Heartbreak fuelling NRL workhorse

Andrew Davey has a message for all: never give up on your dreams.

The 29-year-old second-rower from Mackay was sick of family and friends telling him to give up on his dreams of becoming an NRL player.

But he got his break in the 2020 NRL season when he got to run out with the Parramatta Eels in round 10.

This led to a life-changing call from his manager after round 18.

His manager told him he had been offered a two-year contract with Manly, and finally had been offered the money he had been waiting a lifetime for.

All he wanted was to be able to support himself and his partner.

"When my manager rang me and told me what money I was on [with Manly], I was thinking, 'How good!'" Davey told the Sydney Morning Herald.

"I am going to be an NRL player and get to have my partner and be in a financial position to support her. Finally, I had had a win."

But in an awful blow, Davey's partner — whom he had been separated from physically for seven months due to COVID-19 — broke it off with him.

"I proved I was worth it. I proved that I was capable of being an NRL player. But then I lost my partner on top of it.

"I was always a battler just for an opportunity, and finally I was given something of worth so I could have my life all together … but COVID-19 took its toll.

"I keep saying to people this has been the best and worst year of my life."

Davey will resume his pre-season campaign with Manly on Monday, and says he is using his heartbreak as a launchpad for 2021.

Having given up everything to be with the Sea Eagles, Davey said he was set to begin with the club with a no-regrets attitude.

"It was hard to leave when I did, but it was my last opportunity. If I didn't take it, that was it," Davey said.

He said he had already been made to feel welcome at the club by senior figures like Kieran Foran and Daly Cherry-Evans, who had been "so good" to him during this year's short pre-season period.

"It's funny when you're my age when you come into the system, and I'm only new to the system. I'm not playing with players that I watched growing up," Davey said.

"A lot of kids play when they're 20 and they've watched their heroes play and they get to play with them."

But his message is clear for anyone being told their dreams are too grand or they should give up.

"I don't know how many times I was ridiculed for what I was doing. People were saying, 'What are you doing that for? You're never going to make it'," Davey said.

"But I wouldn't change it because I've done something that I'd always dreamed of doing. I took the scenic route, but I made it, and there's nothing stopping someone else from doing the same thing."

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!