A fractured kneecap almost derailed Elijah Anderson's NRL dream

The Indigenous winger's dream suffered a five-year set back after he fractured his kneecap as a child and stepped away from the game during his early teenage years.

"I had a pretty bad injury, I didn't really go back to footy until I was, I think, 16," said Anderson, who idolised Indigenous players Preston Campbell and Greg Inglis while growing up.

"I tried to run up a tree and I tripped and fractured my kneecap. You think, 'If I did go back earlier, where I'd be now'? But I think things happen for a reason and I think all the hard work has finally paid off.

"I could have come back a year or so later but I gave footy up and then at 16 I came back to my local club, the Norths Knights [in Rockhampton]. Then I was playing locally until St Brendan's [College] head coach spotted me and offered me to go down to the school halfway through year 11."

The Yeppon college has produced a number of NRL players, including Matt Scott, Ben Hunt, Jake Granville, Corey Oates, Kurt Mann, Harry Grant, Jonus Pearson and now Anderson.

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The 22-year-old made his debut off the bench on Friday for the Raiders in their 20-12 win over St George-Illawarra Dragons, something he said was a "dream come true".

"It was unreal," he said.

"A dream come true, I loved the few minutes of it."

He grew up on Gangulu land, in a town near Rockhampton with a population of about 2000 people.

Anderson is following in the footsteps of one of his town's heroes, Darren Fritz, who grew up in Mount Morgan before plying his trade in lime green for 53 games

"Growing up in a small town, you don't really see too many people make it, so I always want to try and give the town the recognition it deserves," he said.

"I always loved watching Preston Campbell and Greg Inglis. They're the two big players I wanted to be like and play like.

"It plays a big role on younger Aboriginal kids growing up, you know, seeing you can make it if you just put in the hard work."

And hard work it was for the young Raiders player. This time last year Anderson was working full-time as a support worker, having made the move back home to play rugby union after the Queensland Cup was called off due to coronavirus.

"I was working at a local Indigenous agency, because I had just moved back and I didn't have job," he said.

"So my sister asked her boss and ... it was very fulfilling working with the kids."

But then the Raiders came calling and he moved to Canberra on a train-and-trial contract, earning himself a deal until the end of 2022.

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