Paddy Ryan is not where he thought he'd be career wise after finishing his Super Rugby career in 2018.
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Not that he is complaining - far from it: he's loving this unexpected rugby chapter of his post-Waratahs career, as he divides his time between the US and Japan.
The tighthead prop is also not where he thought he'd be right now: the coronavirus cut short his second stint in Japan. He plays for the Munakata Sanix Blues.
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Consequently, for the first time in a long time the 31-year-old is spending an extended period of time at his childhood home in Tamworth.
He said it was "great" to again be living with his father Nick, director of emergency medicine at Tamworth Hospital, while his mother Maria cares for his sister in Nyngan after she gave birth.
But a month or so of self-isolation has left him feeling "frustrated". (He began self-isolating in Sydney when he returned to Australia from Japan early last month.)
His girlfriend Bede Studdy, a physiotherapy student, is self-isolating in Sydney.
"As everyone is, we're all getting a bit bored and getting a bit of cabin fever or whatever," he said.
"But you don't have to look far for motivation, when you see what's going on in other countries in the world ... It's good to be at home. I'm really glad I'm in Tamworth, where there's not that many cases [of corona] and everything's pretty under control.
"You can get access to everything. There's been no apparent hoarding ... which we're seeing a lot of in Sydney."
Ryan said he had a "pretty good setup" at home: he hired equipment from a Tamworth gym. "I'm pretty happy here."
He was also happy at Sanix, who play in the country's premier competition, the Top League. Ryan said Sanix were one of the few completely professional clubs in Japan.
The former NSW Country Eagles skipper first linked with them when he finished his 106-game career for the Waratahs at the end of the 2018 season - helping Sanix avoid relegation and then being invited back to the club for the cancelled 2020 season.
After his first stint in Japan - where he is based in Kyushu, an island in the south of the country - he joined the San Diego Legion in the US's fledgling 12-team Major League Rugby. Staged in two conferences, the MLR's other teams include New York, Seattle, Atlanta, New Orleans, Toronto and Colorado.
Ryan said the Top League was now a "really high quality", with "a lot" of internationals playing there. He expected the standard to get even better. Those players include Springbok Duane Vermeulen, Kiwis Kieran Read and Sam Whitelock, as well as Aussies David Pocock and Bernard Foley.
The MLR, Ryan said, was a "step above Shute Shield and a step below Super Rugby". Like Japan, he believes the standard will continue to improve because of an influx of high-quality foreign players.
He said the MLR could not match the world's premier leagues money wise, but would continue to lure top players because they wanted an American experience. Ex-internationals who have entered the MLR include England's Ben Foden and Kiwi Ma'a Nonu.
Ryan had hoped to play in Europe post-Waratahs, having spent a gap year in the UK after graduating from St Joseph's College in Sydney, while he "really enjoyed" touring France with the Wallabies (he made three appearances for Australia).
He had envisioned living in a small town in France or England, "having a pretty good time and playing some great footy".
But the offers he got didn't "particularly interest" him. Aussie Scott Wisemantel - England's then attack coach (he is now the Wallabies' attack coach) - suggested Ryan play in the MLR. The 190-centimetre, 120-kilogram forward's first stint in Japan occurred en route to San Diego, whom he will return to upon normality's resurrection.
Playing and living in the US was "amazing", he said. "It is a young league, there's not a great deal of money in it: you're doing things on a shoestring [budget] ... But it kind of made it fun as well; it almost gave it a bit of a club rugby feel in some ways."
He added: "I'm happy with how it's all worked out."
