Mitchell Turrell and Sara Lucas: Couple put down roots in Manilla

Following the demise of his NRL dream, and with him looking to further a long-term, long-distance relationship, Turrell and his partner, Sara Lucas, chose Manilla as the place where they would start their lives together. They moved to Manilla mid last year.

The 25-year-old centre-cum-No 6 had been living on the Gold Coast, after moving there from Port Macquarie to improve his NRL prospects. He had played for NRL feeder club the Burleigh Bears.

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He knew Manilla quite well, having holidayed there as a child while visiting his grandparents, Rodney and Sue Jolliffe, who still live there.

Lucas, a keen dressage competitor, needed to move to a destination that was suitable for her horses.

The couple had maintained a long-distance relationship because she could not relocate from Port Macquarie to the Gold Coast to live given the tourist mecca's unsuitability for her horses.

Now well-settled in Manilla, the couple bought land there and plan to build a house on it, while Turrell secured a job as a machine operator at Tamworth-based MPC Earthmoving.

He has dropped 11kg since Christmas in preparation for his debut season with the Manilla Tigers, where he expects to be used as an 80-minute lock, while he is playing centre for the Greater Northern Tigers in the Country Championships.

Lucas is working at a laser clinic in Tamworth.

Turrell said his Manilla-born grandfather's love of the town had been "passed on through the family".

"It's brought us here," he said of he and Lucas's decision to settle in the North West, adding that it "was a place for me to call home now".

He continued: "I've only been in Manilla for eight months, but I'm very comfortable there.

"It's a very close-knit community, and my partner and I plan on being here a while."

The move had "been perfect for us", Turrell said, adding: "She [Lucas] can have her horses."

In February last year, Turrell had a second knee reconstruction. He was now fully recovered and "getting fitter every week", he said.

The 85kg, 181cm talent will be key to Manilla's chances following the club's elevation to first grade for the 2022 season.

As for the Greater Northern Tigers, Turrell said "a lack of discipline" hobbled the side in a 42-24 loss to the Western Rams on Saturday.

The Tigers, he added, had "plenty of potential" - "and we felt like we lost that game rather than we got beaten".

After thumping the Knights in round one, the Tigers will find out if they've made the finals following the conclusion of round two this weekend.

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