Cronulla Sharks recruit Lachlan Miller convinced Rugby 7s selectors his mate Chris Watkins would excel for Australia

A new NRL Sharks recruit who switched codes this year is pulling strings for the Australia Rugby 7s side convincing selectors to give his mate a shot at the Commonwealth Games. Here’s how he did it.

Sharks recruit Lachlan Miller put the call in to Rugby HQ to see if his Sawtell mate Chris Watkins could get involved in the code. A few months later he made his debut for Australia's Rugby 7s team in Fiji.

When Chris Watkins saw one of his best mates Lachlan Miller run out for Australia’s Rugby 7s team at the Tokyo Olympics he wondered if he could achieve a similar dream.

Sawtell junior Chris Watkins was picked for Australia's Rugby 7s side that toured Fiji in March.

Now Miller has made the jump to the NRL signing a contract with the Cronulla Sharks this year but his incredible gesture to Watkins could see him spearhead Australia’s Rugby 7s push at the Commonwealth Games.

Having played rugby league for over a decade, Watkins thought a switch to the 7-a-side game was on the cards but Miller decided to make some calls to rugby HQ in Sydney to convince them to take a look at the 26-year old forward.

As Watkins worked at his game for SCU Marlins on the mid-north coast, he got the phone call that changed his life.

Lachlan Miller put calls into Rugby HQ to see if his mate Chris Watkins could take a step towards representing Australia Picture: Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images.

The 26-year old Sawtell junior was selected for Australia’s Rugby 7s side that toured Fiji on the weekend where he made his debut and featured in four of their six matches against Fiji and New Zealand 7s teams.

While the results mightn’t have gone their way, Watkins wants to replicate his mate and get into the Australia squad headed to Birmingham for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in July.

“It would be a dream come true,” he said.

If he was to make the squad he would be yet another Coffs Coast rugby league junior to switch codes to union and represent Australia with more potentially on the way.

Miller and Watkins lived and played together for Sawtell Panthers in Group 2 rugby league for a few years before a career in rugby union appealed to both of them.

NRL Sharks recruit Lachlan Miller (L) and Chris Watkins (R) have been mates from Sawtell for years.

Watkins has spent almost a decade playing rugby league in Coffs Harbour and Sawtell and never thought a crack at union was in him.

He surprised himself when last year he finally made the jump and began tearing it up for SCU Marlins in the Upper Mid-North Coast Rugby Competition.

“I loved it I picked it up really well and I always loved touch footy and it felt sort of similar including the pace of it,” he said.

“I feel like rugby union has done more for me than what rugby league has in just a short period of time and I never thought I’d say that I enjoy union more but I feel more comfortable.”

When the time came for him to truly decide if he could take it further, his mate Lachlan Miller put some calls around to see if he could help out his former teammate.

Chris Watkins played centre for Sawtell Panthers in Group 2 rugby league for years.

“He helped me get down there and he spoke to people in Sydney which basically led me to getting into the side,” he said.

Watkins doesn’t know the detail of what Miller told the people in the big house of rugby union, but all he knows is that it has led to him representing his country and has opened doors for him he thought were always shut.

Watkins has now signed for Souths Brisbane Rugby Union Club in an effort to reach the next level so he can be front of the queue when the time comes for selectors to pick the Commonwealth Games team.

“I feel like I played well on the Fiji tour and the experience was unbelievable but I need to take it to the next level which is why I’ve signed for Souths Brisbane,” he said.

“I want to get into the Commonwealth Games team - it would be a dream come true.”