In light of this weekend's PlayNRL round, Josh Morris has opened up about how he almost gave the game away when he was only 18 and only playing for the Kiama Knights.
"The best piece of advice I can give kids is to not give up and don't take no for an answer," he said.
"I had plenty of setbacks along the way. I didn't really make it into junior reps until the last year of under-18s. I had a lot of knockbacks when I was younger, and it made me a stronger player."
Asked whether he considered looking for a different career path, he said: "Yeah, I did. But then, like I said, it's about not giving up and not taking no for an answer and working hard. I'm here now. I haven't looked back.
"Obviously having Brett there [helped]. Brett was in the rep sides before me, so that gave me a bit of drive as well. That helped me work hard. And once I made it, I made a decision to work hard and try and give it my best shot. As I said, I'm here now and it's been a good ride."
Round 3 of the Telstra Premiership is PlayNRL Round where the game will celebrate all that’s great about grassroots rugby league.
Rugby league is all about having fun, making friends and staying healthy. The NRL is using this round to help promote Junior Rugby League and thank you, our future stars and fans and heroes who help make it all possible.
Join the conversation at #PlayNRL, get your tickets at nrl.com/tickets and get to a game. Talk to your local junior club about signing up as a player or volunteer and join the thousands of people who make rugby league great.