Australian rugby league schoolboys representative Dray Ngatuere-Wroe finds the right path

HIS career already possesses traits of rugby league icons Cameron Smith and Johnathon Thurston so it comes as no surprise Dray Ngatuere-Wroe seems destined for the NRL.

QST_ALN_DRAY

HIS career already possesses traits of rugby league icons Cameron Smith and Johnathon Thurston so it comes as no surprise Dray Ngatuere-Wroe seems destined for the NRL.

Not since Australian captain Smith was plucked from Logan Brothers as a five-eight by the Melbourne Storm has there been such expectation about a play-maker from Logan City.

And like Thurston who had behaviour problems as a youth, the Marsden High School student has been granted a lifeline by an NRL club after Canberra signed him when others had declined.

OTHER NEWS:

Campaign to stop attacks on referees

Meet the Mayor, get free rat bait

Gifted with skills unmatched by any of his peers, the half-back failed to even make the Greater Brisbane Junior Rugby League Stingers representative side over the past two years because of behavioural issues.

However, a move from Keebra Park State High School to Marsden High this year and a change in attitude earned Ngatuere-Wroe a chance with the Raiders and saw him named in the Australian schoolboys under-15 team.

Ngatuere-Wroe’s troubled background mirrors that of Queensland champion play-maker Johnathan Thurston who was signed by Canterbury only after he was moved from his home south of Brisbane to Toowoomba where he was billeted by a local family.

Former Logan Brothers player Cameron Smith offloads the ball during the round 18 NRL match between the Melbourne Storm and the Canterbury Bulldogs earlier this month. Picture: Robert Prezioso, Getty Images.

Canberra Raiders recruitment officer Mark Tookey was instrumental in Ngatuere-Wroe’s about-face in behaviour. He said the teenager could become a star in the NRL if he continued to stay on the right path.

“It is a big honour to make the Australian team and massive for him,” said Tookey, the Souths Logan Magpies Cyril Connell Cup coach.

“He is as good a player as you get with his skills and ability to be able to read a game.

“He can change a game, can chip and chase, has great vision and doesn’t mind a tackle and all the attributes needed to be a great player.

“There are not too many halfbacks going around with the ability that Dray has at such a young age that I have seen.

“He has the ability to play in the NRL and the reality is the only thing that will stop him is his attitude.”