MELBOURNE Storm rugby league player Josh King was indeed the king of the kids at Wallan and Seymour Colleges last Tuesday afternoon, sharing his story of resilience from a small country town in New South Wales to becoming a reliable asset at one of Australia’s most successful sporting clubs.
Mr King attended as part of a program delivered by the Minerals Council of Australia’s Victorian branch, designed to help students stay engaged in their education journey and also open their mind to new opportunities.
Mr King spoke of his journey, which took him from mining to an electrical trade, to an eventual spot with the Newcastle Knights, before eventually making his way to the Melbourne Storm, where he continues to ply his trade, scoring a try in the Storm’s recent loss to the Canterbury Bulldogs.
Minerals Council spokesperson James Sorahan said Mr King’s track record of inspiring students was a success.
“The Minerals Council brings Josh to mining, and emerging mining regions to support regional schools in careers education and to encourage young people to stay engaged in school and work. It’s a popular program across the state as Josh is incredibly inspiring and it was great to bring this to Seymour and Wallan students,” Mr Sorahan said.
Mr King, for his part, said he loved delivering the program.
“I love getting out to rural Victoria. It’s an opportunity for me to come out and connect with young people. For me, it didn’t feel like that long ago that I was in the exact same shoes as they were,” he said.
“I do a little bit of a presentation around mental health, resilience and self-belief, in the hope that some of the challenges that I faced in my life and my career might resonate as well.
“I’m from rural New South Wales, grew up and went through the mining industry and did a trade before I became a full-time professional rugby league player, and if I can pass on a bit of what I learned in my time, and that anyone can get wherever they want to go, just hard work and sacrifice, if I can instil a few of those things into these kids, it’s a job well done.
“I’m not by any means a childhood prodigy, and I wasn’t the most talented coming through, didn’t make all the rep teams, but I went from a small town in New South Wales all the way to Melbourne, playing for arguably one of the most successful teams in Australian sporting history.”
Speaking in Seymour, Mr King said he resonated with the town as it reminded him of home.
“I’ve done a lot of talks and visits around rural Victoria and had the opportunity to go to a lot of places I wouldn’t have been to otherwise if I hadn’t done it. It didn’t seem too far before I was in Wallan, and another short drive took me to Seymour,” he said.
“Seymour reminds me of home, a small country town, even driving down the main street, seeing a lot of farmers with their utes getting around, and the feel, it’s like where I grew up, that’s everything I know, I grew up on a bit of land myself with mum and dad back home, so it’s nice to give back to the smaller communities, and out these ways, not many people know what rugby league is, so it’s even better to come out and get to know new communities.”
