Just weeks after capping of his final year in the NRL’s National Youth Competition (NYC) with an award at the Mal Meninga Medal night, Daniel Dole will head into surgery this week.
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The Yenda Blueheelers junior was rewarded for his non-stop efforts for the NYC Canberra Raiders as he took out the coaches award last week.
“It was unreal, I was bloody surprised,” Dole said.
“I went there thinking ‘there’s some superstars in this team, I work hard and that but I don’t think I’m up for any awards.’
“As soon as the coach started speaking, I thought ‘this sounds like it could be me here’.
“Then he said ‘he also thinks he’s one of the best looking blokes in the team’ and I thought ‘Jesus’ and then he said ‘Daniel Dole’.”
The hard-hitting prop described getting up in front of the thousands in attendance as “nerve-racking” but when it came to his upcoming wrist reconstruction, Dole was much calmer.
“I tore the ligament before round one and the surgeon said ‘you’ll need surgery’ but I said ‘I think I’m just going to put up with it’. I didn't want to miss the last season of 20s,” he said.
“It [wrist] now needs a full reconstruction but that’s a decision I made at the start of the season. Hopefully I can do as much as I can before pre-season to get myself a bit more ready.”
The surgery will sideline Dole for roughly two months before he does a pre-season with the Raiders first grade side.
Come new year, Dole will break away from the first grade side and join NSW Cup – and Canberra feeder – side Mounties.
He hopes to make the move to lock – the position his brother James played at a local level – as he continues his NRL apprenticeship.
“That’s how the process goes, you don’t just get thrown in,” Dole said.
“I won’t be playing NRL next year or anything. I still have to work hard for a couple years and see what comes.
“That’s the goal [to play NRL] but it’s a hard business.”
The 20-year-old still has strong ties with his junior club and said Yenda’s future was bright after the club secured the 2016 Group 20 under 18s premiership.