Central North Rugby Round 7: Daniel Calavassy enjoying life at Quirindi

The 24-year old has been a handy pick-up for the Lions this season after moving up from Sydney to "learn the ropes" of the poultry business with his family looking to get into the industry.

Only "early stages" at the moment, he said it's something his dad had always talked about.

Then one night the conversation started to get "a little more serious".

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A few months later Calavassy was swapping the suit for the jeans and boots.

The plan - if they do proceed - is that he and his younger brother (he is the fifth child of seven) will run the farm, although that "could be a long way off".

Calavassy concedes it is a "massive jump"; the move not just a tree change but also a huge career change.

Working in the chicken sheds at Baiada is a long way from the plush offices of an advertising and pr agency in Sydney.

But he has "never been happier".

"I'm enjoying the work and playing footy," he said.

The half-back-come- five-eighth has been one of the Lions best through the first six rounds and will be a key for them on Saturday when they tackle a resurgent Pirates.

Moving up not long before the season kicked-off, Calavassy said he wasn't set on playing anywhere. But he knew Lions coach Tom Koerstz from playing together at Sydney Uni so decided to go down to a training session.

Much like Koerstz had done, he "fell in love with the place as soon as I was there".

A big part of that was the "sense of community".

"People are painting the lines themselves, getting the bar ready, cleaning the change rooms," he said.

By his own admission he's probably been "a bit spoilt" in that regard in the past.

Calavassy spent six seasons at Uni, winning a second grade premiership in 2017, incidentally under Koerstz, and playing a bit of first grade, which was "an incredible honour".

More accustomed to playing at nine, he said he is getting more comfortable at 10 with each game and is enjoying "getting to take the ball to the line a little bit more and trying to create some opportunities which I wouldn't be able to do as much at nine".

As for the Lions, he said there is a really good feeling around the club at the moment. Already they have won more games than in the whole of 2019.

"We're just taking things one game at a time," he said.

"But winning is a cultural thing and it's a mentality thing. It's often a hard switch to flick but it feels as if there's some good thinks happening down at Quirindi now and there's a lot of belief amongst the group."

Saturday will though be a litmus test with the premiers snapping a three-game losing run against Barraba last week and welcoming back a couple of big guns. Conrad Starr is back in the familiar No.8 after returning from injury off the bench last week while Barton Leach returns to the front row after a week's rest.

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