Since then he's been growing it. Waiting for a special occasion before he cut it off.

Mooney felt that time had come. His NRL debut for the Canberra Raiders - against the Sydney Roosters at Canberra Stadium on Sunday.

The Canberra Times was invited into the Raiders' inner sanctum for the emotional jersey presentation from his parents Deon and Barbara, who travelled up from Sydney for the special lunch in their son's honour at Walsh's Hotel in Queanbeyan.

It's something he's been on the verge of for a while, ever since he was part of the Green Machine's bubble on the Gold Coast last year.

He was on the Raiders' bench as their injury replacement for their 28-20 loss to the Parramatta Eels on the weekend.

But first he'll take a moment to honour the 16-year-old who looked up to him.

"A family member of a young kid who passed reached out to me to say I was someone he looked up to," Mooney said.

"I thought to myself, 'I'll start growing it', so I cut off all my hair, I shaved everything else pretty much No.1 all over and left a mullet.

"But it finally comes off this Friday. I always said I'd save it for something big and I think this is big enough."

Mooney's father Deon revealed the extra yards his son had gone to in order to realise his NRL dream. Waking up early. Going to the football field to practice in the pouring rain when no one else was there.

Although it took some convincing for Deon to get his son to play footy in the first place.

When Mooney was just five years old his dad was desperate for him to play and offered him bribes.

But it wasn't until Mooney was nine that he decided to take up rugby league.

"He bleeds green, but he also bleeds a lot of sweat and made a lot of sacrifices to be here," Deon said.

"I tried to bribe him when he was five years old to play rugby league. I used to say, 'Son if you just play the game I'll give you $20'.

"And one time he came to me when he was nine years old and he said to me, 'Dad, I'm ready to play. And guess what, you don't even have to pay me'."

For Mooney the turning point was watching Australia against New Zealand, when Johnathan Thurston and Cameron Smith were still running around.

It had him hooked and on the path to becoming Raider No.385.

You could see from his tears of joy how much it meant to him.

He was expecting his parents to be there - it's just what the Raiders do - but the emotion still hit him when they walked into the room.

MORE RAIDERS NEWS

It's something the 20-year-old's been working towards since he was nine, which made it feel like he'd achieved something big.

But, on the other hand, it was just another game of footy.

It left Mooney not sure how he felt. Except he hoped it was a stepping stone to something much bigger.

"A little bit emotional to be honest. I kind of expected them to be here, but it's a bit daunting when your old man and your mum walk in and you could sense the emotion in the room," he said.

"It's a different feeling. It feels like it's something, but it's nothing at the same time.

"At the end of the day I come here to play footy and I come here to win and compete, so at the end of the day this is just another game for myself.

"But it's obviously a stepping stone to something greater."

Mooney's had to wait patiently for his first game to arrive.

He saw fellow forward Harry Rushton make his NRL debut ahead of him.

But his opportunity's here through Canberra enforcer Josh Papalii joining Queensland State of Origin camp.

"I've always said it's just a matter of time for myself," Mooney said.

"Obviously I didn't get a debut last year so when the year started and you start playing rounds and all of a sudden it's round 13 and you're a little bit unsure [when it will come].

"I'm just grateful to be out there to be honest."

NRL ROUND 13

Sunday: Canberra Raiders v Sydney Roosters at Canberra Stadium, 4pm.

Raiders squad: 1. Xavier Savage, 2. Nick Cotric, 3. Matt Timoko, 4. Sebastian Kris, 5. Jordan Rapana, 6. Matt Frawley, 7. Jamal Fogarty, 8. Corey Horsburgh, 9. Zac Woolford, 10. Joe Tapine, 11. Hudson Young, 12. Elliott Whitehead (c), 13. Adam Elliott. Interchange: 14. Tom Starling, 15. Ryan Sutton, 16. Corey Harawira-Naera, 17. Trey Mooney. Reserves: 18. James Schiller 19. Harry Rushton, 20. Adrian Trevilyan, 21. Brad Schneider.

Roosters squad: 1. Joseph Manu, 2. Billy Smith, 3. Paul Momirovski, 4. Kevin Naiqama, 5. Joseph Suaalii, 6. Sam Walker, 7. Luke Keary, 8. Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, 9. Drew Hutchison, 10. Siosiua Taukeiaho, 11. Angus Crichton, 12. Sitili Tupouniua, 13. Nat Butcher. Interchange: 14. Connor Watson, 15. Fletcher Baker, 16. Egan Butcher, 17. Terrell May. Reserves: 18. Lachlan Lam, 19. Daniel Suluka-Fifita, 20. Adam Keighran, 21. Tom Carr, 22. Ben Marschke.

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