SPORT:

BEING a university student isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

The majority of people think it’s just all parties, down time, staying up really late finishing off assessments, cramming, lack of food and first-class hydration.

Well, most of that is right.

This article should give you the insight into the life of a sporting uni student and show you that “students” actually do have it tough.

MONDAY

TODAY I wake up at 8.30am, a regular routine I have and love.

I’m not going to shy away from the fact that I love to sleep and I’m definitely not a morning person.

So while you can get away with it, why not.

My brother Chris’ birthday was yesterday so I offered to be his designated driver for a few celebrations.

I was injured early in the match against Tumbarumba at Greenfield Park, and I didn’t want to worsen my injury by having a drink with him.

What a bad offer that was -- a late night and not much sleep.

A quick bite of toast and into the car to drive to Tangambalanga.

Having done a personal training course in my gap year, I help with a strength class for the elderly.

It’s a great class set up five years ago to help the communities with an ageing population.

The people are great; we joke, laugh and carry on like we are 15-year-olds.

The class ranges from 45 to 92 years of age.

After joining in with the stretching and complaining about footy the day before, the session ends with a bunch of tired elderly ready to face the day, knowing they are trained and capable of great things.

I plan my week out, seeing what school visits are needed and where I have to be.

I’m lucky to have a job doing something I love. Being a development officer is great.

I get to go to schools and teach kids the greatest game of all -- rugby league.

Rick O’Connell, our Albury Thunder president, played a part in recommending me for the role.

I work part-time for Country Rugby League with primary schools and Albury TAFE to initiate a new program for the sport.

It’s a great program for high school students to undertake in their HSC to study rugby league as part of the business services subject.

About a month ago, Chris started playing rugby league again after giving it away for 11 years to pursue a motorsport career.

Not playing for that long would be tough, but to his credit he’s having a crack and is playing some sweet footy for our reserve grade team.

At first I thought he would struggle, but Chris seems to be good at it.

I have never seen a harder trainer or anyone willing to put his body through so much.

He’s got so much talent, but limited opportunity in his preferred sport.

One thing Chris didn’t expect was how sore you get after a game of footy.

He has asked me on a number of occasions if it’s normal to feel this way.

I guess when you come from riding a motorbike at 300km/h and crashing you are out for weeks at a time, so he should count himself lucky he’s only hurting for a day or two.

And once Dad tells him of all his war stories from footy and how he used to sleep in ice, Chris generally shuts up and puts up with it.

We are renovating our bathroom which means we have no bath, so to soak in a Radox or Epsom salt bath we have to fill up the old bath we have in the backyard with buckets from the sink.

A very funny sight, a grown man in his jocks in a bath out on the lawn, ordering the sisters to get more hot water when it gets cold.

Nothing natural about that at all.

I do my rehab to try to heal this ankle of mine for the rest of our games.

I’m getting over the baths and creams and tablets but it’s funny what a person will do to get back to play footy.

TUESDAY

WAKE up at 8am, have a shower, something to eat, grab my book and iPad ready for a day of uni.

It takes me about 15 minutes to get to uni so it’s a chance for me to listen to the radio.

I’m a massive Triple J fan and love music.

Another passion of mine is playing guitar, drums, bass and didgeridoo.

Would love to play piano, but, yeah, maybe one day.

I arrive at uni a couple minutes late which has turned into a normal thing for me which isn’t the best.

I put a bit more of a limp on so the lecturer understands.

Well, I hope she understands. Deep down she’s probably taking a mental note.

The lecture is sweet, talking about children who have English as a second language and our roles as teachers in their development of English.

I study early childhood and primary at Charles Sturt University and am in my third year.

I struggle a bit with it but am trying my best to get through the course.

I wish it was an apprenticeship in teaching.

After the lecture and a tutorial, I swap cars with mum to make the trip down to Yarrawonga for my development officer job.

The old family wagon I drive struggles to get me to uni let alone take me to Yarra.

I’m hoping for a new car in the future so maybe I can pass the wagon to my sister, Kendal, who nailed her L’s today.

Get to Yarra and, for some reason, I am as nervous as. This is my first time with this group.

I meet all the parents and the kids and get stuck into the clinic.

After a few games, drills and some explaining, we run forward but pass backwards.

I jump into the car and drive back to Albury to get down to Greenfield Park for training. Even know I’m not running tonight due to the ankle.

A few of the boys were stuck on the sideline with little niggles they were carrying due to the time of the year and the high intensity footy that has been played.

Josh flogs the boys, might be lucky my ankle was crook. But in saying that, the Thunder prides itself on discipline this year and working hard for each other and with a player like Lou Goodwin coming from the Roosters 20s, it shows the rest of us the standard we need to get to.

I drive down to the gym and do a session by myself, targeting power and upper body strength.

I’m using Olympic lifts to develop power through my upper body, vital for wrestling in tackles and beating a defender with the palm.

Not leaving anything in the gym is vital.

WEDNESDAY

BACK to Tamgambalanga for the morning elderly class.

My old mate, Ray, is back from being at the Kimberleys for a couple months and he tells me a few stories from his trip.

Having lost my two grandfathers, who were both such great examples of men, this elderly class has given me the opportunity to adopt five grandfather figures.

I know if I needed grand- fatherly advice, I have five blokes I can go to and they would be happy to help.

It’s funny as most, if not all of the people from the class, didn’t know much about rugby league before I started, but now a lot get down to Greenfield Park for the home games and support me and the Thunder.

They now understand why Monday mornings I complain and whinge about how sore I am. They are starting to accept that I’m a little bit of a sook.

After a couple of biscuits, I jump in the car and drive into Albury to start my CRL job at Holy Spirit primary school.

The one hard thing about being a rugby league development officer in Albury is that kids love their Aussie rules and it’s rare for kids to play rugby league or even know what league is.

But slowly we are showing kids a different sport they are able to play and play it safely.

The fact is, it’s not about brainwashing kids to force them to play rugby league. It’s about encouraging them to be active and be outside.

It’s sad to see the rate of childhood obesity in our country. If I can help in a small way that’s pretty cool.

Brett Sanson is a champ at Holy Spirit primary. He’s always so supportive of rugby league and encouraging his kids whenever he can.

After doing separate clinics with the boys and girls, I drive over to Springdale Heights Public School to do another clinic.

I finish the clinic, in the car again and head to Wangaratta.

Lucky it’s mum’s car.

Driving allows me to listen to some beats on Triple-J.

The clinic at Wangaratta goes well with the kids loving the session and excited for future weeks.

Back in the car and off to Tamgambalanga to help with a night-exercise class for a young group of ladies who work at the childcare centre where I did placement last year.

They’re a great bunch of people whom I work hard and force them to do what they think they can’t. I joke with them and they abuse me but it’s all in good humour.

A lady there is incredible; she’s had a kidney transplant, she’s beaten cancer, and now exercises three nights a week and has changed her lifestyle completely.

She’s a real inspiration to me, the group and anyone thinking they can’t do it.

Back home, I’m greeted by chicken parmy with potato and vegies. How good is Mum.

I throw on Fox Sports news and do my rehab on my ankle.

Hot and cold baths, stretching, strengthening exercises and rubbing cream into it.

I’m starting to feel better already, thanks to mum and Don Bochanowicz, our family health guru.

He has been a great man to have on my side with my asthma, allergies and all my footy injuries.

Albury’s smartest man by far and a great bloke.

Although I must mention Ed Foulston too, or Dr Pain as I call him. I would love to see him come and put the boys through some pain with his rubs at training.

THURSDAY

WAKE up around 8am and get ready to be at Lavington Public at 9.30am for a clinic.

The Border Mail comes along today, taking a few photos of the kids honing some rugby league skills.

After the clinics, I go and catch up with Mike Eden.

Mike’s a great bloke and really easy to chat to for advice. The Thunder is sure lucky to have Mike and Solomon Haumono as their water boys, given what they have achieved in sport.

Off to uni to do a lecture and a tutorial on creative arts, with lecturer Shaz.

It’s a subject I love doing and believe I will love teaching.

It’s a shame creative arts is seen as a fill-in-time subject and doesn’t get as much time as the others.

Arts allows children to express themselves through a media that has no boundaries.

I have to leave uni early today to get to Glenroy Public School and do a clinic.

Bruce is really enthusiastic about the children being active and experiencing other sports.

With the gym being just down the road, I do an hour of strength and endurance work before going to Wodonga to get some treatment on my ankle with Mike Quinlivan.

It’s starting to feel stronger but still has a lot of bruising and swelling in the joint.

Hopefully, having this weekend off and the bye next week, it’ll be 100 per cent to play in the blockbuster against Southcity in Wagga.

From there, I head back to Albury to training.

Tonight is ball-work night and with Thursday being the first Thursday of the month, it’s jersey Thursday (every person who is training wears some sort of jersey or they are fined).

Also it’s Black Cat night which is an ancillary group formed five years ago for all past players and supporters to socialise and support the club financially while enjoying a BBQ, beers and each other’s war stories from their playing days.

From Black Cats, I head to Paul Stein’s house. He’s a schoolmate from St Paul’s.

We both love soccer so the PS3 is always fired up with FIFA 11 in it. I have the edge on Steiny at the moment due to me being a uni student and having more opportunity to play and perfect my skills.

FRIDAY

WAKE up this morning after enjoying a nice little sleep in.

At 11am, I head to the doctor for an appointment.

From there, I spend my time doing odd jobs in town, including sweeping out a storage unit for mum at the Albury Mini Storage.

Out of the blue, Mark “China” Walsham (the name China comes from something valuable sitting on the bench), Albury Thunder’s injured hooker, invites me to play a game of golf at Thurgoona.

Seeing as he’s coming off a serious arm injury, I thought I might have some sort of a chance.

Picking up my sister’s golf clubs from home, I met China at the golf course.

I admit, I was rusty, but in patches I held my own, outdriving him once and winning a hole. Not bad for my first game in five years, hey, Mark!

Seeing as I’m not playing tomorrow, I planned to do a hard session in the gym to replicate a game.

Thirty-five minutes on the exercise bike, having my heart rate at 165 to 175, works my aerobic capacity and this is followed by 40 minutes of weights.

It’s hard training by yourself because you don’t have your teammates pushing you. But when you train by yourself, it tests your mental strength and allows you to see what it takes for you to break.

From there, I pick up my little sister, Georgie, from work at The Reject Shop.

I don’t want to embarrass her, but we shared a karaoke session to the radio, using the interior lights to set a disco mood.

We head home for tea and I join Dad watching his beloved Tigers do battle with the Dragons. It’s a classic match with Dad yelling abuse and praise at the TV.

Tigers win the game and there’s no happier man than Dad at the moment.

Plus, Mum’s dinner of chicken stir fry was delicious.

I ice my ankle and put on the TENS machine before going to bed.

SATURDAY

USUALLY on the morning of a game I find it hard to eat and am buzzing with excitement, but because I’m not playing, there are no nerves or excitement. I take a back seat and become a spectator.

It’s something I hate doing.

The under-16s and 18s lose but the league tag and reserves play brilliantly and win.

Chris scores a try and is solid in defence.

For a bloke who rides a bike, he goes all right on the footy field.

The boys warm up and get back in the sheds for a couple of minutes just before they run out.

There’s no better feeling than going around and shaking each teammates’ hand just before the game, knowing they have your back and you have theirs.

But the feeling when you’re not playing is quite the opposite.

Josh gives the final word and the boys run out.

They play terribly, continually dropping balls, taking wrong options and being out enthused in both attack and defence.

Half-time comes and we go into the shed in front 12-10 but far from happy.

The talk was positive at half-time, knowing what was needed in the second, but it just didn’t happen. It’s a continuation of the first half. Wagga Kangaroos win 22-20.

Not a word is spoken in the rooms with everyone hurting and disappointed with themselves and each other.

But the positive is we can’t get any worse and with the bye next week, we have two weeks to prepare for the biggest game of the year so far versus the Southcity Bulls.

It won’t be a two-week vacation, I can tell you that.

The loss could be the kick in the backside we needed.

The car ride home is a little sombre but is suppressed with a couple of light refreshments.

We call into Culcairn pub, where we meet the rest of the boys and supporters.

The general opinion was to go to Bradys or the Albion Hotel and kick on due to it being a Saturday night, but after a loss like that, the cold I felt coming forced my hand and an early night was the best option.

Once I got home I started watching the 20/20 cricket game from Sri Lanka before heading to bed.

SUNDAY

SUNDAYS are usually game day, so to have it off is sweet.

The smell of bacon and eggs and the morning sports shows are a great way to relax.

Sundays are all about relaxing but because I played golf on Friday and the home internet is down, I do some work on my distance subjects for uni and start an assessment for an on-campus subject.

Dad receives heaps of phone calls from mates who didn’t make it to the game asking: ‘WHAT WENT WRONG’.

But Dad loves talking footy and goes over every aspect of the game with them.

He may say he knows nothing about footy, but Dad’s knowledge and passion for the game and the Thunder is incredible.

Angry Boys, Sunday afternoon footy and James Bond, plus a rainy day, equals a very relaxed afternoon for the Seaton household.

Sometimes the family heads off to church on Sundays when we don’t play.

I thank God and honour him for the talents he has given me.

Today I do my rehab on my ankle and head to bed.

I’m ready to see what next week serves up.