Moruya High School's Jyarah Delaney to represent NSW in State of Origin match

Now, after countless training sessions at 6.30am, perseverance and with the support of the Clontarf Foundation, he's preparing to fly to Townsville to represent NSW in a State of Origin match.

Jyarah and Clontarf Foundation director at Moruya High Dane Kennedy were thrilled when they learnt Jyarah was getting a ticket to Townsville.

Jyarah's talent shone during the Ross Kelly Cup carnival in Dubbo last year, where he was shortlisted as one of the top 20 young Indigenous players in NSW.

"It was there he got to see what it was all about - and he carved it up," Mr Kennedy said.

Since 2019, the Clontarf Foundation has helped Indigenous teens at Moruya High School improve their attendance and participation in school and community activities.

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The foundation works closely with young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men to help develop their skills and abilities to increase school participation and foster better employment prospects as they leave school.

"The [foundation] came up with the idea to have a senior football match...now the boys have the opportunity to open for the Dragons and Cowboys.

"Jyarah is lucky enough to get in this year."

Jyarah said he briefly stepped away from the field a few years back, but when the Clontarf academy opened up at Moruya High in 2019, he leapt back into the game.

"I found out I was doing alright and stuck to it," he said, "I love the game and it keeps me going."

Moruya High's Clontarf academy is not like any other classroom: it has a ping pong table, pool table, bean bags, a widescreen TV, a fully equipped kitchen and all the sporting gear you could imagine.

Mr Kennedy, along with operations officer Anthony Terare, schedule and run sessions with the local PCYC, gyms and employers in the community and even transport the Moruya High boys to sporting carnivals in Central NSW, Sydney and Wollongong.

The State of Origin match is a recent addition to the Clontarf academy's busy calendar, but it gives young boys like Jyarah the opportunity to have their talent elevated to a national stage.

Jyarah will also get the chance to meet NRL players and is particularly excited to meet the Cowboys' Jeremiah Nanai before the game and visit Magnetic Island.

"I've never been up there before, so I'm really excited.

"I wouldn't have made the team if it wasn't for Uncle DK, he's the one that took me up to the trials."

Ahead of the match, Jyarah is training but wants to take it easy: "I don't like letting nerves get the better of me...I'm just trying to remain as calm as possible."

Jyarah is one of just two South Coast students selected to represent NSW from eight other Clontarf academies.

What is the Clontarf Foundation?

Dane said his role is to keep young Indigenous boys interested in school: "Our job is to get the boys in the front gate and make school attractive".

The Clontarf Foundation began with a single academy in Western Australia in 2000.

Back then, Former Sydney Swans player and Fremantle Football Club coach Gerard Neesham started coaching a local school's sporting team. Immediately, they noticed that the attendance of the Indigenous students improved.

Today, there are almost 150 academies in schools around the country.

Ryan Woolfe from the foundation said they use a "unique, innovative and successful approach to target one of the most at risk groups in contemporary Australian society".

Mr Kennedy said there can be implications if a student finishes school when they are only 15 or 14 years old.

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"There was a study that showed when Aboriginal boys graduate and do the HSC, that actually adds 15 years to their life expectancy.

"Finishing school at 17 or 18 years old means you're much more mature and you can actually take on a lot of those responsibilities that are thrown at you when you leave school."

Mr Kennedy says the Clontarf academies work on key pillars like employment, wellbeing, leadership and of course, sport to help Indigenous students stay engaged.

"We get the boys jogging in their Clontarf jerseys up the main street, so those employers looking for apprentices, they're going to see a group of young Aboriginal boys, not in any trouble, but just doing exercise up the main street.

"It's about changing that stereotype of what a young Aboriginal boy looks like to the community."

Jyarah will play for NSW in the State of Origin clash before the North Queensland Cowboys face the St George Illawarra Dragons at 5.30pm on Saturday, May 13. Learn more about the match at nrl.com.