Noah Hooley faced an odd dichotomy over the weekend.
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The 18-year-old is in his second (and final) year with the Dungowan Cowboys' under 18s side. As one of the oldest boys in the squad, he has shouldered more responsibility within the team this year.
After scoring two tries in the side's 44-8 win over North Tamworth on Saturday, Hooley lined up to make his first grade debut for Dungowan.
In the space of two hours, he went from a senior in the under 18s to a junior in first grade. But he was not overly perturbed.
"[The nerves will] come in the next few minutes," Hooley joked to the Leader between games.
"I was a bit nervous this morning, but once I started warming up for the 18s, they went away."
The young lock was at his hard-running, big-hitting best in the junior division, and earned three Best and Fairest points post-game.
But he reserved his praise for his younger teammates, for whom he hopes to set a positive example this season.
"I always knew that us 18-year-old boys would have to step up," Hooley said.
"There's a lot of 16-year-olds and younger boys that did us a favour and stepped up. We're happy to have them here, and they did us proud."
Hooley completed his HSC at Farrer last year, and is taking a gap year in 2024 before he hopes to study a degree in exercise and sports science in Newcastle starting from next year.
And while he has his professional aspirations mapped out - he hopes to go into physiotherapy - the sporting dream he has carried since Year 1, when he started playing league, is still alive and well.
That being said, Hooley knows playing in the NRL is not the be-all and end-all.
"If the offers are there, 100 per cent [I'll go for it]," he said.
"But I'm not putting pressure on myself. If the opportunity comes up, I'll go straight for it."
Alongside Dungowan under 18s captains Braydon Allan and Jordan Hamlin, Hooley represented the Greater Northern Tigers under 18s earlier this year.
It was "great experience", he said, and he has carried that into the first two games for the Cowboys, both of which were against Norths and resulted in victories.
After starting the pre-season with just a handful of players, coach Damien Allan is thrilled to see his side thriving early against a tough Bears outfit.
"They're a physical team," Allan said.
"I just said to the boys that we've got to keep our composure and stick with them, weather the storm and let our attacking players do the rest.
"It's about improving, and hopefully by the end of the season we're fighting for a crack at a semi-final."
After starring in the forwards for the under 18s, Hooley moved to the wing in the course of Dungowan's 38-18 first grade defeat.
Though the visitors at Jack Woolaston Oval fell short in the final game of the day, Hooley ran hard, made some good tackles, and generally acquitted himself well.
"I had a lot of support," he said.
"But I want to make a bit of a statement, prove that I'm up there with the big boys."
