In a footy dominated town, it's easy to forget when some of the smaller sports taking place in Ballarat.
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Ola Tauelangi is looking to change that.
Born and bred in Ballarat, Tauelangi grew up as most children in the region do, playing Australian rules football and basketball.
It was not until he was 16, standing upwards of 180 centimetres and weighing in at over 100 kilograms, that he decided to give rugby a go.
Coming down for a training session with the Ballarat Rugby Club, his size turned heads. While he was too young to play for the senior team, a phone call to St Patrick's College rugby coach Mike Silcock changed for young man's life.
"I got a call about Ola from someone at the rugby club," Silcock said.
He was really just a raw, blunt object... he had some pace to him but really needed a lot of refinement as a player.
- Former St Patrick's rugby coach Mike Silcock.
Silcock took a chance on Tauelangi, bringing him over from Ballarat Christian College to St Pat's and teaching him the game.
Tauelangi heaped praise on Silcock and the school's rugby program, crediting the time they put into his development as a major reason for his success.
"They pretty much taught me all the basics," he said.
"Coming from basketball and footy I didn't know any of the rules of rugby union but they gave me a chance to play and it's turned out pretty good."
Across his two years with St Pat's, Silcock marveled at Tauelangi's growth, both in skill and confidence on the rugby pitch.
"As time went on he was just a sponge, taking in all the advice and continuing to grow in confidence and performance," Silcock reminisced.
"He was someone that was always willing to put in the effort and work hard to get better."
After leaving the college, Tauelangi moved to Melbourne and within a year was picked up by the Melbourne Rising, the development side of Melbourne's Super Rugby team.
Tauelangi, 19, is set to return to his home town this weekend when the Rising host Queensland Country in a National Rugby Championship game at Mars Stadium.
The flanker said he is excited to return home and believes games like the one coming go a long way in growing the sport in the region.
"Coming back to where I grew up and spent most of my childhood... it feels good to be back," he said.
"I think it just gives those country teams like Ballarat, Bendigo and Geelong more exposure to the sport... it'd be good to get more professional games at Mars Stadium to help people see the sport."
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