Outback teen Mannix Hunt stepped up to coach the Barcaldine Sandgoannas when he was just 17 and led them to win the premiership for the first time in 13 years.
Never in his wildest dreams did the 18-year-old imagine he would get a call from his favourite team — the Brisbane Broncos — inviting him and his vice-captain Brandon Hite for a VIP experience in the big smoke.
"It's pretty crazy hey, I never expected it to get to this but yeh it's been a pretty cool experience," Hunt said.
"It has been a very whirlwind two weeks [since winning the grand final]."
The young guns spent two days rubbing shoulders with Maroons legends like Bronco's head coach Kevin Walters, Allan "Alfie" Langer and "the King" Wally Lewis.
Queensland Rugby League central region manager Rob Crow said the Sandgoanna coach had achieved an extraordinary feat for someone his age.
"It's been recognised by the length and breadth of Australia for what's such a unique thing this is for a kid of 17-18 to coach a senior rep team to go on and win a grand final," Crow said.
"[Mannix Hunt] would be the only one in that age group that's coaching a senior rugby league side in Australia to my knowledge.
"Normally you've gotta be quite seasoned, normally it's for players that have retired and go to the next stage in coaching."
Lifetime Sandgoanna's member and die-hard Broncos fan, Viv Johnsen, gave the boys a letter to deliver to her favourite Bronco, Allan Langer.
Ms Johnsen wanted them to give him a copy of the local paper with Hunt's story so they would know how he had progressed from a young player to champion coach.
'Bit different to bush footy'
Hunt and Hite were given the grand tour of the Brisbane Broncos training facilities and invaluable insight into the inner workings of the big league.
Hite, who has been playing with the Sandgoannas since he was eight, said footy in his town of 1,500 was totally different to the Broncos experience.
"Everything is done for them," Hite said.
"Back home we've got to organise everything before game day, we've got to do raffles and stuff like that to earn money.
"Everyone's involved just to keep footy going."
The boys from the bush were interviewed by a plethora of media wanting the scoop on the outback legend as they stood under the bright lights of Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium at the Broncos game on Thursday night.
Ms Johnsen said she watched on TV how Hunt, usually a "quiet sort", handled himself.
"They pump questions into them as if they're a city kid, but they're holding their own," Johnsen said.
"I was talking to his mum this morning and she said, 'oh Viv he's grown up since he's been down there'.
"He was so relaxed ya couldn't believe it."
Good for the game
Crow said Queensland Rugby League would be flying Mannix Hunt, Viv Johnsen and two more Sandgoannas to the organisation's awards night.
He said the event was invite-only, and usually exclusive to the QRL board and Queensland Cup teams.
"It's such a great story and inspiration to all the QRL board," Crow said.
"One thing I like about young Mannix as well is despite all this attention, he's still the boy from the bush and it hasn't changed him one little bit which is fantastic."
For now, Hunt will be returning to his day job as an apprentice electrician.
