Frosty the showman: Why in-demand young star chose Wallabies dream

When Nick Frost collected a kick-off for the Junior Wallabies in Argentina in 2019 and, with the speed of a winger, hurtled his 206cm frame upfield 60 metres to score, people said: “Who is this guy?”

Well, most people. By the time of his scoot in Santa Fe, there was a sizeable list of sports and clubs who already knew plenty about Nicholas Frost, having believed at various stages he might build a career with them. Some on the list were the Crusaders, the Chiefs, Saracens, the Sydney Swans, NSW Athletics, NSW Rugby and NSW basketball.

In the decade prior Frost had been one of those kids who was so multi-talented he had to choose between viable futures in several sports.

As a teenager he played state-level basketball, rugby and still holds records for how far he could throw the 1kg discus. But his love of rugby won out, and three years after that eye-popping try, the 22-year-old Sydneysider made his debut for the Wallabies last week in Brisbane. On Saturday, with injuries hammering the Wallabies forwards, Frost will start in a massive decider against England at the SCG.

“It is a bit surreal,” Frost said.

“(A Test debut) is one of those things that always seems so far away. I was obviously very proud. Nerves-wise I was OK. It probably all hasn’t sunk in yet, to be honest.”

Nick Frost was all smiles after his Test debut in Brisbane.Credit: Getty

For those who’ve followed Frost, there is perhaps a sense of inevitably about him arriving at such a moment.

But the path of Frost to a first Test in his hometown has been anything but conventional, and involved not only tough decisions by his family about his future, but a few noses out of joint as well.

Frost literally grew up in a rugby household, with father Steve a former long-time employee of Rugby Australia. As part of a role running roadshow tours, Steve sometimes brought home trinkets like the Rugby World Cup and Bledisloe Cup.

“For a few days they would be at our house,” Frost recalled. “I probably wasn’t too fazed by them when I was young, I guess I didn’t understand what I do now.”

Nick Frost as a youngster, (from left) with the William Webb Ellis Cup, winning the 2011 State Nippers beach sprint and competing in the discus.

The Frost kids were thrown into Little Athletics, nippers and gymnastics before rugby, however, and young Nick began collecting medals like no-one’s business. He was a junior beach sprint champion (good morning, Damien Cook) and began an athletics stint which saw him win state titles in an array of events, including his favoured hurdles and throwing events.

Aged 15, Frost came second in Australia in discus and won the pentathlon - 100m, 800m, hurdles, discus and long jump - in Perth. He was also making state-level teams for basketball and rugby, and by the time he made the first XV in Year 10 at Knox Grammar, decisions had to be made.

Basketball was dropped and a shoulder injury helped make the next call.

“Athletics was definitely an option to carry on with, especially discus, but I had a shoulder reconstruction which I just rehabbed to get back to rugby really, and that was that,” Frost said.

One day in his bedroom Frost got a call from the recruitment boss at the Sydney Swans. Would he be interested in playing for the Bloods?

“I had never played a minute of AFL in my life but they said we’ll enhance your skills, you can go back to rugby, but I wasn’t too keen to change sports at that point.”

After playing in the schoolboy state titles in year 11, Frost was approached by a Chiefs scout, who were keen to get him over the ditch. Soon after, the champion Crusaders also offered him a spot in their academy.

Frost met with Waratahs officials as well but the decision was made. He would move to Christchurch after school.

Nick Frost playing for the Canterbury under 19s.

“The thought process was basically ‘where is the place I can go to become the best I can be at rugby?’,” Frost said.

“Where could I go to get the best development and best coaching at my age?”

The decision of a rising Aussie junior to leave for New Zealand created waves - and headlines - particularly given Steve was an employee of Rugby Australia, and had held roles in talent pathways. It really kicked off when Steve was quoted saying the Waratahs development system wasn’t, at the time, good enough.

Some officials at Rugby Australia fumed. Steve says he was simply prioritising what was best for his son.

“It was tricky but it also wasn’t too much of a difficult decision, or about what Rugby Australia people were saying or weren’t saying. It was more like there was interest from the Crusaders and they pride themselves on their development program,” Steve Frost said.

“At the end of the day, if somebody says you can go to probably the world’s best club team, you are going to take that. It was a big step for Nick. He missed schoolies, he went over pre-season and got started. He didn’t know anybody. It helped him grow up and was really good for him.”

On a three-year academy deal at the Crusaders, Frost soaked up life on and off the field at the famous club. Notoriously demanding, the program gave Frost a rapid education in professional rugby, saw him play at the NZ provincial under 19s tournament get and up-close experience with the likes of All Black lock Sam Whitelock.

Did he ever contemplate staying in New Zealand?

Nick Frost goes for a maul surf in Brisbane.Credit: AP

“It was never really a big issue I considered, to be honest, you are 18 so international rugby is years away,” Frost said. “I was just going over there to become a better rugby player.

“It was very enjoyable. I was straight out of school and I was going to uni, we all lived together in rugby flats over there. I made some great mates.”

But the Crusaders academy’s reputation for churning out more professionals than any other proved accurate, and 18 months into his time in Christchurch, the Brumbies and the Waratahs offered full-time contracts. With a dream to become a Wallaby, Frost came home and elected to play under the tough school of Dan McKellar in Canberra. The under 20s tournament came soon after, and Frost debuted for the Brumbies in 2020.

“Working under Dan and Laurie Fisher, there’s a big focus on scrum, maul and the tackle contest and it has been a great place to develop,” Frost said. ”Dan’s been great, it is a bit of a work-on for me over the years to put a bit of size on and get physical in the areas but I feel like I have made good strides.“

Nick Frost breaks away at Wallabies training.Credit: Getty

Frost’s path to the Wallabies had one more twist left, though. At the start of the year, having spoken with McKellar and Dave Rennie about his prospects of making the 2023 Rugby World Cup (on the radar but down the list), Frost accepted an offer to play under Robbie Deans at the Panasonic club in Japan.

“The plan was to come back after that and with a few more years of playing in a new environment under the belt, and have another crack at the Wallabies,” Frost said.

But at McKellar’s urging, Rugby Australia came back to Frost and asked if he’d re-consider. A new deal was put to him, and after a positive stint in the Wallabies camp in April where it became clear the 2023 World Cup was attainable, Frost decided to stay.

“I was keen to stay. It was an easy decision,” Frost said. “Having a chance to play for the Wallabies, that’s what I had always dreamed about so it all happened pretty quickly.”

Injuries and suspensions for Australia’s locks saw Frost come from the wider fringes of the Wallabies squad onto the bench in Brisbane, and now into the starting side for Sydney.

The athletic lock says he’s excited by the challenge, but not nervous. This is the starting line he’s dreamed about his whole life.

Watch every match of the July Test Series on the Home of Rugby, Stan Sport. Kicks off this weekend with Wallabies v England (Saturday 7:15pm AEST), All Blacks v Ireland (Saturday 4:30pm AEST), South Africa v Wales (Sunday 12:55am AEST) and Argentina v Scotland (Sunday 5:05am AEST). All streaming ad-free, live and on demand only on Stan Sport.