WESTERN Force back-rower Fergus Lee-Warner grew up on a property near Aberdeen in the Hunter Valley, did a gap year as a jackaroo on a cattle station in Kununurra at the tip of Western Australia and completed a construction management degree at the University of NSW.
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He was content playing rugby with his mates at Easts in the Shute Shield and "didn't have any intention of playing rugby for a living".
Then came a call from Force legend and Global Rapid Rugby director of rugby Matt Hodgson in 2018.
"I was playing all right footy in the Shute Shield and NRC but I wasn't getting a look in with the Waratahs or anything," Lee-Warner told the Newcastle Herald ahead of the Force's season-closing clash against the Melbourne Rebels at McDonald Jones Stadium on Saturday.
"I thought, why not chance my arm over there. It wasn't Super Rugby but it was still a chance to get paid to play rugby."
Lee-Warner was man of the match in the Force's win over the Canberra Vikings in the National Rugby Championship final last year.
Now, the strapping 26-year-old is a Super Rugby Au regular.
And with the Force guaranteed a place in the competition next season, whether it be Super Rugby Au or a trans-Tasman tournament, he is in negotiations for a new contract.
"Doing what you love as a job is pretty unreal," Lee-Warner said. "Hopefully I can keep it going as long as I can."
The Force, kicked out of Super Rugby at the end of 2017, were recalled for Super Rugby Au after COVID-19 ruled out international travel.
Lee-Warner has started in every game - five at lock and the last two at blindside breakaway - and has been one of the Force's best.
"There are a few boys in our squad who have played Super Rugby before," he said. "Guys like myself had played Rapid Rugby and NRC so we didn't know what to expect. After the first game against the Tahs (23-14 loss), we quickly realised that it was not the massive step up we thought it would be."
The Force, though yet to win a game, have competed hard and only suffered one blow out - a 57-5 defeat to the Reds.
"The first four games in particular we had some close losses," Lee-Warner said. "We showed we are in it, we just have to stay in it for the full 80. We just dropped away a few discipline things and there were some knowledge based areas that let us down at crucial parts of the game.
"I definitely think with a full preseason next year and topping up our squad with more depth, we will be very competitive."
That doesn't mean the Force have clocked off.
They went down to 25-20 in Super Time (extra time) to the Rebels at Leichhardt Oval on July 31 - a match in which Lee-Warner was the Force's man of the match - and are gunning for revenge.
"We were in an arm wrestle the whole game," Lee Warner said. "It went to Super Time and we didn't execute our kick off. They went all guns blazing towards our line and we couldn't scramble quick enough. We have learnt from that and have a game plan on how we will attack them."
There is no love lost between the two franchises, after the Rebels were retained in Super Rugby at the Forces expense in 2018.
Former Force coach David Wessels was poached by the Rebels and is in his third season in a charge.
A Force win would also prevent the Victorians from qualifying for the finals for the first time - the Rebels are four points behind the third-placed NSW Waratahs.
"We just want to win a game," Lee-Warner said. "We have had so many close games. We just want to finish the season on a high.
"There is no denying there will be some emotion there. There are a few boys who were at the Force when it all went pear-shaped ... as I said, we just want to win for ourselves and finish this season on a positive note."
Lee-Warner, who went to The Kings School in Sydney, visits home "whenever I can".
"In the bye week, I took two mates home to the farm," he said. "I put them to work pulling down a fence line."
One of the bonuses of Super Rugby Au is that all games have been played on the east coast.
"My parents have been able to attend nearly every game," Lee-Warner said. "They have had a bit of a holiday away from the farm each weekend to come and watch me play, so that has been good."
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