Zack Leonard was good enough to get signed by two NRL clubs, and smart enough to know that a league career was unlikley.
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As such, the Werris Creek lock had stipulated that the Knights, his second NRL club after the Titans, facilitate his “scholarship” at the University of Newcastle as part of his deal with them.
So while Leonard’s tenure at the Knights ended after one SG Ball season, and gone with it his NRL dream, he took with him something more than the thought of “what if”.
The 22-year-old Greater Northern TIger has continued the construction management course he started at the Knights, doing it via correspondence since rejoining the Magpies, his junior club.
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He signed with Werris Creek for the 2016 season, when they won the now-defunct second division. And he will take the field when the fourth-placed Magpies travel to Kootingal on Saturday searching for their fourth successive win including a last-start defeat of Gunnedah.
“It didn’t work out [at the Knights],” he said. “I was juggling university and trying to find a job at the same time … I sort of lost that drive as well to sort of go on to do better things in respect to football.”
He said he had “no regrets”, adding: “It’s [the NRL] not for everyone. It was never really my main priority [education was].
“They talk about the percentages of how many people play under-20s, how many people play SG Ball, and the percentages are ridiculously low [for those who go on to play NRL].”
Leonard described the clash against the first-placed Roosters as “massive.” He respects what Kooty have done since they, like the Magpies, moved up to first grade in 2018. “For them to be doing what they’re doing this year is pretty impressive,” he said.
