NRL 2020: Rabbitoh Mark Nicholls’ unusual secret to success
He’s experienced the highs and the lows of being a professional NRL player. Now Mark Nicholls has found the secret to new success with the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
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Mark Nicholls could well be a poster boy for rollercoaster NRL careers.
He was a rookie of the year with his first club, Canberra, and then spent three years struggling.
He was part of a premiership winning side with Melbourne Storm and then, on the flip side, a player on the fringe battling to start in the game.
Now the Rabbitohs’ prop has found a work, life, career balance he believes is helping him produce the best football of his career.
On a two-year deal for the first time in recent years, Nicholls is one of the busiest players on the roster at South Sydney - and it is paying dividends.
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Armed with a degree in sport science and sport marketing along with initial work experience thanks to Souths, Nicholls is now working for a sport apparel company in a role he loves but is flexible enough to allow him the time for training and playing.
“I thought about it the other day. My best two seasons were when I was either working and playing or when I was at uni and playing in my debut year,” said Nicholls, who played 12 of his 19 games with the Raiders over a five-year period in his debut season in 2010.’’
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“Being busy and having balance is producing my best football.”
“I think clubs have come a long way in this space as well. They are a lot more flexible.
“Welfare and mental health has become a big thing at clubs. They have worked out you need to have that balance.”
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Off field life is also good for the front rower, based in Camperdown with his wife Perrie and two dogs.
“My wife is pregnant. It’s very exciting times,” he said.
A product of Leeton before moving to Canberra at 15, Nicholls said he grew up always wanted to play football.
“My parents encouraged me to study. All I really wanted to do at school was get a trade and captain the local team when I was 13-14.
“My dad and uncle played local and I admired that.
“When you are a kid growing up in the country you think the NRL is a long way away.’’
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