What originally started off as a scholarship has now turned into a two-year contract with Canterbury-Bankstown for Port City Breakers' junior Ryan Moloney.
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The 17-year-old has been involved with the Bulldogs setup for the last three years after he originally impressed during an under-15 semi-final in Port Macquarie.
From there he was offered a scholarship with the North Coast Bulldogs before he made the move to Belmore less than a month ago.
While he grew up supporting the Wests Tigers, Moloney knew he couldn't afford to be picky in his pursuit of a career in the National Rugby League.
"I was happy if any club was interested in me because football is what I love to do and any club that picks me up I'll appreciate it because it's a hard thing to do," he said.
The change in lifestyle from Port Macquarie to western Sydney has taken time to get used to, but the second-rower was slowly adjusting to city life.
A lot of boys want to chase football, but because they come from a country area they're not as developed as Sydney kids and not as ready.
- Ryan Moloney
"A lot of boys want to chase football, but because they come from a country area they're not as developed as Sydney kids and not as ready," he said.
"It's not easy."
Sacrifices have to be made along the way. If it means not going out with mates of a weekend because a training session is early the next morning or a game is the following day, that's what you do.
"You've got to sacrifice things, but in the long run it's all going to be worth it," Moloney said.
"All the little things you sacrifice along the way are going to be the things that get you to where you want to be."
He has set the bar high with ambitions of training with the first grade Bulldogs squad in 12 months' time.
"I can't be looking into the future, but I hope to be training with first grade and do a pre-season with them next year or the year after," he said.
I can't be looking into the future, but I hope to be training with first grade and do a pre-season with them next year or the year after.
- Ryan Moloney
"That's what I'm focusing on."
Moloney was also thankful Port City under-18 coach Ben Sprague had invested his time into his development as a player.
"The Breakers helped me enormously because I was bouncing around between a few clubs before I went to the Breakers," Moloney said.
"I couldn't find a place where I felt comfortable playing, but then I moved to the Breakers, went to school with a lot of the boys and Ben Sprague invested a lot of time into me. Him doing that helped me develop the way I did."
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