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Bulldogs winger Marcelo Montoya ray of hope to Dog days plaguing NRL club
MARCELO Montoya has had the dream debut season.
He cemented his place on the wing after debuting in round three and playing a hand in the Bulldogs’ first win of the season.
Since then he’s become a shining light in a dark season for the Dogs.
After scoring yet another try in Sunday’s win over the Dragons, Montoya has finished as the club’s top try scorer for 2017.
He’s a shoo-in for Rookie of the Year at the club’s end of season awards night on Thursday and could also see a Dally M Rookie of the Year nomination come his way.
Montoya, who is half-Fijian and half-Chilean, is the first player of a South American background to play in the NRL.
Still only 21, he’s already had a taste of representative football, having played for Fiji last year and again earlier this year, with another selection surely on the cards.
The youngest of four boys, Montoya started playing league at the age of five.
He didn’t always belong on the wing though.
In fact, he played in the back-row before discovering his niche on the edge.
“I was a second rower and then I don’t know what happened, I just shot up,” Montoya explained.
“I ended up in the outside backs, played a bit of centre and then moved out to the wing.”
Sport has always been a part of the Montoya household.
His brothers also played league, with one of his siblings spending some time in the Wests Tigers Jersey Flegg side.
His Mum was also a budding netballer who represented Fiji, and it’s from her that he believes he inherited his athletic ability.
With his parents supporting rival clubs in the Eels and Tigers, it’s a surprise that Marcelo only ever had eyes for the Bulldogs.
He idolised premiership-winning fullback Luke Pattern growing up and dreamt that one day he too would pull on the blue and white jersey.
“I always wanted to play first grade, at the Bulldogs as well, because I always went for them, so it was pretty much a dream come true to play first grade here,” he said.
Coming into the 2017 season, an NRL debut was the last thing on the incredibly humble winger’s mind.
He had his sights set on a successful year in NSW Cup with an NRL nod something he could work towards in the future.
“I set my goals to just get one whole reserve grade season out and see how well I went,” he said.
“I think I was very fortunate to play this year, it wasn’t my goal this year, it was my goal to get a full ISP season out and hopefully debut next year.”
However, with Will Hopoate and Kerrod Holland suffering injuries in round two, Montoya saw his opportunity much sooner than expected.
With his bags packed for an early Friday morning flight to an ISP clash in New Zealand, he received a surprise call from the Bulldogs’ football manager.
“I wasn’t really expecting it,” Montoya recalled.
“I was driving home, I was at a family friend’s place watching the game and Alan Thompson rang me up and said there’s a chance you might be playing next week so don’t get on the plane tomorrow just come to training on Sunday.”
Even then, Montoya still doubted his chances of debuting. It wasn’t until head coach Des Hasler announced it in front of the entire team the following Tuesday.
“We had video and he said to everyone ‘Marcelo and Brad (Abbey) will be debuting this week boys.’ It was something I’ll never forget.”
With Doggies fans bidding goodbye to their favourite son in local junior Josh Reynolds, they can take comfort knowing that Montoya could very well fill that void.
The talented young gun started in the West Tigers junior comp, swapping between a few clubs before finally finding his home as a 15-year-old with the Bankstown Bulls in the Bulldogs junior competition.
It was there that a Bulldogs scout spotted Montoya’s talent and invited him along to a trial with the Harold Matthews team.
He made a great impression. He then rose through the ranks of their SG Ball and systems.
It’s crazy to think that this is Montoya’s first season of training full time.
Just last year he was juggling NYC training commitments, with a Primary Education degree and working as a teacher’s aide.
Having put his studies on hold for his soaring NRL career, university is something he has plans to revisit in the near future.
“I want to pick it up for sure next year, maybe even if it’s just one unit,” he said.
“The club helps out a lot so it’s better for me to try knock it over.”
There’s no hiding the fact that the Dogs haven’t had the best season, so you can’t help but wonder if the drama made it hard for a young player who was catapulted into the deep end to stay motivated.
However, in a true testament to his professionalism, Montoya wasn’t fazed by it, instead he was only focused on the positives.
“I think for me to be here to start with is unreal,” he said.
“To come to training with such professional players and to be with the boys who are at the highest point of the career, for me that’s motivating for myself.
“The experience is something that kept me going, after one game you want to play another, so I think that helped me put my best foot forward.”
With an opportunity, of course comes challenges to keep you grounded and for Montoya he found being consistent the biggest of them all.
While he’s represented the Bati twice, Montoya said his biggest achievement is playing first grade.
It’s something that he never imagined to happen and something that he says a number of people doubted.
“From growing up in Campbelltown to being where I am today, there’s a lot of people out there that wouldn’t have expected me to be where I am,” Montoya reflected.
“A lot of credit goes to my family and my close family friends that have been there for me throughout it all.”
As a true family man, Montoya doesn’t have much planned for the off-season other than spending time with his family, friends and partner.
While a well-deserved holiday could be on the cards, he’s focused on unwinding from an incredible breakthrough season as well as keeping his fingers crossed for a call up for the World Cup.
https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nr...b/news-story/f5feff6d3652e6e443bc2befb30db0d9
MARCELO Montoya has had the dream debut season.
He cemented his place on the wing after debuting in round three and playing a hand in the Bulldogs’ first win of the season.
Since then he’s become a shining light in a dark season for the Dogs.
After scoring yet another try in Sunday’s win over the Dragons, Montoya has finished as the club’s top try scorer for 2017.
He’s a shoo-in for Rookie of the Year at the club’s end of season awards night on Thursday and could also see a Dally M Rookie of the Year nomination come his way.
Montoya, who is half-Fijian and half-Chilean, is the first player of a South American background to play in the NRL.
Still only 21, he’s already had a taste of representative football, having played for Fiji last year and again earlier this year, with another selection surely on the cards.
The youngest of four boys, Montoya started playing league at the age of five.
He didn’t always belong on the wing though.
In fact, he played in the back-row before discovering his niche on the edge.
“I was a second rower and then I don’t know what happened, I just shot up,” Montoya explained.
“I ended up in the outside backs, played a bit of centre and then moved out to the wing.”
Sport has always been a part of the Montoya household.
His brothers also played league, with one of his siblings spending some time in the Wests Tigers Jersey Flegg side.
His Mum was also a budding netballer who represented Fiji, and it’s from her that he believes he inherited his athletic ability.
With his parents supporting rival clubs in the Eels and Tigers, it’s a surprise that Marcelo only ever had eyes for the Bulldogs.
He idolised premiership-winning fullback Luke Pattern growing up and dreamt that one day he too would pull on the blue and white jersey.
“I always wanted to play first grade, at the Bulldogs as well, because I always went for them, so it was pretty much a dream come true to play first grade here,” he said.
Coming into the 2017 season, an NRL debut was the last thing on the incredibly humble winger’s mind.
He had his sights set on a successful year in NSW Cup with an NRL nod something he could work towards in the future.
“I set my goals to just get one whole reserve grade season out and see how well I went,” he said.
“I think I was very fortunate to play this year, it wasn’t my goal this year, it was my goal to get a full ISP season out and hopefully debut next year.”
However, with Will Hopoate and Kerrod Holland suffering injuries in round two, Montoya saw his opportunity much sooner than expected.
With his bags packed for an early Friday morning flight to an ISP clash in New Zealand, he received a surprise call from the Bulldogs’ football manager.
“I wasn’t really expecting it,” Montoya recalled.
“I was driving home, I was at a family friend’s place watching the game and Alan Thompson rang me up and said there’s a chance you might be playing next week so don’t get on the plane tomorrow just come to training on Sunday.”
Even then, Montoya still doubted his chances of debuting. It wasn’t until head coach Des Hasler announced it in front of the entire team the following Tuesday.
“We had video and he said to everyone ‘Marcelo and Brad (Abbey) will be debuting this week boys.’ It was something I’ll never forget.”
With Doggies fans bidding goodbye to their favourite son in local junior Josh Reynolds, they can take comfort knowing that Montoya could very well fill that void.
The talented young gun started in the West Tigers junior comp, swapping between a few clubs before finally finding his home as a 15-year-old with the Bankstown Bulls in the Bulldogs junior competition.
It was there that a Bulldogs scout spotted Montoya’s talent and invited him along to a trial with the Harold Matthews team.
He made a great impression. He then rose through the ranks of their SG Ball and systems.
It’s crazy to think that this is Montoya’s first season of training full time.
Just last year he was juggling NYC training commitments, with a Primary Education degree and working as a teacher’s aide.
Having put his studies on hold for his soaring NRL career, university is something he has plans to revisit in the near future.
“I want to pick it up for sure next year, maybe even if it’s just one unit,” he said.
“The club helps out a lot so it’s better for me to try knock it over.”
There’s no hiding the fact that the Dogs haven’t had the best season, so you can’t help but wonder if the drama made it hard for a young player who was catapulted into the deep end to stay motivated.
However, in a true testament to his professionalism, Montoya wasn’t fazed by it, instead he was only focused on the positives.
“I think for me to be here to start with is unreal,” he said.
“To come to training with such professional players and to be with the boys who are at the highest point of the career, for me that’s motivating for myself.
“The experience is something that kept me going, after one game you want to play another, so I think that helped me put my best foot forward.”
With an opportunity, of course comes challenges to keep you grounded and for Montoya he found being consistent the biggest of them all.
While he’s represented the Bati twice, Montoya said his biggest achievement is playing first grade.
It’s something that he never imagined to happen and something that he says a number of people doubted.
“From growing up in Campbelltown to being where I am today, there’s a lot of people out there that wouldn’t have expected me to be where I am,” Montoya reflected.
“A lot of credit goes to my family and my close family friends that have been there for me throughout it all.”
As a true family man, Montoya doesn’t have much planned for the off-season other than spending time with his family, friends and partner.
While a well-deserved holiday could be on the cards, he’s focused on unwinding from an incredible breakthrough season as well as keeping his fingers crossed for a call up for the World Cup.
https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nr...b/news-story/f5feff6d3652e6e443bc2befb30db0d9
