Wests Tigers' Jock Madden knows he has a lot to thank his parents, Judy and David, for.
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After playing soccer until he was 10, Madden followed in his father's footsteps and started playing in the halves in Scone.
By the time he was 15 Madden had entered the Newcastle Knights system.
Over the next two years, Judy and David would drive their son the four-hour round-trip from Scone to Newcastle for training and matches.
It was tough.
"At the start of that time, I still didn't have my licence and for mum and dad to drive me down...they'd already done so much when I was 15, 16 as it was. Three to four nights a week they had to take time off work and it would have been too much," Madden, 20, said.
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In 2017, the Maddens made the move to Newcastle and their son will be forever thankful.
It also gave younger sister Ella, who has starting high school, "a better opportunity with her sports - touch and netball - and education" while older sister Gabie was starting at Newcastle University and made things easier for her, too.
And it turned out to be a defining moment in the then teenager's burgeoning career.
"I was a bit hesitant to move...I was the one saying 'do I want to move?'," Madden, who shifted to the Tigers in 2019, said.
"Mum and dad did it for us kids and we got a better opportunity down at Newcastle and, for myself, down in Sydney now.
"For myself at the time, I didn't really take it in. But now, I'm very grateful for what they've done."
In 2021, Madden is pushing for a spot in the Tigers first grade side.
Luke Brooks is expected to play halfback while Adam Doueihi has done lot of training at five eighth but he will miss round one due to suspension.
Before round one of the NRL on March 11, Tigers coach Michael Maguire will use a number of different halves combinations in the side's two trial matches.
"We've got the likes of Jock Madden and a few other people - Dane Laurie comes into play there," Maguire said.
"I'm looking forward to playing games. A lot of guys that we have in the squad have had to be very patient with the game because of not playing [due to no reserve grade in 2020]."
Madden is "pretty happy" with his pre-season thus far and the half is keen to showcase his talent in the trials.
"If I keep impressing the coaches and the players around me - that's what I can control, my performances on the field - hopefully I get rewarded on the back of that," he said.
Maguire was also happy with Madden's pre-season.
"He's really grown, I must say, over the last two to three months," Maguire said.
"He had the year last year where he did a lot of training but wasn't able to spend as much time with the first grade team. Now, he's spending a lot more time with Luke Brooks, Adam Doueihi, Moses Mbye and building some strong combinations amongst the players."