It started as a dream.
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And now for a "stoked" Kobe Bone, his dream of playing in the NRL has moved much sharper into focus after he was named in the North Sydney Bears' 2021 SG Ball Cup squad.
The North Tamworth under-18 premiership winner made the squad after surviving the last player cut, which followed a trial against Manly on Friday.
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The 18-year-old lock - who recently moved from Tamworth to the Central Coast - is now intent on making the Bears' side for their season opener against Western Suburbs on February 6.
"It was hard work, but there's still a bit to go," Bone said of making the squad - a process that followed three training sessions a week and surviving cuts after four trial matches.
On Saturday, he and his longtime girlfriend, champion water polo player Mikayla Gross, moved into a two-bedroom flat at Ourimbah - thereby reducing his travel time to Sydney.
It is further evidence of his desire to give himself every chance of shining for the Bears.
Playing regular SG Ball Cup this season, he said, would be "another big step" in his quest to get his "name out there".
"And show in front of NRL clubs that I'm there and I'm ready to be taken, if they're keen on it," he said.
The 2020 Greater Northern Tiger now intends to train harder than his lock-forward rival at the Bears.
"And, hopefully, the coach will be happy with me at selection time and I'll be there playing," he said.
Bone thanked former NSW Origin stars Tom Learoyd-Lahrs and Nathan Blacklock for the roles they played in his development at North Tamworth.
"It shows how important it was: the training they did with me," he said.
