Dreams Can Come True: A Conversation with Reds Prop Zane Nonggor

There are plenty of reasons it’s a great time to be a Reds fan! Yes, the team is on a winning streak at the moment, but regardless, with great players/people coming through the Reds pathway, the future looks bright for the game in our great state.

Zane Nonggor is one such player. At the age of 19, he’s already staking his claim in the side. He debuted last year against the Waratahs and has been named on the the bench for this weekends clash against the Western Force (this Saturday at Suncorp!!!)

I was lucky to get to catch up with him after training this week and we talked about everything, from his rugby journey, to what he thinks of his new nickname, “Baby Thor”.

I hope you enjoy reading, as much as I enjoyed talking with him!

Congrats to you and the whole team for the awesome win over the weekend!

Thank you! It was good to get the win down against the Brumbies, it was the first time in seven years [down in Canberra]. I was a pretty rough start, but they stuck to the structures, believed in each other and got the win.

Let’s talk about the year so far. How have you found settling into the 2021 season with the Reds? Much easier than 2020 I assume!

Yeah, it’s been really fun I guess. Since I had a bit of time last year, I knew all the names, knew all the faces and could get to know them a bit better. But at the start of the year I had a couple of injuries, a couple of niggles that kept me out of training for a couple of months so that was pretty annoying. But finally in the last month, it’s been really good getting back into full training. Still, every sessions harder than the one before, and I just want to get better. I’m still trying to adapt I guess to senior, professional footy.

What do you love the most about playing for Queensland and being based here at Ballymore?

What I love the most is… I’m a Queensland boy - born and bred, I’ve supported Queensland my whole life, when I’d watch rugby union it was always the Queensland Reds. I didn’t know too much about rugby when I first came, but as soon as I started playing at school, because this was my home state, there was really no question to go for the Queensland Reds. It’s really a dream come true to be able to come and train at Ballymore and to wear that Queensland jersey.

You joined the Reds as a prop. Have you always played in that position?

Yeah I have. I’m a bit big to play other positions. Even when I started playing footy I was always a tight-head prop, I never really tried any other positions. I’m pretty uncoordinated on the left side of the scrum, compared to the right. I have played a bit, during our Argentina tour with school, I played number 8 for 20 minutes of one game, that was pretty cool. But yeah, I’ve always been a prop.

I love hearing about peoples rugby journey’s. How old were you when you started playing rugby?

I started playing rugby in year 5, so I would have been 9 or 10 years old. When I first started, I wasn’t actually that good, I was just big. I started off in the B team, then the next year I was in Cs and Ds, the next year, Cs and Ds, it wasn’t until I was in year 8 that I started, I guess, getting good and making the A team and then for the rest of high school made the A team, then later I made the first XV for a couple of years, then in my last year, I played for Queensland under-18s and was lucky enough to make the Australian team.

I guess that kind of got me some attention from the people at the Reds and they offered me a contract, a development academy spot. Training there was really fun, because all the people I went to school with the year above me, we were all training together. Then covid hit and we were all split up. We just kept training, it was like a second pre-season really. I had some good numbers in the fitness tests during covid and they gave me an opportunity to come and train, just to make up numbers, after cover. I just kept training, and there were a couple of times when I thought I’d go back to academy, but they said “stay here” because there were a couple of injuries and they needed the numbers and I just kept training. I got the opportunity and it was really surreal. It all happened so fast and I couldn’t believe it when it was happened.

What inspired you to play the game?

Growing up in PNG, Rugby League was the main sport there and I watched a little bit of that, mostly just the State of Origin, but then when we came to Australia and I went to Southport, the only rugby they had there was rugby union. My grandad played a bit of rugby union for fun, this is my Grandad on my Mums side, my Australian side, and she said “you should really try it - you’ll love it, you’ll love it”. I was a bit nervous at the time, I didn’t think it would go that well. But she really pushed me to play and I had a blast of a time.

I guess what inspired me at the time was having fun with my mates and my Mum pushing me to try new things. I can really thank my Mum for everything that’s happened.

Can you tell us something about yourself that not many people know?

I’m left-handed, not many people know that… I used to be a lot bigger - too much Maccas and KFC when I was younger. Also, not a lot of people know that I’m from the highlands of Papa New Guinea, right in the middle of it. We lived up in the village for four years. That was a lot of fun. Not many people know that.

Do you like the nickname “Baby Thor”?

(Laughs) Yeah. Obviously, growing up, Nella (Taniella) was one of the people I watched very closely who was playing my position and bumping everyone off and throwing massive cut-off balls. All the props just wanted to be him. Being called Baby Thor is pretty funny, I definitely like that.

What is your team focusing on ahead of the game against the Force this weekend?

The team focus for this weekend is to keep improving. We had a good game against the Brumbies this week, it was a hard fought game against them. It was a slow start, so we want to just improve as much as possible and keep building upon our game, building on our structures, sticking to our structures and I guess playing the form that we can play. Not making too many mistakes and keep building pressure.

Thanks for taking time to catch up Zane! 

All good Tommy! It was a pleasure to be interviewed by you. I think you know more of the Reds than I do! It’s been awesome to catch up.

Don’t miss the Reds game this Saturday against the Western Force, 7:30pm at Suncorp Stadium!!!