Ethan Cocco signs with Cronulla Sharks in NRL

While his schoolmates were celebrating their end of exams, graduation and schoolies, Ethan Cocco was moving his life interstate and changing his diet.

For some high school students, graduation, schoolies and partying is high on the priority list once exams are done.

For Ethan Cocco, it was straight to work.

The St Patrick’s College football star was not even in Mackay for his graduation, with the prodigy flying south to begin his rugby league career as quickly as possible.

Cocco signed with Cronulla Sharks, and hopes his dedication to training will hold him in good stead as he pushes for a professional contract.

“It’s definitely been a fair bit of an adjustment, getting used to working full-time and training,” he said.

“The level of training is definitely a step up to what I’m used to, especially when you’re tired from the session before, but I’m slowly adjusting.”

The front rower is training with the junior squad, having signed a two-year deal at the Sharks.

He said his training schedule was busy, but the toughest change had been his diet.

“It’s been really tough so far, I’ve got to watch what I eat throughout the day because I’ve noticed that it makes a massive difference to how I feel when I’m training,” he said.

“Drinking enough water and getting enough salt is also really important, if I’m cramping up I know I haven’t had enough water.

“It’s mainly carbs through the day, but also protein, that’ll make a massive difference to how I can perform at training.

I’ve got to be careful not to lose weight.”

Cocco will not be the only former-Mackay player in Sharks colours, with Nicho Hynes recently making the move to Cronulla.

Kirwan vs St Patrick's

He said he had not met the superstar talent, but was excited to potentially play alongside him one day.

“I haven’t met Hynesy yet, since he’s with the NRL squad, but he’s a great player,” he said.

“There’s a few Queenslanders knocking about and hanging out together which is great.”

St Patrick’s College has had plenty of success developing recent junior NRL talent, with Harry and Henry Thorpe, Brady Hazledine and Levi Love signing with Canberra Raiders.