The question before me is how has sport affected my life. As I stare at this question, the main thought running through my head is 'where hasn’t it affected my life?' The overriding feeling I have is that sport has given me more than I can ever hope to repay.

Sport has played a large role in my life since I sneaked away from my second birthday party to watch Rugby League on the TV with my dad. Since then I have been a competitor, coach, manager, trainer, administrator and spectator.

During this time, sport has provided me with a huge range of emotions. From the heady highs of individual accolades and winning Premierships, to the heartbreak of losing grand finals as well as the agony and frustration of serious injury.

As I have grown up and gone through the transition from boy to man, some of the most important lessons I have learnt revolved around dealing with success and failure. Where better to do this than on the sporting field? Personally, my experiences have been greatly varied. I have experienced highs such as playing in representative teams in a number of sports, culminating in the realisation of a boyhood dream and taking on a Great Brittan representative team. Although I wasn’t wearing the Australian colours and it was a warm- up game for them, for me it is one of the greatest memories I will carry with me.

I have also been lucky enough to win Premierships with guys I can genuinely call my mates as well as been privileged and lucky enough have received personal accolades. These highs have taught me the ability to win with grace and the value of humility on a personal note and possibly the strongest lesson learned that has held me during my working career is that the individual is just a piece of a larger puzzle. In sporting terms, the sport and jersey and more important han the individual, a point so poignantly put in the movie Goal, 'the name on the front of the jersey is far more important than the name on the back of it'.

Where else in life could you learn all of these lessons? It is easy to argue that sport has shaped the man I am today, but it doesn’t end there. When I think of the days and evenings spent sweating through pre-season training or games where I have had to grit my teeth and deal with the pain of a torn rib cartilage, I wonder what it has been that has spurred me on to do it. The answer is simple - it’s the mates. It’s knowing that they will do everything in their power not to let you down and knowing that you must know the same. The mateships forged on the sporting field are among the strongest I share to this day. Even with those friends I have never shared a sporting field with, the absolute love of sport is the common thread that runs through them all.

So already as simply a competitor and spectator, sport has given me so much - but the influence doesn’t end there. After leaving school I knew I wanted sport to remain the major focus of my life. Unfortunately I was never going to be able to play professionally and after much trial and error I fell into Physical Education. This had allowed me to come in contact with many younger people with the same love of sport that I have - and has also given me the opportunity to get involved in coaching. And it has provided me with a completely new source of satisfaction. As my best sporting days are drawing to a close, it gives me a great sense of pride to see the kids, under my coaching, improving individually and, as a team, performing well.

I find that seeing the excitement in the eyes of a young player learning a new skill or a player winning a Premiership for the first time is becoming more satisfying and rewarding than my personal achievements on the field. And to think my coaching has anything to do with that is mind-blowing.

So as my focus slowly shifts from competitor to coach, I only hope that by passing on my passion for sport in general to the next generation, I can begin to repay what sport has given to me. One thing I am sure of, though - no matter how much I give back, it will only be a drop in the ocean to what I have received.