David Andjelic voted off The NRL Rookie, but plans to earn more than Frank Lowy in business

HE jumped off a building on the end of a sling, clambered up a 10m-high zip line in high winds, pounded up and down sand dunes, capsized in a canoe — NRL Rookie David Andjelic loved it.

David Andjelic, of Mt Druitt, auditioned for The NRL Rookie by running through a wall. He was voted off the show, but has a new sense of focus for his future.

• This Colyton family has a dinosaur in the front yard
• Mamre Anglican College winning Wanderers Cup

HE JUMPED off a tall building on the end of a sling, clambered up a 10m-high zip line in high winds, pounded up and down steep sand dunes, got capsized in a canoe, ran up hills on a wintry night getting blasted by icy water from fire hoses … and still rated it the best experience of his life.

Mt Druitt rugby league player David Andjelic overcame many challenges on Channel 9’s reality TV show The NRL Rookie.

The 22-year-old, who famously ran through a wall of bricks in his audition tape, finally ran into a brick wall that didn’t move when he was voted out last week in episode five.

But he says it was a blessing in disguise because his mum — who he cares for — was mugged and robbed just days after his return (read full story below).

But he made it all the way to the final 10 after emerging from a list of 1200 applicants, and enjoyed the adventure of a lifetime.

“I’ve never experienced anything like it. It was the best,” said Andjelic, who is used to handling setbacks after arriving in Australia from war-torn Serbia as a baby with his mother, and becoming her fulltime carer at the age of 13 as her health deteriorated.

“I had a mental freedom (living in The NRL Rookie house) I’ve never experienced before. It was the first time I was never stressed, and had no anxieties,” he said. “Finally the pendulum swung my way in life.”

NRL Rookie stars Daniel Caprice, Lou Goodwin, Presenter Erin Molan and David Andjelic at Corporate Fitness Gym, Surry Hills, today, ahead of the show's premiere. Picture: Justin Lloyd.

The way-out challenges he and other contestants faced on the show were interspersed with games of rugby league against teams like the Melbourne Storm under-20s and the NSW Ron Massey Cup representative team.

Contestants then voted to eliminate each other, with coaches deciding which one of three nominations would go each week.

Being seen as a big enough threat to make the three, therefore, could be seen as a backhanded compliment, a status Andjelic had three times.

Andjelic, a forward with St Patrick’s at Blacktown who has also played for Penrith Panthers youth teams, pronounced himself happy with all of his efforts.

David Andjelic was considered a top threat in The NRL Rookie, and that may be why he was voted out sooner than expected.

Like most things in his life, he did it for his mum, Milijana, a diabetic who has faced three bouts of different forms of cancer.

“She is my inspiration, taking all those hits like she has,” he said.

“It has always been me and my mum against the world.

“The best thing I can do is put a smile on her face and pride in her heart.

“Mum has been sick all her life. I had to man up pretty quickly.”

He said rugby league had been a saviour for him in a tough life.

“I could have gone down a dark road. I could have ended up dead, locked up or homeless,” he said.

David Andjelic’s inspiration is his mother, Milijana.

His hardest challenge on The NRL Rookie was clinging to a zip wire on a high, windy mountain in New Zealand.

“Your body just crumbles. That was the toughest,” he said. But he still made it to the top.

He also capsized repeatedly paddling a canoe off Moreton Island in Queensland.

“I can’t swim that well, either,” he said. “It was like Titanic II.”

David Andjelic is completing a business degree and wants to earn even more than Frank Lowy, who started Blacktown.

ANDJELIC’S MOTHER ROBBED

DAVID ANDJELIC says it was a “blessing in disguise” to be voted off TV’s The NRL Rookie show because days later his ailing mum was bashed and robbed.

Andjelic, who has been his mum Milijana’s fulltime carer since the age of 13, said: “I would have come out of the show anyway because I’ve got to be there for my mum.”

He was shocked and sickened to learn his 44-year-old mother had been attacked by two people, a man and a woman, near the ShopSmart chemist in Mt Druitt, and had money taken from her purse.

She suffered head injuries and had to spend the night in hospital. She is now recovering at home.

David Andjelic’s mother, Milijana was attacked not long after he went on the show. So being voted out was a chance to return to look after her.

Andjelic has devoted his life to helping his mother, a diabetic who has survived three bouts of cancer.

He is nearing the end of a business and commerce degree at the Western Sydney University’s Parramatta campus.

He also has a strong entrepreneurial streak and aims to be the next Frank Lowy.

“He started at Blacktown. I’m doing it tougher at Mt Druitt, but I’m going to earn $1 billion more than him,” he said with a laugh.

Andjelic, who says Mt Druitt is too unsafe, has one big motivation: “To get mum out of the ‘hood.”