or Craig Fitzgibon and Craig Wing and Adrian Morley, like the Braith and Astor. And I was starstruck, honestly. The first half, I can't even remember it. It was a blur. You're a participant, you're not a well sorry, you're a fan, you're not a participant. So you're just going through stargazing. I remember Ryan Cross running at me with Minutello bumping out of a tackle and going, Wow, I'm tackling Anthony Minicello here. Like that's that's the vibe you get at the start, and then as you settle into it, it becomes footy again. You know, and I felt like yeah, missed the whole jump on yeah, that first half, and it was what it was. I think we got canned quite a bit. But I come in at halfback, Kurt Gidley was the 5'8, Danny Badeiras the nine. So we you know, like we've got some good players around me. But we weren't playing well, we weren't winning a lot of games prior to that. And anyway, the next week of all weeks, so we go out and it's the first home game. And so this week I get the full week with the team and I feel a part of it, and it's the first game of the nights at home ground and running out again because we'd come out of the stand where we got changed each day to go to training, and it always for me it sounds a bit weird, but yeah, you sort of visualize what that may look like, and you sort of visualize okay. I'm coming out of the tunnel, and there's a packed house, and all of a sudden you live in that and you go, Holy shit, there's actually people in the stands now, it's not just training. And anyway, we run out, we're playing West Tigers, and so West Tigers, my second ever game of NRL. Remember 2005, that's the year they win the comp, the Tigers, so they're a good team. The halves on the other team were Scotty Prince and Benji Marshall. And of all days, the the week before Kurt Gidley had been injured against the Roosters. So there's me playing my second game and Jared Mullen making his debut. Wow. So here we are, we're playing the Tigers who have Benji Marshall and Scotty Prince against Dane Campbell and Jared Mullen. Like combined one game between them. And honestly, that's probably in my fleeting NRL career, that was the best game I played. Like kicked a 40-20, set up a couple of tries, felt good, kicked some goals, felt like I was there, I was present, I was an act, sorry, I was an active participant in the game and yeah, had some good outcomes. We nelly won. We didn't win, but we knelly won with a bunch of pretty much kids. And probably if I look back on it, yeah, it didn't get better from there. We kept losing after that. And you know, my career unfortunately in the NRL died a quick death thereafter. But it was one of those moments that I I would still look back fondly and go, well, out of all the players and all the people that play our game, the minute amount they get to actually achieve running out onto an NRL field to now or to then say I've achieved that lot, you know, that lifelong goal of a kid that dreams about playing on an NRL field, I got to tick that box. But again, my personality, I was probably quick to let it go to. I felt like instead of diving deeper on that, and maybe I had an opportunity when I finished it the nights the year after my contract coming to the end, and I actually had an opportunity to go to the West Tigers randomly. So I think it was around the time that Princey might have been maybe going back to the Gold Coast. They were starting to have those chats or thereabouts, and I decided not to because I felt like I was always going to be a player that was going to be like a backup player, you know, a guy that maybe plays from first grade, like a journeyman, you know, every two years, bounce around from club to club. And I don't know, I was just at a stage in my life where I just didn't know if that was me. I didn't know if I'd want to go keep, you know, training at the intensity level that you have to train at to compete, to then minimum wage to go to another city, to another city. And I guess looking back on hindsight, maybe that was a really easy out. And maybe I should have bit down on my mouth guard a bit harder and gone, you know what, this is what I love doing, and you know, keep at it, keep at it. Because like you said before, you know, perseverance eventually maybe that turns out to playing 50 games or 100 games. And but that was the choice I made at the time and it ended up back here in Queensland.
SPEAKER_01Well, the game was financially a lot different back then, too. So I would imagine if you were top 30 full-time but minimum wage, it wouldn't have been a super fruitful job. You would have been hustling on the side or doing what you could to make things meet.
SPEAKER_04Again, you know, you remember certain things, but you're absolutely right. I I can honestly hand on heart say my very first professional top 30 contract, which at the time was top 25, is $37,500. So in today's you know environment, there's players in the Q Cup that are getting paid $35,000. Yeah, to give you some, you know, to be part-time players. And I know there's obviously inflation and you know the world changes, cost of living, etc. But looking back on it, you know, now it's seeing it, you know, when I'm talking in my role that I perform now, and we're talking to young players about minimum wage being $150,000. Like the game's in a really fruitful position, and that it's awesome to see that these guys are going to get remunerated for their time, and it makes it more of a profession now. Like you're not half in, half out, you're fully in.
SPEAKER_01Mate, I don't know. I don't know if it's worth saying this on air, but I don't know this definitively, but heard through the great one. There's a bloke, Sunny Coast Com getting paid nearly that sort of level. Really? So the comp's changed a lot financially to what some clubs are throwing around for the A-grade system compared to mate back when you were captain coach, it was what, 50 bucks a game, 100 bucks a win, something like that for the A-grades.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, for sure.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. Yeah, yeah, right. I remember I finished up with the Knights the back end of my second year. I made a decision. I knew I was coming home to Queensland and remember David Fairley, who was our reserve grade coach at the time. He said, Dano, you're under contract, I know what you get paid. You're coming in here slogging your ass off. Like obviously the club's made decision that they're gonna go with some other players, and I was like, I was completely comfortable with that. But he said, I'll give you the tip. He said, the local league's paying pretty well. And he said, So you can either keep turning up and playing New South Wales Cup and doing what you do, or he said, But we're probably gonna put you back to local league at some point, you know, to get you, you know, running around there. And I was like, Yeah, yeah, sweet, no, if that's what it is. And didn't realise at the time, but Newcastle was very well paid local league. And it's like so I ended up there and I probably made more at the back end of my time in that local league down there than I probably did, you know, in the previous three or four months with the night. So Yeah, yeah, you're right. Like it things change and it's so cool to see from a purely observer point of view now, the locally here on the coast. You're seeing the coulombs of the world, obviously getting a lot of guys of profile in. Cloundra obviously are gonna continue to always be powerhouses, and as it's always great to see Noos were doing well too, you know, and getting people in from all over the place. So it's it's nice to see, but you're right, yeah, times change for sure.
SPEAKER_01And you've got to get that balance right from a local footy standpoint to have the lads coming through and then bring the support in around them that's the right profile to fit the club and what you're after.
SPEAKER_04That's huge, right? Like, and that's in any environment is knowing what your DNA is. And I think experience and time and age gives you the opportunity to learn that more. When we're all young, we hear it, but then to actually live like you do now and you're in the club, you know what the DNA is, you know what this club stands for, and then it's making really strong decisions around where we're going to attract players and people peripherally to your club that actually share that DNA. And I think when clubs are successful, they understand what that is for themselves. When they're unsure of that, it can be very wishy-washy and it changes year to year, and there's no substance to it. Yeah, so I think that's a huge point you make.
SPEAKER_01We did our strategic plan last year, and I feel like it pulled all the ideas that we've been trying to get together into a concise document that's been super important for the club these last two seasons. So, yeah, any footy people that are listening out there, if you're involved with a club that doesn't have a written down plan that's got some consultation with your members, I'd really recommend getting a strap plan done. Yeah. What was it like playing in front of the Novicastrian crowd?
SPEAKER_04Oh, they're wild. Like, honestly, yeah, they're very passionate people, you know, very rugby league mad. I know we were on a losing run, and over those people turning up with 20,000 people, which was crazy to think. And Ray and Hale Shine, they're there, and you know, which is a wonderful environment to be in. I I still remember made my debut there against the roosters down in Sydney, and the next day where I was living in Charlestown as a next door shopping centre, and went out you know to get bread or something like that. And I was walking down and on the job site next door, and there was some construction going on.
SPEAKER_03And next minute I get these dudes yelling out at me and like, hey Dane, great job, well done, congratulations, rah rah.
SPEAKER_04And I was thinking, Freak, how do they even know who I am? You know, like this is weird, but that's how invested into the game they are across the town. Yeah, and I felt I've been really fortunate that I've been to some places that love rugby league, and Newcastle is certainly one, North Queensland is another. They live and breathe for it, it means a lot to the people, and being immersed in that it's a really good experience, I feel.
SPEAKER_01The culture around uh footy club that knows what they stand for is special, hey, special to be part of community.
SPEAKER_04I think that's probably dawned on me as I get older too, is community. I think that's a really key word in and certainly if I look at local footy, you know, certainly what happens in and around you know the pirates, understanding their history there to a certain extent, seeing what you guys are doing, but also understanding the importance of community. As a younger person, I probably didn't appreciate that as much as I do now. I'm starting to fully understand the impact that can have and the notoriety that you can have, and try and probably more so from a Queensland Cup perspective, more so than maybe a you know a local league perspective. But I'll take a Rockhampton as an example, you know, rugby league mad territory. But I would argue now that you know a Queensland Cup player for the Capras, if you go and play 100-150 games, you are very well known in town. You're probably going to get some notoriety, some people that really appreciate your commitment to the town, to the community, and as a result, you get opportunity to do other things and branch out and you become a success. And yeah, that respect level is huge in my opinion. So I'm a big advocate now of you know people that don't see Queensland Cup or don't see Local League as being a failure, you know, make it what you need it to be and be really proud of community and be really proud that you can represent your town and and be really active in it. And I always admire someone like yourself, Liam. You've come here and you know you've made a great life for yourself, honestly. And you know, you know, from the real estate to now the footy, obviously you're very well entrenched and takes a certain person to be really happy with that. And yeah, there's guys like Gus Stewart, obviously, and Zippy and those sorts of guys that this is their life and this is who they are, and they might go away for periods, but you know, they always boomerang back and it means something to them. It's great to see.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, mate, part of their DNA and the pubs, yeah, the other way around too, goes both ways.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, no, absolutely.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, awesome, man. After New E, that's when you shift it back up to Brisbane and you're playing Queensland Cup.
SPEAKER_04I come back to the coast randomly. I had a uh guy that would have been involved when I was a junior at Pine Rivers of all things, and he'd been back here on the coast and he was working with a group to try and get the Falcons into what was the old Mixwell Cup, which was like the reserve grade, the equivalent of like VR. Fox Cup. Yeah, Fogs Cup. Yeah, that's correct. And so at the time, he reached out to me and he said, Hey Dano, I know you know what's happening down there in Newcastle. If you've got any, we'd love to have you back here on the sunny coast. We're only we're not in Queensland Cup, we're in the level below. And my wife at the time, she bought a salon, a beauty salon at Cotton Tree. So we're all gonna move back to Sunny Coast, and he must have got wind of it somehow. And anyway, so as a result of that, he sort of Gs me up and quite good of him, and he said, mate, there's a CEO role going. And I was like, CEO? I'm like 23, 24 year old, and I thought, you know what? Well, maybe this is my calling, maybe the playing, I've ticked the box, you know, I've played some NRL, played a bit of Q Cup. Maybe this is my destiny, maybe admin and coaching down the track, maybe that's what I'm meant to do. Anyway, so I ended up coming back and I took the job as CEO of the Falcons.
SPEAKER_01I actually didn't know that.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, that was my first job back here on the coast and young and dumb, man. And got back and I was working out of Old Kawana field there at the time. Quad Park. Quad park. Yeah, that's right. Yep, correct. And so great intentions. The team had been back up and running for a year. I took over the CEO role and I lasted all of about probably three or four months. Yeah. Um, if that. So what had happened it was I come in in the offseason and I'm working by myself, and yeah, like it's sort of you know, I'm just going through the motion. And I was really energized. I was actually super excited to do it, but then it quickly dawned on me. I was getting a bit of peripheral pressure from you know the guys, my old coaches at East. They knew that I was back, and they were like, hey mate, you know, you're too young, you got to come back and play. And I was like, nah nah, I'm sweet, I'm happy. And anyway, it was the more they chipped away, the more they chipped away, I was like, Yeah, they're probably right. And so I got the itch to play, you know, once footy season rolled around a bit more. And so anyway, I decided that I had to make a decision, and that decision was I wanted to keep playing. So I I chose to go back to East. And so I remained living here on the coast, but drove down to Brisbane three times a week and chose another field instead of being in rugby league. I got out and I became a mortgage broker. Yep. You know, branched off into something completely different to change my aspect on life. And that was probably it was a weird two years because I stuck it out for two years, but it it's a big drain, you know, driving that far, and you, you know, as a mortgage broker, you've got to do the work, and you know, a lot of that works you know after hours with other people's commitment. So yeah, in hindsight, probably wasn't the smartest decision, but got another couple of years under my belt, cue cup, and pretty quickly from there that it was wearing me down a fair bit. The travel and my priorities in life were starting to change. I had one more year at the end of it, went back to Redcliffe for one more year, and then that was when it really dawned on me hey, you know what, like this half in, half out, it's not gonna work. And yeah, it was funny because you it's I remember my last year at Redcliffe, and I'd been reached. I I got a call from Gary O'Brien, who was the coach then at the time. He said, Listen, Dana, we got a really good crop of young kids here, but we've lost a lot of experience. And I was about 26, something like that. And he said, Mate, can you just come back here and give some guidance to these guys? And you know, now I look at it and I think 26 is young, man. Like, but at the time I thought I was like prehistoric, I thought I was old as. And I was like, geez, I'm playing with a bunch of 19, 20, 29 year olds, but they were super talented, they were a great group of guys, and but I realized very quickly I was still doing the commute back and forth from Budram. And I was always one of those guys that to be the best version of me, I had to do extras. I had to get there early, you know, I had to do my goal kicking, my general play kicking, my tackle, my extra fitness to keep at a standard that was going to be competitive. What I was doing is I was taking shortcuts because I was finishing work early. So I was losing money because I was self-employed, to drive down there, getting there just before the start of training, tick the box at training, and then as soon as it finished, get in the car and go home. So there's a few things around that that in hindsight I've learned is one, you can't cut corners on your on your prep. That's huge. If you want to be competitive, and the other one is the social aspect because as soon as you finish training, if you're getting home at a reasonable hour, like you finish at eight, you want to get home by 9:30, whatever, you're not having beers after, you're not having the pizza in the shed, you're not conversing. So you're missing those moments of connectivity. And it dawned on me at sort of mid-year that hey, you know, this is this is sort of coming to an end, that phase of my life, and that sense, you know, the call to Billy or Billy call me, and it ended up at Noosa.
SPEAKER_01So yeah, it's funny how the world works. And mate, that initial stage back at Noosa, did it find you sort of found your love for rugby league a little bit more again? Was going back to park footy and taking a lot of the pressure away beneficial.
SPEAKER_04I feel as though I was energized because I was going to do something new. Like I the coaching. Yeah, the coaching for me was probably what I needed at that time in my life. Like going through I never probably really thought about it until after the fact is I sort of worked really hard to get to a point as a player. I probably then eased off and sort of instead of biting on my mouth guard, I I eased off rather than doing the other way around. And I needed something else. I needed a challenge, I needed something that I I love the game. Beyond anything, I love the game. And felt like I had felt like the back couple of years of playing, I was becoming nearly like a coach within the group. You know, that you're either a leader or captain or of the team. So therefore, by default, you're parting as a halfback, you got a lot of what you think is knowledge for the group. And I I felt that was a natural thing for me to go into coaching. And so I was pumped to come to Noosa. And then unfortunately, I'll get through to mid-year and I got an injury. Unfortunately, that sort of that was me done as a player. And yeah, not that I wanted the injury to happen, but yeah, in hindsight, I probably was ready to stop playing anyway. And I had to live in the the shoes of giants up here at Noosa because mate Goldie had been here and he was a tremendous player and a tremendous store. So even though it could be seen outwardly as a step back from whether it's NRL or Q Cup, whatever, the reality was Goldie had made like this a dynasty. You know, the club had done incredibly well and you're stepping into issue, not only as a coach but as a halfback. So there was peripheral pressure. I've never been one to really worry too much about that stuff. It doesn't really affect me too much, either peripheral noise or expectation. It's sort of one thing I don't seem to have an issue with. But it I'm sure is in hindsight that there would have been things around that coming into an environment where Goldie lives in Noosa, he surfs at main beach there, he's a wonderful fella, and he means so much to the community. And then all of a sudden there's a new guy comes in. And funnily enough, like I live at Budram, so I was commuting back and forward, and I know we're on the coast, but Noosa's Noosa, right? Like, so I I wouldn't say I felt like an outsider, but again, it just was one of those things that I it dawned on me as years passed that if you're gonna do something, in my strong opinion, certainly if it's locally based, that particular person needs to be ingrained in that community. That's where you see the most success, in my opinion. And yeah, so yeah, that was a really fun couple of years. I really enjoyed the coaching. There's probably one at the start, I was like over the top, you know, like I was setting up all the cones, I had a million different drills, and you know, after about year two into year three, like I'd started to go fall back to what the group was. And I this is no disrespect to any of the players because we'd had a good crop of young kids, but every time I felt like we started to to get a little bit of momentum, a guy would go join the army or he'd go to Union Brisbane, you know. So what you thought you know at the start of a year might be a really good squad. By the time we get to mid-year, none of them are still there, you know, or injury or at that time there was the mines. I don't know if you remember, but the mines became a big thing, and the amount of guys that we'd lose to the mines that would shift work, you know, like two on, two off. So you can't ever plan. And even when they're coming back for their two weeks, they want to have fun. Like, you know, the footy's not the be all and end all in their life. So understanding where my mind was at about wanting to be super professional to understanding the actual reality of the players, it's probably one moment towards the end of it that I probably started to go, you know what, maybe you know, my time here at the Noosa was coming to an end where I'd got I'd driven up, it's the middle of winter, it's cold, it's dark, and I got there and I sat in my car, it was about let's say 5.30. So you'd always say the players, you know, six o'clock start, get there 15, 20 minutes early, whatever. Anyway, I got there about 5.30. I'm sitting in a car park, Pirate Park, and I just thought, you know what, I'm just gonna sit in the car here today and I'm gonna watch how many of these players get here at one early and how many do some extras and what it means to them. And I remember I waited till about five to six, and there was two players there. And that probably was when it dawned on me, you know what, like I'm driving, you know, 40 odd minutes one way to be here, and it means a lot to me, but if it doesn't mean the same to others, then maybe my time is maybe it's time for me to seek a new change. And that was probably the realization that that's where you're in the local community, it's far easier to do that. Whereas obviously it doesn't sound far budram to Noosa, but it is like it's 35-40 minutes on a good run.
SPEAKER_01It's still a commute, yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_04So yeah, and then you know, my time, unfortunately. I probably feel as though my time at Noosa came to an end, probably on a hour note, like a negative for me personally, and getting it off my chest. It was probably more so I had a wonderful relationship with Chris O'Grady and his wife too, and tremendous people. And you know, I felt like they did a ton of work for this club over many years, and they had asked me to step in, they were gonna move on, and they'd asked me to step into the president's role. And begrudgingly, I I said, nah, no, I can't do it, I can't do it. You know, I think my time's done. And anyway, we got towards the AGM, and yeah, Chris kept asking, and I was like, he said, you know, we got no one else. I feel as though you do a good job. I'm I'll mentor you or I'll help you. And I thought, you know what, okay, I'll do it for you. Like, you know, like you've been great to me and supported me. And so I decided to do it. And it was probably one of my bleaker moments. I remember we got to the AGM and it just dawned on me at the time that that nominated me, and I just said, I can't do it. You know, like we stepped out and we got it sorted, and I ended up doing it for a year, but I just never felt comfortable in that role at that time. I wasn't aware enough of myself in an administration capacity. Again, I wasn't local, local. So things that Chris and you know, now the Chris days, yourself, Liam, that you're able to do. Let's say there's an issue. Well, you're five minutes, you're 10 minutes away, so you can come fix a problem. Whereas if I'm 40 minutes away, it's a little bit of a different story. So I felt like I let a lot of people down that year, honestly. I felt like it I had a such an amazing three years as a player coach here that I got towards that last year, and unfortunately, it just soured a little bit for me and probably took a little bit of time to re-invigorate some relationships and also probably lost some relationship, probably lost a bit of respect from some people as well. Not me, but the other way around, and and completely understandable as to why some of the guys that would put in massive hours, like you know, coming fixing the grounds or volunteering time and they're seeing this bloke who's meant to be the head of that, not giving that same commitment. I can completely understand why that would have been the case. And maybe I'm overthinking that, but the reality was that's probably how I felt at the time. And yeah, but my love for this club and Noosa never ever waned, and I always have kept a really close eye on how things have evolved, and of all times driving up here today. And you know, I'm talking to Moses Enboy, and you know, he's caught a time on his career this week. You know, he he's done, he's gonna park up at the end of this year. And I just said to him, I said, mate, I remember being there for the start of that senior journey, not for his juniors, but yeah, we gave him and Zach friend their debuts in A grade here at Noosa Pirates. And it was funny because I still remember Zach and Moe, they were like 17 or right, still at school, probably 17, 18. And they would come from train, they'd be surfboat rowing down a main beach at Hastings there, and then they'd come straight from there to footy training and just rip in. And you think, well, these are good kids, you know. And Moe end up playing some games the year after he goes to Sydney, and then he goes on and plays what 200 plus professional games. And that's probably a moment in time that even just talking to him today, or you reflect on that, and one, it makes you feel really old. But the other part is that's why you do it as a coach. You're part of the journey, you're not the end part of the journey, you're part of the process, and seeing him and what he's achieved, and going on to be such a terrific young man as well. And you know, he's got a big future in the game administratively or in coaching, and you know, to to understand his journey and just in some small way, you'll the cliche always is you just want as a coach, you want to help influence one person's life. But then is that ever good enough? Or do you want to help 10 or 20? Or and in life we always want more and more and more. But if you actually strip it right back and you say, in that moment, if we've affected positively one person's life and they go on and have a really tremendous career and you've played some form of involvement, that's a really happy place to be.
SPEAKER_01Man, I think if you can be having a positive impact on anyone's life, it's a good legacy piece. Credit to you on that, brother.
SPEAKER_04No, he's done the work, but yeah, he's just one example of many a story, obviously, over the last now you know, 10-15 years that either whether it's coaching and or recruiting now is that yeah, to see a young person achieve their dream. And unfortunately, you see some that don't achieve it that you'd love to see achieve it, but you know, them's the breaks, all right. Playing a game, we were down at Calandra, you know, there was a scuffle broke out. I still remember Zach Friend was getting picked on a bit that night, and he'd only recently I was playing half, he was playing five-eight, he was mate seventeen, eighteen. Yeah, you know, back then you know, it wasn't the punch someone, you're in the bin, sort of thing, or suspended. So yeah, a fight broke out, in my opinion, like I was hit from the side, you know, whilst not looking at the person, so you know, a king hit, whether the person on the other side feels the same, maybe different. But I remember being in the melee trying to obviously tell Calandra to back off, yeah, you know, a kid, honestly, and I felt like that was my place to as the coach, as the captain, to help. And unfortunately, like, you know, fight breaks out, I get whacked in the side of the head. And as I did, like you didn't lose consciousness, didn't fall to the ground or anything. And you know, you I actually played the rest of the game. Then I woke up the next morning, I had this massive, massive hematoma on the side of my head. I think, oh, that's a bit weird. Anyway, and a mad headache. And I went to the doctor and they said, Oh, yeah, it's it's you've obviously got a big bruise on the side of your head. Yeah. Anyway, they said, Oh, it's just it's blood, it's a bruise, so it'll just sort of go through your lymph nodes and okay, sweet. So the next couple of days was weird as like basically you got this massive hematoma on the side of your head that just day by day works its way down through your jaw, through your lymph nodes, and then it was gone, you know. So it sort of cleared itself. But I remember at the time he said, Listen, you've you've copped a significant knock, you might need to give yourself sort of three to four weeks to get over it. And I was like, Yeah, sweet, no problem. So anyway, uh did that, didn't have any real scans or anything at the time. And then it went back about three or four weeks later and was starting to feel pretty good. And the doc said, Yeah, well, you're sweet to go. Like, if you want to play, you go and play. Okay, no dramas. And I remember I went to training here at the Pirate Park and we're doing some just wrestling stuff, you know, some real basic stuff, you know, tackle tech into wrestle. And randomly I started to like, if not faint, like sort of black out a bit or just feel really weird. And then I remember just like stumbling off, and someone must have sort of come and escorted me to the side. And I remember Chris O'Grady at the time said, You're not in a good way here. Like, you know, we need to bring an ambulance or get you down to the hospital ASAP. And so they organized that. I forget whether it was an ambo or or they drove me, but they drove me just down here to Noosa and took me in. And I still remember to this day, I was in the hospital, and my daughter at the time would have been, God, yeah, seven months old, something like that. And you know, they'd obviously let Lee know that I've had a turn and I'm not doing real well, and I'm in hospital. And so she's driving up to Noosa from Budram, and they say to her, Listen, you you might want to say your goodbyes. We're gonna airlift him down to to Brisbane. We think he's got bleeding on the brain, and we don't know what the outcome may be. So I I still honestly to this day remember Lee, my wife putting tear on my chest, and basically that was a you know, hey, this could be this could be it. Yeah, this could be the last time we see each other. And anyway, helicopter comes, flew me down to Brizzy, and fortunately enough, they performed a craniotomy. So actually, sorry, my my bad. They assessed me and they said, listen, you've got bleeding on the brain, it's gonna eventually, we can't do much for it. We want to see if it naturally uh gets out of your body. And I was like, Yeah, sweet. So I stayed in hospital for a week, ended up coming home to the coast, but was sort of bedridden. I just had mad headaches all the time and took another turn, and they sent me back down to hospital. And again, I was another week in hospital, long-winded, but I was another week in hospital, and they said, No, no, we think you're coming good. And then the night before they were gonna let me go home again, I took a turn and I um I remember the doctor coming in and he said, How are you feeling? And he and he said, and I couldn't see him properly, and it was a bit blurry, and then he started asking me questions. It was a simple one, like, you know, what's your phone number? And I still remember to this day, like everyone knows their phone number, right? And so in my mind, I'm saying like oh four, blah blah blah blah blah. But what was coming out of my mouth was oh oh. So in my brain at that time, going, I'm in trouble here. Like so I know what I'm trying to say, but I'm hearing what's coming out, and it's a completely different thing. I'm like, I I think I'm in an ordinary ordinary state here anyway. So they performed an emergency craniotomy, ripped off me part of my skull cap and drained the fluid and you know, hope like hell that it would work. And fortunately it did, and I'm still here today. Pretty wild ride.
SPEAKER_01Wild ride. Holy, I'm just trying to think of all the things that would have been going through you and your beautiful wife and I think families, heads, yeah.
SPEAKER_04You're in that moment, and I I've yeah, I don't know what I was thinking, honestly, at the time. I think you you know, I was probably young and dumb still, and you know, full of bravado that you know, like it'll all be sweet, and that's probably how I've lived most of my life. And so yeah, I feel as though like that come out reasonably well, and then probably about six months later, went in for a checkup and they said, Listen, there's no we can't see any long term brain damage, which was really good. But yeah, at that stage, you you know like and he actually said you could probably go back and play if you wanted to. And I I see a guy like Tamari Martin who has had a brain bleed and he's come back and he's played, and credit to him. him because you know for me I was at a stage in my life where I made a decision not to play again even though technically he said probably I could and I was like well you know what I'm earning a hundred dollars a game in matches as opposed to a hundred thousand dollars for my career you know what I might just pull up stones here and that was the end of my playing career and you saw through coach in that year coach the following year then president the year after yeah so mate what a tenure at Noosa hey what a wild ride we had fun anyway but uh and some great friendships and I still keep in touch with a few of the guys and whenever I see him it's one of those ones where we all live our lives obviously and you go up and do different things but whenever you see each other it's it's so cool and yeah I got to come back here this year. My daughter's now playing uh rugby league and yeah she went back to Pirate Park early this year. I remember seeing you and Gus and and Zippy which was really cool and yeah just reliving those memories and seeing I've still got pictures of you know Tia in the back of a car watching games at Pirate Park for her to be back there and then playing on that surface it brings up nostalgia and good moments and good memories.
SPEAKER_01Yeah awesome man. Yeah so Tia's playing she's she's in her teenage grades now she's 17 this year.
SPEAKER_04It goes quick yeah so there we go yeah she was six months old when I was up here so yeah she's 17 years ish thereabouts 16 years you know since we first started the journey up here which is cool.
SPEAKER_01Mate it's funny I like I reflect back I came back as a player in 2012 when you were coaching. So it's yeah it's funny reliving these and putting pieces together in the story for me too because you you remember things differently as a young bloke and when you don't remember things.
SPEAKER_04And there's certain things like I said there where and we'll all experience this in life right is you never know what's going on in someone else's life. 100% relationship issues, financial issues sporting pressures family pressures whatever it is that you know it's not until we deeply connect and understand each other that and there's some things as a senior person that don't need to be divulged to other individuals to I guess raise their pressure or anxiety as well. So that's the jigsaw that's the beauty of coaching and mentorship I guess.
SPEAKER_01Part of being a leader too isn't that knowing when to when to be vulnerable and when to hold your cars a little bit close. Huge yeah massively yeah obviously you had the sportswear label and stuff for a while people remember Zane.
SPEAKER_04Did is that still going no no that was uh yeah three or four years doing that and then I got the opportunity so I went back and finished up here at the at the Pirates and then obviously still realized probably after that year of doing the bit of the admin stuff that I you know my passion was coaching and I needed to get back in there and I needed to do it closer to where I was living and the opportunity came up to go to the Falcons. So the Falcons looking for an under-20s coach I joined up with a bloke Danny Gray who I didn't know at the time but I know he was coaching at Callaundron DG's just like one of the best humans you'll ever meet yeah he and I landed at the same spot at the same time and had a mutual respect for one another and we did the job there for the 20s that year and just got on so well and had a really enjoyable first experience of what that level of coaching was like and you're dealing with guys there that are still aspirational. Yeah so they're turning up on time they're doing all those things that you would like to do and so I felt like that was a really good introduction for me and again you know like because we're sort of pouring the heart out of the yeah it's like the back end of that year was a we a weird one for me. There was a guy Glenn Dregger who was doing the head coaching at the time and got on really well with Glenn had known him for a period of time and unfortunately the results weren't going the way you know of the senior team and you know we were doing a good job or decent job at the the Colts level but Glenn unfortunately finished up and they employed or got in a sort of an interim coach at the back end of the year and a guy named John Dixon and I'd known John for years and years he'd recruited me as a kid to the Broncos and anyway said he comes in and he didn't know anyone and so he just said to me Dane can you help me out with the cup team for the back end of the year I don't know anyone like you know I need someone locally there to try and help me through these last six or seven rounds and I said yeah well obviously I've got my own team with Danny but obviously because we were co-coaches it it sort of worked and anyway so we did that and I got my first taste of experien or experience of coaching at a very fleeting level a cup level coach or or team and enjoyed that enjoyed that experience of coaching men again. I felt like I was ready to do that. And then the following year John decided to move on he was just doing the interim and they employed Craig Ingebritz from Brisbane and I again I known Trigger for through Redcliffe days and he sort of said hey mate would you like to be my assistant in Cup I was like oh that's that sounds like the natural progression. So I went and did that for God you know three months I think it was November start date you know pre-season and back in a January randomly this is how the world works right is the storm had moved their under 20s team to the coast. And so I'm sitting there at you know Kowana coaching with the Falcons and again sliding doors moment there's a bloke called Paul Bunn who's the head of recruitment who moves to the coast he doesn't know a lot of people at the time and he says to me Dano there's a guy who's moving on so Maddie Adamson was doing like the pathways recruitment coaching sort of role Maddie had decided to finish up at the back end of January and Bunny approached me and said mate would you like to come and work for the storm and I was like mate I'm really enjoying the coaching you know like and but it was the opportunity to get back in. So your question about Zine was I was still running the sportswear business coaching of the Falcons really happy you know thinking thing life's good and then get approached by Paul to come and be involved with the storm full time I was like this is too good to refuse sort of thing still remember ringing John Dixon and I said to Dico at the time I said I've got this opportunity to go and work full time for the storm it's in recruitment and pathways primarily he said don't do it. I said what are you what are you talking about? Like this is this is a great opportunity like I get to be full time work for the Melbourne Storm like Melbourne Storm it's not like you know no disrespect to another club but they're at the top of the tree right and they're on my doorstep I don't have to move like this is the best ever. And he said just don't do it. He said I think you could be a good coach and I was like I'll just I'll do that down the track. He said if you go into recruitment now you'll never get back into coaching. And I was like yeah yeah whatever whatever and so I I took the job right and he's right I've never gone back into coaching. So here we are 11 years old he was right but it was the right decision for me at the time and I really enjoyed being a part of the storm system whilst they were here on the coast and I was very well mentored by Bunny got to understand what recruitment looks like and what they look for and different things and I feel like I've been really fortunate in life to have some wonderful experiences and that's certainly one of them.
SPEAKER_01Awesome and then from a stint at the storm for a few years up to the Cowboys in recruitment.
SPEAKER_04Yeah yeah the the storm thing was primarily pathways so yeah younger players and here on the coast we had some guys come through Trent Larillo was one of our first signings uh Tino big Tino obviously was coming through Tyson Smoothie was with the Broncos but obviously he was coming through the program so a lot of really good young players that were given an opportunity by the storm being present here on the coast and even guys that have you know probably not have the fanfare like Harry Grant played here Scott Drinkwater played here like you know like these are Nico yeah well the the funny thing is I remember we were my primary objective was to recruit for the under-20s. So the NYC the old under-20s was here and so my role was to recruit for that. Now Maddie Adamson had done a wonderful job and so the year one I inherit like he'd set it up and then year one I'm sort of watching these guys perform at a really high level and then it was the responsibility to try and keep that going try and find some players that were going to become future stars. And I still remember that last year we played the last year of the NYC I think from memory let's let's say we finished 10th. So we didn't make the top eight we finished 10th in the comp but I since then looked at who's gone on to play first grade. And of that particular team there might be like 12 first graders from Bowie Firma to Jesse Arthur's to drinkwater, you know Brody Croft. The list goes on you know Josh Kerr. So holy like what it showed to me is the mentality of the storm about getting the right person and coaching them well and them really buying into the system. They didn't need to win a comp to to validate their success the of the individual at that age but as obviously time has now shown us is the right program with the right person with the right attitude has actually got these guys to be regular first graders and achieve success at the top end, which is really cool.
SPEAKER_01And all those guys you just named have played more first grade NRL games than the statistics sort of say is the average tenure eight years. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04And so yeah I guess to the point before was yeah at the end of that period of time COVID happened and then I'd been it was my fifth year with the storm and we three grand finals in that period of time. So I was exposed to an era at the storm of success and got to understand what that looked like it felt like although I was based on the coast I'd fly down regularly and be a part of the the game day and understand what it took you know and some generational talent obviously but I still remember Bunny's one of his very first things driving here on the coast he said Dane one of the things that you and I and I'm thinking so hang on a minute like I just started like it's you know he was like that we'll be remembered for is how we replace the big three or how we continue having success after the big three and I was like well mate that that's your job like I'm and I go no no you're part of it now and I was like all right that's that's a bit of pressure but in hindsight wow like to think that you lose Billy Slater, Cameron Smith, Cooper Kronk and replace him with Cameron Munster, Ryan Pappenhausen, Jerome Hughes it's like holy shit Harry Grant and so credit to him like that's not a lot on me. That was primarily on Bunny like well done like honestly that's insanely freakish how that's worked out. Yeah you know to go from having generational players to another line of generational players you know so I learned a lot through that tenure and as back end of that and because there's success at the top then under I guess fortunately underneath people externally are starting to look and go well how come they're successful who's involved we're not going to get Paul Bunn. So when the Cowboys are starting to look around for a recruitment manager they're not they're probably not going to get Paul Bunn but my name come up somehow somehow and you know that was the right time for me to go and get my big boy shoes on and see if I could handle the next step which was managing a top roster you know from going from the junior space into the senior space. And I remember getting to the Cowboys and feeling though I was ready. Felt like I'd done my apprenticeship I'd done my five years felt like I'd come from a good system with good principles. I'd already lived in North Queensland so I knew a little bit of their DNA about what and I I had a really strong view on what I felt was their DNA. So I went back through history and my very first probably two months there I remember I went in and I saw this picture on the wall and it was the grand final team of 2005. They played the West Tigers and in it they had all the players lined up for the Anthem and I went through and found out who the guys were from central or north Queensland and of 17 players there might have been 12 guys in that team that were from north or central Queensland. I felt like Matty Bowen Paul Bowman Josh Hannay Ty Williams like these guys Travis Norton tough men who meant something to North Queensland and it meant something there from regional backgrounds. And then I looked at our current roster at the time at the cows when I first started and I was like we only had 30% of our roster were from north or central Queensland. So in my opinion we'd lost that connectivity to what we were about we went through a process then with I'd started Todd had just started as coach Michael Luck had just started as a GM of footy and collectively I remember we all spoke about winning back our farm and let's give the opportunity first primarily to players that are from regional Queensland and if we can't find them from there. But it was like process of elimination and I'm really proud that after five years of being there I can walk away and I walked away you know middle of last year and I look at the roster that they've now got and they're back up to that sort of 60 70% local or sorry catchment area kids and I can from Tom Chester you know to Zach Labutt to Jackson Purdue to Caden Lars, Heel and Lukey, Jeremiah Nanay like you know Reuben Cotter, Cohen Hess like these guys are the fabric of what it takes to be in my opinion a cowboy. So I walked away and I'm I'm watching from afar now and seeing Jack O go exceptionally well or seeing Tom Chester become the person that he rightfully can be and I'm really just so happy that I got to experience seeing that come to fruition. Some would argue that you know success hasn't necessarily been there. They're in and around the eight but I'm confident that with that group of people because the other one is Tommy Deaden right like Mackay kid I'll touch on him in a sec, but I feel as though they should be and can be a perennial top four, top six team year on year with the resource they have with the playing population, the support. But just quickly on Tommy Deerden so one of my first things when I got to the cows was I remember we had to find a halfback because you know sort of Cliffo had decided he'd wanted to move on to Newcastle and so we had to go through who we were going to sign as a halfback and Deaden's name was on a list of about six or seven and I remember them saying well what do you think we should do and we've gone in and I said I think we go for Deirdon. They said are you sure and I said well not really but yeah because at the time Tommy was getting like blasted at the Bronx like he was in reserve grade like he was like the scapegoat he's like the Messiah and they pulled him down he was in the doldrums and I was like I've watched enough of him coming through to know that he's a very good footballer and you know what above beyond all else he's a hard worker he's originally from Mackay we're trying to win back our farm I think we need to give this guy an opportunity and I was puckering like honestly I was thinking to this is my first big decision. We're not talking 30 grand or a hundred grand we're talking significant sort of investment level of a halfback who's going to become your guy right and I honestly didn't know I'm I'm like I I think this is the right way to go all my logical brain said it it was and we went with it and fortunately Lucky and Todd were good enough to say yep we'll back you and we'll we'll go with this plan. And Tommy's first probably couple of months we kept losing games that it was sort of getting I was like oh man how's this going to work out and then fortunately enough the next year we brought Chad Townsend in to help him and obviously to see now what Tommy's become is just like yeah that was the right decision for the right time and I felt like the Chad decision was the right one for the right time to get a mentor in to take the pressure away from Tommy to let Tommy be the player he could become organically rather than put it all on his shoulders and he's you know that's been really wonderful to see how that's panned out.
SPEAKER_01As a former halfback yourself in recruitment it must be hard sometimes to not try and coach Blakes when you're recruiting or or not I don't know because if you don't have the trust of the dressing room you're done as a coach or a recruiter. So yeah it must be a tricky dynamic to work with sometimes man.
SPEAKER_04Yeah it is for sure and I feel as though I was probably guilty of being overly critical of halves because I've sort of lived in those shoes. I'd seen Joey up close I'd seen Jared Mullen evolve like you know like I've lived these experiences of what I feel as though good halves need to be and I grew up playing with and against John O. Thurston and so again there's another example of what you've seen and what you believe and you've learned to believe and so yeah I was overly critical of young halves probably early and I'm I'm becoming better as I get more experienced in it that everyone's going to be different. And the other part in recruitment is trends of the game. So what we know to be true about a half 10 years ago might be completely different to the next five years coming up. So we're always constantly looking for evolution and change but the keys are they got to be super fit is beyond any doubt and they've got to be good community and be really composed. And I think those things the other things can be taught from you know early catch to which leg you pass off and but if you're not courageous and you're not fit it's gonna be difficult.
SPEAKER_01Well yeah you can't coach doubling up on effort areas and pushing pushing when you don't need to and stuff like that.
SPEAKER_04So that comes honestly that's probably one thing when you watch obviously and you come through and you see success in grand finals and seeing that up close is oftentimes the big games aren't necessarily one on finesse are they? They're one on desire and effort and yeah when you're absolutely totaled that you just keep turning up so learning and understanding that a little bit more over experience I feel as though in what we're doing now with the Bears is we're starting to put a little bit of that into place and we may not necessarily have the guys of a really high repute or notoriety at the moment but the reality is we're doing it for a reason and to those reasons you just mentioned before. So we think these guys have those traits that in the next two years we might all be sitting here going geez that was a good decision hopefully well and PG come like there's a lot of noise around this you've been given the license PG the following year there's probably going to be a 20th license awarded the year after so a lot of I don't know capacity's been added to the comp where you need to fill a roster and the expectation is you're competitive straightaway and stuff and and mate the Dolphins did it pretty well too so it's a it's an interesting space because obviously there's a lot of noise around PG and rightfully so they're doing a great job of getting some big names and they're selling a different dream to what we're selling and it's pretty clear for us that we have an idea of what we want to be and how we can be that and we've deliberately gone and targeted players that we think in the primes of their career or about to be in the primes of their career. And there's a couple of exceptions to the rule but on the majority there's been real focus area on guys that want to be trailblazers guys that want to be bold and make a decision based on having success and sustained success not fleeting success and so I think we're selling a completely different narrative to what PNG and good luck to them and the people that are you know doing a good job for those guys and they they'll have some challenges along the way that um come up as will we you know in terms of tyranny of distance and that changing of mentality around what is considered normal. Yeah and but history always repeats and you know when the Reds came into the competition back in 95 they're really competitive from the outset. Feel as though we've got some really strong advantages with our North Sydney connection. So when we play away games in Sydney we'll be probably as supported as the home team so we've got some real things in our corner and I'm a bit of a history nerd I've gone back over all the teams that have entered the competition since the Illawarra Steelers and the and the Raiders in the early 80s and oftentimes it's met with there's not necessarily instant success but there's grown success and I feel like the storm of the one anomaly over a you know 30 to 40 year duration that they had they came third in year one and that's insane right but I look at them in history and they had Scott Hill and Brett Camorley were their starting halves in round one 1998. At the time both Scott and Brett were 21 years of age combined had a a total of 22 games of NRL between them. So what I'm getting at there is they were backed they weren't household names but someone saw enough in them to go you know what these guys are going to be fairly talented. And I reckon if I read back through the the newspapers back then they're probably Ken and the Melbourne Storm probably bargaining them and telling them how ordinary they're going to be and but they use that to their advantage. They use the fire in the belly of no one cares about us. You know they all expect us to fail. And I feel as though that's a little bit of a narrative that maybe you can get up for little periods of time on that but I feel as though we've got some cattle there that are going to surprise a lot of people next year.
SPEAKER_01Well mate and as far as sort of regions and a bit of a chip on the shoulder the West Coast Coast. Yeah there's a fair rivalry there too and there's lots of East Coast expats over there.
SPEAKER_04So you're gonna they're rusted on rugby league people and you're right like I've definitely noticed my time over there that this East First West thing is real. It's real and it's uh I think again to our advantage and really excited by what that could be and I don't see fear in it. I I actually feel as though we're in a really good spot to continue to sell purse a wonderful location obviously got the lovely beaches you've got a lot of territory we've got a lot of resource a lot of finance a lot of support so we've got a really good thing that we're you know in front of us whether we get there in year one who knows but I look at the Dolphins and they've grown organically year one they finished 14th out of 17 teams so they didn't have instant success. They've been in the comp four years this will be the first year they make finals but it's been done in an organic way they signed some really good young players they've come through and they've become really household names but go back to year one and year two like a young easy catal or a Bostock or a Donohoe no one knew who they were at that time either. But they were given an opportunity and I feel as though the big point for that me is when you're expanding or you're taking a game or the game to a new territory isn't part of the fun seeing new players. 100% like if we just recycled all the players from other clubs and we didn't give an opportunity to a couple of these guys that maybe are less heralded right now, what's the fun in that? You know aren't we there to promote more players playing at NRL level?
SPEAKER_01And mate to you like to that point how many blokes have you met before that have been in a cup system or been stuck behind someone like a Cameron Smith that could have been absolute superstars in their own right if they'd wanted to go somewhere else and chase an opportunity or if there'd been an opportunity.
SPEAKER_04Like I always think you know to a higher degree we'll use our good friend Jake friend you know like if Jake had have played in any other era he's played 20 games for Queensland but he didn't because he had one Cameron Smith there.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_04And so I look at a couple of our younger Haars that are coming in for us at the Bears a young Jack Cole andor a guy named Nephi Puru. So Jack's been at Penrith since he was a kid but he's played behind Jerome Lewis and Nathan Cleary. So he's done his time he's played a handful of NRL games he's been incredibly well schooled and he he's a great system he's coming out of then you've got Nephi over at Cronulla who's had to bide his time behind Nico Hines and Braden Trindle and they're a perennial top four team. So these guys are coming out of wonderful systems and what we have seen with the Dolphins was all of a sudden no one knows who Trey Fuller is but then Trey Fuller's given a go. Yeah and it's like wow this guy's really good. So I'm really confident that guys like those two that I just mentioned and potentially others you know Mason Barber or whomever else Appa Twiddle who's just cracking through a parameter maybe this is exactly what they need in their career is a fresh lens, a fresh start and if they're given time what's not to say that they're not future representative players. So that'll be our challenge and that's the exciting part of it honestly.
SPEAKER_01It is exciting man and you've from the outside looking in you've been really patient with the recruitment so that's obviously been a conscious thing with inside the walls of the bears and it made it helps having Mal as your head coach doesn't it's definitely so we have yeah we've had you know discussions early doors about what we wanted to be and what
SPEAKER_04we wanted people to look like within the group and what they stood for. And I feel as though everyone we've signed thus far are all coming for the right reasons. They're coming there to challenge themselves, to be a pioneer, and to have success. A lot of the the players that we have, you know, if you look through from your Nick Meanies and Tyron Wishartz from the Storm system or Nephi and young Chris Vaila or Siphotal from the Shark system or we got Liam Henry and Scott Sorensen, Jack Cole from Penruth. So these guys are coming out of winning cultures. And what we feel is though they want to continue to be winners. They don't want to go to a club and lose, right? So and Mal says it well and I agree with him is Mal's always been a winner. Wherever he's gone he's won from Dows Magpies to Canberraiders to Queensland to Australia, player as a coach. And so we don't want that to stop. We want to see the Bears win.
SPEAKER_01So good man. Exciting times are you getting over West much at the moment?
SPEAKER_04Yeah I head over probably once every sort of six to eight weeks at the present moment. But this year's a bit of an anomaly year because we don't have people like a big infrastructure over there.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Whereas come November when all the players are there and everything's gun-ho, like they'll be a bit more regular and yeah I'm really looking forward to seeing how that all evolves and how well we're supported and getting together and being around each other and having that connectivity. It's going to be huge in the initial stages and everyone's excited over there.
SPEAKER_01That's good man. For any of the young boys and girls listening what do they need to be doing to progress themselves into a a pathway?
SPEAKER_04It's a really good question honestly and it's one of those ones that probably can't be captured in one simple answer.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Probably to our point earlier in the discussion was around patience. Yeah that's key and understanding that the door may open at any stage and it may never open and that's the honest truth but you've got to be ready you've got to just know in your heart of hearts that you're doing it for the right reason and you know the passion for the game has got to be the thing you know like so whether that's achieving success for playing for Noosa Pirates or the Perth Bears, you've got to turn up and love the game. If you're there simply to try and make a career out of it maybe the pressure and anxiety becomes too much because if you fail to get that you lose the enjoyment and the love for it. Consistency is key and passion is huge. I think those two are the things that shine for me that anyone who's remotely successful in the game has an incredible passion for the game and they're really consistent in what they do. And I I probably just in you know a quick summary like one guy that epitomizes that to me is Trent Larillo. Yeah he's a guy that because I've known him from a young age and I've seen him run the streets of Koana is he never had probably the talent of some of the other guys but he outwork them and he ended up in a system that rewarded effort. And to see him now playing for Queensland Origin and winning or playing in grand finals that is a testament to the hard work notion. Unfortunately that might not be for everyone's story because there's a lot of guys that have got a truckload of hard work that never end up making it unfortunately but yeah that's the sliding doors nature and I'll probably close with saying that we had you know it's about getting the opportunity to like sometimes it might not be because you're not good enough it it might honestly just be not enough spots. So to the point around teams I actually love the idea of more teams because it means more people getting an opportunity. And whether that's a 20th NRL team or whether it's more Q Cup teams or whether Q Cup goes professional at some point down the track in our lifetime I think that will happen. Honestly I feel as though we might be 10 years away from that but I feel as though the Q Cup will get to a point where that's a professional competition. So there's going to be other livelihoods that evolve but yeah so if you're a 10 year old 11 year old maybe you're in the right spot.
SPEAKER_01Yeah look it's an exciting time to be a young male or female rugby league person. Hey because we do a bit of pathway stuff with the the dolphins and they aren't about getting kids out of Noosa high and taking them down to Redcliffe and stuff like that. They want people to be in their homes to progress to have the right role models around them get the work in and then slot them into a pathway when they're ready.
SPEAKER_04Yeah I I tend to agree I in an idealist world if they're in a safe and comfortable environment that's the best place for them to be there's the anomaly to that or the is if they're not in a safe and happy environment then unfortunately they may need to look at other avenues but primarily if they are in a happy safe environment that's the best place for them.
SPEAKER_01And there's a lot more options for for kids in Southeast Queensland now to progress their footy if they love it and they want to yeah for sure. Want to put the work in. Mate it's been awesome having a chat to you.
SPEAKER_03No I appreciate it.
SPEAKER_01Thanks for being so open and honest and yeah mate you've addressed all the little setbacks and bits and pieces that we've talked about today with like a really upbeat attitude and not kickstones about anything mate so it says a lot about you as a bloke brother and appreciate that you had your your time at the Pirates and have gone on with all the things that you've done and I'm uh I'm very happy I got to play under you and get to know you mate.
SPEAKER_04Fleetingly but no I appreciate that obviously life throws some challenges along the way and probably one thing you know enclosure like probably didn't mention but yeah the last couple of years have been a difficult one personally I've sort of gone through a cancer battle and a journey that sort of makes you realise what's really important in life and feel as though you know I'm at a stage of my life where I understand what community now means probably more so than ever and things like this believe it or not like you know for your listeners and or I appreciate your words there before but yeah it's this therapeutic for you know myself to reminisce and sometimes you know I I feel like you know I probably over talk or we yeah this goes a bit long winded but there's plentiful things that I've achieved in my life that I'm really really proud of and it's not until you say them out loud and you actually get to you know spend some time it is therapeutic and it is good for the soul and I appreciate the opportunity to come on and actually talk about it so I appreciate mate and our little community's going to get a a lot out of listening to this so appreciate you brother. No no Jeff appreciate it thanks up the bears. Haha yeah go let's see how we go thanks brother.
SPEAKER_01No no dramas so Dano we were just talking off air about the little health scare that you had so mate any messages for the for the listeners?
SPEAKER_04Yeah no I appreciate that Liam something that obviously I've had to go through the last couple of years I got diagnosed with colorectal cancer and it sort of came completely out of the blue. I was working at the Cowboys at the time and I uh remember I wasn't sick at any point and so one day I just remember I had a little bit of an upset tummy and I went to the toilet and just randomly and this sounds a bit gross so sorry listeners is you know happened to look down I felt that's just a bit weird and you know it might have been some diarrhea or something but happened to look down randomly and it was bright red. Honestly and I was just like what that's weird honestly and it's that weird that I've got to take a picture of it. So I took a picture and it was just pure red blood. And at the Cowboys I was fortunate because our doctor actually was the level above us so I just walked straight up and I said hey doc can I fit in and said something happen and you know it sounds weird but I've just pooed blood you know and he said oh and I said I've got some photos so I showed him and he said oh okay he said oh you've just sort of turned 40 ish I think it's hemorrhoids or you know maybe some fishes but he said you know what you've just turned 40 so mate how about we you know get you a colonoscopy and just you know have a look and and see and I was like yeah sweet no dramas and honestly so prior to that I hadn't been sick and I had that one day of episode so that one in the morning one in the afternoon and not one other symptom not one other bleeding episode but he booked me in for a colonoscopy four weeks later. So anyway I went about my life and just trekked on and four weeks later comes and I'll go for my colonoscopy just you know not knowing what that was even to be honest. And I walk in and then the afterwards the doc said I'd just stick around and I was like that's weird because there's like three or four other dudes that have come out after me that have all gone and I was like this this is a little bit odd and anyway he pulls me and my wife into this little room and he said hey mate I got some bad news you've got cancer and I remember just obviously my wife she's balling at this point you know hearing that hearing the words you've got cancer and I was like that that's not right. Like I don't feel ordinary and because my understanding I was naive no one in my family that I knew I've had suffered through cancer. So my my understanding of cancer was you'd have to be really sick. So if you're really sick you've you might have cancer. In my instance there was not any of that but yet he's telling me I've got cancer. So my footy background was like well okay what do I do? How do I fix it? What you know how are we going to beat this sort of thing and that was my straightaway mentality and then it was about a day or two later I had to tell my my two daughters and that was like heartbreaking honestly and you know sitting them down around the table and saying hey girls I've got cancer. And the very first question a teenage daughter asked you know once the the tears dry up is are you going to die? And honestly I like I don't know anything about cancer so I just said well I don't know. There's the potential I guess like we don't know enough at this stage he's just sort of told me there's some other things we're gonna have to go through but I never wanted to lie to him either and say well no no I'm gonna be fine because I didn't know honestly and so I got through that we got some diagnosis that yeah I got you know colorectal cancer. The surgeon was wonderful got me in really quickly got it out really quickly thank goodness and then probably three or four weeks later we went for a follow-up and they found another little spot unfortunately in my liver so then I had to go back in for surgery they cut into that and removed that and they said listen you know like it has spread so therefore technically you are stage four cancer and again naively I didn't know what that was but my wife had done the old Google search and it didn't read real well. So it's like okay well geez we could be in for a rough ride here and anyway he said yeah we need to get you in and get you on some chemo now to like yes we're gonna get two little spots out it hasn't got to lymph nodes and goodness but we think the only way of trying to make this not come back is go through the chemo and so I did six months of chemo and probably the one thing that has dawned on me I'm I'm a year post chemo now and feel in a good spot feel physically fine and you know I've got some reasonably good news recently that it hasn't come back as yet. One thing I don't know is whether it will or won't. I'd be naive to think that it may not at some point but I'm at a stage in my life where you know my daughters aren't yet driving they haven't been married they don't have grandkids and so I still feel as though I've got some things I need to achieve as a father before I leave this earth at any one point and as morbid as that sounds is that's the reality you you come to when you get told information like that is you know early detection is key. You know if you're you know if I could advocate for anything of anyone you know listener if they're you know a young male or female and they think at you know 25 to 35 that they're immune and that can't happen, well I'm here to say it can. And the research unfortunately suggests that it's a growing trend in Australia and whether that's through more awareness. But yeah one thing that dawned on me pretty quickly is that I felt fine and you know it's a silent one underneath the surface. So if there's any yeah opportunity that you think that something's not right I'd advocate very quickly that you know just go and get it checked you know if it's a negative if if there's nothing well that's good.
SPEAKER_01Mate we're absolutely blessed for a healthcare system here in Australia.
SPEAKER_04So yeah mate take the advice listeners if you're feeling unwell or something go get it checked out and I appreciate Liam and and yeah like it's one that obviously has gone off on a tangent probably a little bit to our to our other conversation there but I am passionate about I don't feel as though I'm a crusader for cancer but I feel as though if there's an opportunity to speak openly and to understand that you know not normalize it completely but just understand that there are opportunities to have a really positive mindset around if you are happening to be diagnosed or see it as a challenge that you know with a positive mindset and you know some good people around you that you know it can be something that you can live a long life with.
SPEAKER_01Life's such a gift, such a blessing so yeah let's make the most of it and live it eh? Thanks mate. Thanks brother appreciate ya