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It’s not uncommon for a school principal to get a knock on the door to be told by someone they won’t be coming back because they’ve gone to pursue their dream of playing NRL.
Usually it’s a pupil - the next big thing, the teenage whiz kid who is ready to play top-grade before they’ve started shaving.
But Brad Deitz was a teacher.
And after entering the principal’s office - at Sydney’s Our Lady of The Sacred Heart College – he told his new boss he was quitting because he had a training opportunity with the Bulldogs.
Fast forward two months and Mr Deitz, who turned 26 on Tuesday, was handed the best birthday present he could hope for when Trent Barrett told him: ‘you’re in’ for Canterbury’s Round 1 clash with Newcastle.
I told the principal it was too much of a good opportunity to turn down,” Deitz, who teaches maths and PE, told Foxsports.com.au.
“They were all happy for me, but needed me to fulfil my notice until they found a replacement.
“I told Baz and he was supportive of me and they were happy for me to do my time teaching and then come back full-time.
I was training with Mounties (Bulldogs’ reserve team) and I must have gone all right (in an opposed session) because Baz asked me to come back.
“I came in every day during the school holiday and Baz asked me to stick around, it was such a good opportunity I’d have been stupid not to.”
It’s an ethos that has paid dividends. Deitz was named in the No. 14 jumper on Tuesday afternoon and has - despite being on a training contract - been given an exemption to play due to the fact regular Dogs hooker Jeremy Marshall-King went down for the Maori All Stars.
Deitz’s story is one of perseverance. He was part of an Australian Schoolboys side that included Jai Arrow, Mitchell Moses and Luke Brooks.
But the cards just never fell in his favour. He went to North Sydney, who were at the time a South Sydney feeder club. There, he was stuck behind Damien Cook and Robbie Farah.
When the Roosters linked with the Bears, Sam Verills pipped him to a call-up and there was a time he thought first-grade chance might never come.
Now, though, he joins the likes of Cody Walker, Jamal Fogarty and Andrew Davey in being handed a second chance later down the track after scoring a try and impressing with his quick feet in the Dogs’ trial win over Cronulla.
“I definitely had times in the last couple of years where NRL clubs would just be looking for the next thing coming through (and I thought my time might not come),” Deitz, who will wear the No.14 jumper, said..
“I still had that love of footy, whether it was NSW Cup – or when that was cancelled in the President’s Cup.
“We had a field session on Monday and just as that finished Baz told me there and then one-on-one. He shook my hand and congratulated me, he knows I’ve been waiting a long while to get the call.”
Deitz turned up at his parents’ with wife, Laura, and delivered the news over a birthday dinner.
Mum and dad didn’t quite believe him when he told them of his conversation with Barrett, but now around 15 family members are expected to make the trip up to Newcastle on Friday.
Asked what he’d say to those who were on the wrong side of 21 and had yet to crack first-grade, Deitz said: “As long as you’re still loving your game, play some good games, stick at it, and hopefully you can get noticed.”
From a teacher, that’s probably a lesson worth heeding.
Usually it’s a pupil - the next big thing, the teenage whiz kid who is ready to play top-grade before they’ve started shaving.
But Brad Deitz was a teacher.
And after entering the principal’s office - at Sydney’s Our Lady of The Sacred Heart College – he told his new boss he was quitting because he had a training opportunity with the Bulldogs.
Fast forward two months and Mr Deitz, who turned 26 on Tuesday, was handed the best birthday present he could hope for when Trent Barrett told him: ‘you’re in’ for Canterbury’s Round 1 clash with Newcastle.
I told the principal it was too much of a good opportunity to turn down,” Deitz, who teaches maths and PE, told Foxsports.com.au.
“They were all happy for me, but needed me to fulfil my notice until they found a replacement.
“I told Baz and he was supportive of me and they were happy for me to do my time teaching and then come back full-time.
I was training with Mounties (Bulldogs’ reserve team) and I must have gone all right (in an opposed session) because Baz asked me to come back.
“I came in every day during the school holiday and Baz asked me to stick around, it was such a good opportunity I’d have been stupid not to.”
It’s an ethos that has paid dividends. Deitz was named in the No. 14 jumper on Tuesday afternoon and has - despite being on a training contract - been given an exemption to play due to the fact regular Dogs hooker Jeremy Marshall-King went down for the Maori All Stars.
Deitz’s story is one of perseverance. He was part of an Australian Schoolboys side that included Jai Arrow, Mitchell Moses and Luke Brooks.
But the cards just never fell in his favour. He went to North Sydney, who were at the time a South Sydney feeder club. There, he was stuck behind Damien Cook and Robbie Farah.
When the Roosters linked with the Bears, Sam Verills pipped him to a call-up and there was a time he thought first-grade chance might never come.
Now, though, he joins the likes of Cody Walker, Jamal Fogarty and Andrew Davey in being handed a second chance later down the track after scoring a try and impressing with his quick feet in the Dogs’ trial win over Cronulla.
“I definitely had times in the last couple of years where NRL clubs would just be looking for the next thing coming through (and I thought my time might not come),” Deitz, who will wear the No.14 jumper, said..
“I still had that love of footy, whether it was NSW Cup – or when that was cancelled in the President’s Cup.
“We had a field session on Monday and just as that finished Baz told me there and then one-on-one. He shook my hand and congratulated me, he knows I’ve been waiting a long while to get the call.”
Deitz turned up at his parents’ with wife, Laura, and delivered the news over a birthday dinner.
Mum and dad didn’t quite believe him when he told them of his conversation with Barrett, but now around 15 family members are expected to make the trip up to Newcastle on Friday.
Asked what he’d say to those who were on the wrong side of 21 and had yet to crack first-grade, Deitz said: “As long as you’re still loving your game, play some good games, stick at it, and hopefully you can get noticed.”
From a teacher, that’s probably a lesson worth heeding.
