This week, I caught up with James Tuttle, former Australian Under-20s captain, and now Reds scrum-half. We chatted about his Reds journey so far, as well as the current NRC season and why a Brissy boy like him is now playing for "Queensland Country".
(For those that aren't in the know, the National Rugby Competition, or NRC, is now in full swing! Both the "Brisbane City" and "Queensland Country" teams are playing locally, and around Australia. Both teams feature members of our Queensland Reds. Check out the schedule here and get to a game if you can...)
Hope you enjoy my latest interview!
Hi James, thanks for making time to catch up.
No worries Tommy, more than a pleasure.
How’s the off-season for the Reds going?
Off-seasons going good. We’ve got a bit of time off after the Super Rugby season, and now we’re along the way with all our NRC training, and the competition for Queensland Country.
It’s been good - we’ve played three games so far. We lost to Canberra, but we were lucky enough to beat [Brisbane] City up in Noosa which was a great achievement for us, we haven’t beaten them in four years.. it’s been really good.
How have you found your first season with the Reds?
Yeah it’s been really enjoyable. Coming into this year was exciting. I played a few games last year, but this year I’ve gotten a lot more time playing number 9, and a lot more opportunity as well.
I’m really happy with how I’ve progressed this year, and really looking forward to what we can do at Suncorp Stadium next year. We’ve got a good group of players, with some new coaching staff, so I think a lot of the boys are ready to rip into pre-season and we’ll back playing in no time in February. It’s going to be really exciting.
You were born in Brisbane, so how is it that you came to be playing for Queensland Country in the NRC?
(Laughs.) It’s a bit funny isn’t it. I think a lot of the boys in the team are from Brissy.. but at the start of the competition they had to split the Reds players evenly across the two sides. But in our squad at the moment, we do have a lot of players with country backgrounds, so they get to represent where they’ve come from, and play for those people back home that have gotten them to where they are now, so I’m glad that I’m playing for country. I’ve loved every minute that I’ve played this year and I can’t wait to get stuck into it on Sunday.
Can you tell us about your journey through the Reds development program?
Yep. I left school in 2013, and came to the Reds under 20s at the start of 2014. I played a year with them and then played with my club side as well, Jeeps… then at the end of 2014, did my first pre-season with the Reds, and in 2015, just played a bit of Jeeps, bit of Reds under-20s, and mainly the Australian under-20s, as well as the NRC at the end of the year.
Moving into 2016, it was pretty much the same, played the Aussie under-20s and then got into the last few games with the Reds. I made my debut over in Loftus, in South Africa against the Bulls.
I signed my first contract in 2015, for the 2016 season. It’s been a good journey, it’s a great development program the Reds have here. You see a lot of the players coming through now, a lot of the blokes my age, or similar ages to me that have progressed through the under-20s ranks and now they’re playing for the Reds, or for their NRC sides as well.
We’re gonna breed some great talent in the next couple of years, and I just can’t wait to see the progress in all of the players.
Who was your favourite player growing up?
I think… I do love my rugby league, and I used to watch it more than I did my union, but one of my favourite union players growing up was probably George Gregan. Playing half-back, I loved how quick he was around the ruck and how quick he was around the field, and how he stabbed the attack for all the Australian and Brumbies backlines that he played in, he was probably my idol in a Rugby Union sense.
For rugby league, I really loved watching Darran Lockyer as well, he was probably my favourite player growing up. He was just phenomenal whenever he played for the Maroons, the Broncos, or for Australia. But I was pretty happy watching either rugby union or rugby league, I just love both of them.
What is the biggest highlight in your life so far?
Biggest highlight of my life so far.. I think probably debuting for the Reds. It’s been a dream of mine for a while to play for the Queensland Reds side… Watching them as a kid, and finally getting an opportunity to play, it’s hard to put into words. I made my debut, as I said, against South Africa against the Bulls, it’s a pretty awesome place to make a debut. I obviously would have loved to have made my debut at home here at Suncorp, in front of home fans and a home crowd, but Loftus is such an amazing place to play, and I was really happy with the opportunity I got give. I think that’s the highlight of my life so far, definitely.
And everyones favourite question… Can you tell us something about yourself that not many people may know?
I was waiting for this one. (Laughs). Maybe a couple of things. I’m studying at the moment, business and law at QUT. I like to keep myself busy when I’m not playing footy. I think it’s pretty important to keep myself doing something when I’m not around here.
Maybe another one, when I was leaving school, I was offered to go and play league with the Broncos under-20s. So I had the option of coming here and playing for the Reds, or going to Red Hill and playing with the under-20s with the Broncos. I weighed up those two options, and made the decision to stay here. I’m pretty pleased with the opportunity that I’ve been given here.
Thanks again for taking time out to chat.
No worries Tom.
All the best for your game against Sydney on Sunday!
Ahh thank you. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to chat with you, and hopefully we’ll get the win on Sunday. The boys are pretty pumped!
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