He's had a taste of the NRL bubble, and now Trey Mooney wants more.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
But until then, the Raiders' newest schoolboy star will ply his trade for the Raiders' under-20s in the local competition with reigning premier Woden the next team on the horizon.
Mooney only recently left the Raiders' NRL bubble, where he spent his days training with the likes of Josh Papalii and Jack Wighton.
The experience is already rubbing off on the former Eel, he scored a try on his Raiders under-20s debut in Saturday's wet and wild 28-8 win over Gungahlin and is already eyeing another chance to run shoulders with the NRL squad.
"It was good to be around those type of people and gain that sort of experience." He said.
"It was basically the same thing, training, home, training, home.
"You're not so much playing footy, but you're learning off the best in the game, that's the most important thing."
The NSW representative joined the Raiders from the Parramatta Eels under-18s side which he captained in 2019.
Mooney's decision to relocate to Canberra was a quick one, but he's relishing life in the Bush Capital.
"I only decided to move from Parramatta about a week before I came to Canberra." He said.
"I had just finished school and schoolboys and I pretty much had a week to decide if I wanted to go to Canberra or not.
"It's nice here, it's just different to home, a lot more secluded and a little bit quieter. I'm really enjoying my time here."
MORE CANBERRA SPORT
With an NRL debut on the horizon, the promising back rower is keen to add consistency to his game this season, with the hope of impressing those who matter most.
"At the moment it's just to be playing consistent footy and proving myself week in, week out," Mooney said.
"Just so I can impress some people, high up in first grade so they can open that door for me to come back in, especially coming into next season.
"All I want is to be playing good and consistent footy and constantly improving on my game, over the next few weeks and months."
The Raiders' under-20s are favoured to beat the Rams on Saturday but while undefeated this season, Mooney says there is still plenty of room for improvement.
"The focus for the team this week is to simplify our footy," Mooney said.
"I think we've been going away from our structures and what we want to be doing and playing into the hands of the opposition."
"They [Woden] are a physical side and because they have some former Raiders players, they play a similar style of footy at times.
"Ash [Barnes, head coach] has us focusing on simplifying our footy, playing to our structures and letting our fitness and letting our skill take over."
