<\/p>\n
This led to a life-changing call from his manager after round 18.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
All he wanted was to be able to support himself and his partner.<\/p>\n
"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.<\/p>\n
"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."<\/p>\n
But in an awful blow, Davey's partner \u2014 whom he had been separated from physically for seven months due to COVID-19 \u2014 broke it off with him.<\/p>\n
"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.<\/p>\n
"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.<\/p>\n
"I keep saying to people this has been the best and worst year of my life."<\/p>\n
Davey will resume his pre-season campaign with Manly on Monday, and says he is using his heartbreak as a launchpad for 2021.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
"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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
"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.<\/p>\n
"A lot of kids play when they're 20 and they've watched their heroes play and they get to play with them."<\/p>\n
But his message is clear for anyone being told their dreams are too grand or they should give up.<\/p>\n
"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.<\/p>\n
"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."<\/p>\n
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