Kobe Bone says the match-day presence of his longtime girlfriend, water polo ace Mikayla Gross, was calming as he negotiated another hurdle in his bid to take a big step towards his NRL dream.
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Gross looked on as Bone played lock in a trial for the North Sydney Bears against their feeder club, the Sydney Roosters, at Macquarie University in Sydney on Saturday afternoon.
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Bone, 18, is in the midst of a marathon selection process for the Bears' 2021 SG Ball Cup squad.
It was the first time his 18-year-old girlfriend had seen him play a Bears trial.
Bone said Gross was working "flatout" in Tamworth so the couple could get a home together on the Central Coast.
Bone is an apprentice carpenter but is currently working as a labourer on the Central Coast, after moving to his former home from Tamworth to better position himself for his three training days a week at the Bears.
If all goes according to plan, he will play for North Sydney next season while Gross begins a nursing degree at the University of Newcastle and resumes playing for the Hunter Hurricanes in the National League.
Bone said: "All I can see at the moment is, the future's gonna be good between me and her - and hopefully she's there for the ride the whole time."
Gross - a 2019 Australian Schoolgirls water polo representative - told the Leader last week that there was a healthy rivalry between her and Bone, and he concurred.
"She's beaten me to one thing, and that was playing for Australia, but I won't let her get beyond me in anything else," he said.
If Bone does not make the cut at the Bears, he plans to stay on the Central Coast and play for the Wyong Roos' under-19 side in the Newcastle competition next season.
The 2020 Greater Northern Tigers under-18 forward would look to leverage the Roos' connection with the Sydney Roosters. "I've got a heaps long way to go: this is only the start," he said of his rugby league journey.
After the Roosters clash last Saturday, Bone survived his second cut at the Bears. He must survive another cut following a game against the Western Suburbs Magpies on Friday night.
There will then be trials against Manly and Penrith in the new year, before the final squad is named.
