It has to be every young supporter’s dream.
The dream to one day represent the club which you’ve grown up loving and supporting throughout your whole childhood.
It’s why Melbourne Rising young gun Trevor Hosea was brought to tears when he was presented with an opportunity to play for his home team.
The 204cm and 119kg lock was at school when he received a call from his father saying the Melbourne Rebels had offered the then 18-year-old a contract for the 2018 Super Rugby season.
Hosea, sporting marks akin to carpet burns from rubbing his face against the props in the Rising’s set piece last week, smiled when recounting the moment his Super Rugby dream was realised.
“I was at school in the lunch hall and my dad called me and said, ‘do you have a minute?’,” Hosea said.
“I went outside down where the bus stop was and he said your manager had called up, there’s a contract for the Melbourne Rebels (and) we can do it now if you want.
“I just sat there for a bit and thought, yep, that’s me, that’s what I want to do. I called my manager up shortly after and said yes to him as well.
“I called dad back and I was just crying on the phone and it was a pretty surreal moment.”
The moment was made all the more special for Hosea given the hard work and difficult choices he had made to get to the position he was in.
Growing up in the South East Melbourne suburb of Narre Warren, Hosea attended Fountain Gate Secondary College and was a part of the rugby academy between years eight to 10.
Hosea was due to begin year 11 when an opportunity opened up to move north to Queensland and attend the prestigious Brisbane Boys’ College.
While Hosea says the move away from family was hard, it proved to be a vital part of his rugby development.
“Having to move up to Brisbane was a pretty big move going away from home… I’m really family orientated and it was a big step for me,” Hosea said.
“I wanted to improve myself on the rugby field, an opportunity came up and I took it with both hands. It was a good program up there, we had people like Steve Nance, Van Humphries and Shane Drum as the head coach.”
“Van Humphries was a pretty big mentor for me being a lock himself, so it kind of installed all this knowledge into me.”
Following his move to the Sunshine State, Hosea flourished as a rugby player and begun to grab the attention of talent scouts.
Already an Under 15’s Junior Gold Cup and State Under 16’s representative for Victoria, Hosea was selected in the Under 18’s Queensland Schoolboys team, culminating in being selected for the Australian Schoolboys Under 20’s side.
After making a strong impact in a foreign state, Hosea’s rugby pathway has led him back to where it all began, Victoria.
It’s something which Hosea is immensely proud of, given he is now playing for the team he grew up supporting.
“Growing up over here, I’ve come to most of the Rebels matches. It’s a great opportunity for me to represent people that have come through the ranks,” he said.
“I feel like I’ve got to be a big role model to people at my school who really looked after me.
“I want to show people coming through the ranks in Victorian rugby that there is a pathway for home grown talent to come through.”
It’s why Hosea is thrilled he has earned three starts for the Rising so far in the National Rugby Championship.
Hosea believes his form for the Rising can hopefully put him into calculations to earn a spot in a Rebels’ 2019 match day squad for the upcoming Super Rugby season.
“It’s a big opportunity for me, especially as one of the young ones to show what I’ve got,” Hosea said.
“It’s a big platform to set myself up for Super Rugby and I’ve got to prove that I have what it takes and to show what I’ve got in the next few weeks to put my name up there for selection.”
