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Craig Kerry
July 24, 2011
WESTERN Force utility Patrick Dellit is glad that his schoolmates in Maitland were a persistent bunch.
Dellit, who last week signed a contract extension with the Perth-based Super 15 side, was raised in Bolwarra and played football until the age of 16.
But Dellit, a naturally gifted athlete with size and speed, had many good friends at All Saints College, Maitland, who played rugby with the Blacks and he promised one day to have a run with them.
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After only three years of junior rugby, Dellit was hooked. He left for Sydney straight after high school and played with Eastern Suburbs until being picked up this year by the Force on a two-year rookie contract.
The 24-year-old went on to play 12 Super Rugby games, including the last nine of the season as a starter, received the club's Rising Star award and this week signed an upgraded contract extension that will keep him in Perth until the end of 2013.
''It's been a remarkable year, just going from just club football and trying to have a crack and then getting an opportunity,'' Dellit said. ''It's been good.
''It was basically a two-year deal to start with but after the first year we changed it and they extended it, which is always good.
''After the year I had, I was hoping to settle in and extend and they were obviously happy with the first year as well.''
Looking back, the 192-centimetre, 100-kilogram flyer said he was glad his childhood friends were rugby mad.
''I had quite a few mates playing rugby for the Maitland Blacks and I decided to go there and play,'' he said. ''I really enjoyed my rugby there. I branched out and did some league as well and played as much sport as I could at school.
''But it was always going to come down to league or union.
''At the time I was having more fun playing with my close mates in union and it gave me an opportunity to move to Sydney, and the rest is history.
''I still keep in touch with some of them and try to get down and watch the Blacks play when I'm home.''
His pure talent attracted the attention of the Knights in those schoolboy days and Dellit said he still had an interest in the 13-man game.
''I'd done all the pre-season work with the SG Ball [then under-17s] squad and that was a great experience and great fun,'' he said.
''That was my first year playing contact sport so it was a bit of a learning curve - first time getting in the gym and that kind of stuff.
''It seems like a lifetime ago walking into the gym in Newcastle. But it was all good, all part of the journey.''
His focus next season is cementing a place in the Force back line after alternating between outside centre and fullback this year.
''As much as being a utility in a team is good, you always want to make a number your own,'' he said.
''Next year I'm going to keep working hard and focus on outside centre. I think there could be a good opportunity there.''
Dellit was set to come home this weekend but will stay in Perth to rest an abdominal strain then train in preparation for the Force's tour to Samoa late next month.
After that he hopes to play for Eastern Suburbs in the finals of the Shute Shield and catch up with his Maitland mates.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/un...#ixzz1SwUBpIlp
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