Callum Donaldson is proof of that.
The University of Otago student and full-blooded Coaster is still buzzing after winning the competition seen as vital in young players’ pathway to the top level of rugby league.
Donaldson, a rangy lock, was part of the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs team that won the Jersey Flegg under-21 final in Sydney recently.
The Doggies claimed back-to-back Jersey Flegg titles with a 14-12 win over Cronulla in the first of three finals at Commback Stadium.
"The whole week building up to it was really big," Donaldson told the Otago Daily Times.
The pups were coached by a club great, Josh Jackson, who played 241 games for the Bulldogs and nine Origin games for New South Wales.
There were a handful of other Kiwis in the squad — most of them had been in Australia for a while — and Donaldson had a good feeling as soon as he joined the club at the start of the year.
"Right from the start, there was a good attitude in the team."
The Bulldogs try to get all their teams on the same page so Donaldson would regularly brush shoulders with the elite NRL players at trainings.
Getting fit, rather than bigger, was a big focus, he said.
"They have a defensive style where they’re not so stressed about being the biggest dude out there. You’ve just got to be really fit and have quick line speed.
"It was different. I had to learn a completely new defensive style. But I feel like I’m definitely a lot fitter than I was last year."
Donaldson, 21, first dipped his toe into Australian league when he had a short stint with a club in Melbourne last year.
That led to the call from the Bulldogs — and a predictably harsh introduction to the NRL system.
"It was definitely pretty tough, ha ha. Preseason was probably the toughest training I’ve ever done."
He also had to work — as a teacher aide at a school — so life in Sydney was busy.
"It’s pretty full-on. But hopefully I can start looking at fulltime training next year. That will make life easier."
Donaldson also played a handful of games at the next level up, the New South Wales Cup.
He has been offered another year with the Bulldogs and is keen to return.
League runs in the family for Donaldson, who hails from Ngahere, about 25km from Greymouth.
Both his grandfather and his dad were league stalwarts, and while Donaldson has some rugby union experience with the Zingari-Richmond club, league was always going to win the battle for his affections.
He played league for Otago University and first came on the radar of NRL scouts when he won two man-of-the-match awards for the South Island Scorpions in the Ruben Wiki Cup last year.
Donaldson is studying anthropology by distance — he will return to Dunedin for his final exams — and is on track to graduate at the end of this year.
"My professors were really accommodating, which was really good, when I told them what I was doing."
A career in his academic field could stay on ice while Donaldson pursues his sporting dream.
