Matt Hall: Kangaroos gun recalls farm life during the drought

As a youngster growing up at Jilliby, the 22-year-old decided to turn a love of the outdoors into a career in farming. The prospect of "getting up every morning knowing that you're doing an important job in society" appealed to him.

But what he envisioned as his future became a scorched-earth nightmare when he parachuted from agricultural college into farm life and the worst drought in living memory.

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It's lucky that he had at least two potent forces helping him through this harrowing period: his eternal optimism and the Tamworth Kangaroos.

"The club is full of great people who were there for me through the hardest times," the midfielder said. "I've become great friends with everyone [there], and they are the reason I came back to Tamworth."

After this year securing back-to-back best and fairest awards at the Roos, Hall spoke to the Leader and reflected on his life since leaving Tocal Agricultural College at Maitland and landing work at a Murrurundi cattle farm in late 2018.

About 18 months later, he was toiling at a Yeoval sheep farm. The drought, he said, had "got too bad" by that stage. So he moved to Tamworth and looked for work.

"I think I might've ducked in at the wrong time, I guess," he said of farming. "It was a very harsh time. It was definitely a hard experience. But I definitely learned a lot of things.

"And farming's something I'm still interested in. I may go back into it later."

After relocating to Tamworth, Hall worked for a plumber and then did spot spraying around NSW and south-east Queensland. This year, he began a fitter and turner apprenticeship at Taminda Hydraulics and Engineering.

Hall, who is in a relationship with fellow Roo Melanie Young, believes that the trade would come in handy if he returns to farming. "After the recent drought and COVID, I decided to get a trade, for extra security," he added.

Still, turning his back on farming hurt.

"Probably my biggest disappointment is having to leave farming when I did ... life didn't go the way I thought straight away."

It's a good thing that the positivity which permeated throughout Hall's upbringing, via his parents and his sister, had a lasting effect on him.

"I just try to find the positives in everything ... I've been through enough, having to change jobs and move around, that I just try to find the positives in things."

Listening carefully is the most important lesson life has taught Hall. Doing so enables him to understand valuable information and "implement it into any aspect of life".

He added: "It's not necessarily what someone's telling you; it may just be something you notice, and you've just gotta process it and implement it."

A coach's dream, no?

Kangaroos co-coach Ben Mitchell said his key charge was "super consistent and reliable".

"He is a very good player," Mitchell also said, adding that Hall "always puts his head over the ball and is willing to get his hands dirty". "As a bloke, he is good to hang out with and have a couple of beers with."

The Roos - 2021 minor premiers after the season was aborted early due to COVID - begin preseason training on Tuesday. Hall will be there.

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