Newcastle’s Lachie Miller knew he had something to offer the NRL — that’s why he turned down a contract extension with the Australian Rugby 7s team to chase his rugby league dream.
But he admits the life he is living now is a “pinch-me” moment.
Miller is only 13 games into his NRL career but is one of the form fullbacks in the competition that leads the league in tackle busts and is in the top five for average run metres.
He also sits sixth on the Dally M leaderboard after six rounds.
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That’s not bad for a player that most NRL clubs deemed a “risk.”
Miller spent most of his life playing rugby league but following a short stint in Queensland Cup he decided to try his hand in Rugby 7s.
He not only took to it naturally, but he caught the attention of rugby legend Glen Ella while playing his team in the Ella’s 7s tournament.
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“He said ‘maybe you should have a go at this’ and I said ‘well if you can put a word in for me that’d be great’,” Miller recalled to the Fox League podcast.
“From there it just snowballed.”
Miller was in the Australian Rugby 7’s set up for around five years. He went over to Tokyo to compete in the Olympics — an experience he said he “will never forget.”
But that burning desire to play in the NRL was still there so he took a gamble that he really wasn’t sure would pay off.
“It was actually prior to the Olympics I had a chat to my family,” Miller said when asked about why he quit Rugby 7s.
“I wanted to go back to rugby league because I always dreamt of playing NRL when I was younger and I didn’t want to sit on the couch older saying ‘I could’ve played that.’
“So I turned down a contract extension from the 7s to try and crack the NRL.
“It was a pretty nervous wait for something to happen but I was very fortunate that ‘Fitzy’ (Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon) gave me a call.”
Miller believes his manager would have reached out to just about every club in the NRL but only “three or four were legitimately interested.”
“A lot of clubs had a similar response that it was a fair risk for them to take a guy who hasn’t played high-level rugby league into a full-time contract,” he said.
Miller, 28, conceded “the wait got a bit too much” and with the thought of his young family in the back of his mind he decided to give up on the NRL dream and sign with a rugby club based in LA.
Until Fitzgibbon called and offered a Top 30 contract.
“I’ve often said how lucky I was at the time for him to take that gamble on me but he never said it was a gamble,” a “very” grateful Miller said.
“He had a lot of trust in what was going to happen which ended up making the switch to Newcastle quite hard because I had such respect for Craig and what the Sharks have done for me.”
Miller made his NRL debut at fullback in Round 11 last season and shone with an 80-metre try to go with his 271 running metres and nine tackle busts.
But the reality was he was stuck behind Will Kennedy and Cronulla junior Kade Dykes was just starting to break through too.
“I found it hard to see where I was going to fit in there,” Miller said.
So when the Knights came knocking with a three-year deal — and a clearer path to the No.1 jersey — it was an opportunity the Coffs Harbour product had to entertain.
“When I met with Adam O’Brien and Peter Parr I really resonated with what they wanted to do. They were great blokes so it made the transition a lot easier,” Miller said.
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Breaking the news to Fitzgibbon was “tough” but he had the support of the Sharks mentor.
“He was really good with it,” Miller said.
“He helped me through it as a friend… but it was very tough to go in and ask him for a release from my contract. He took a big risk on me when no one else wanted to.”
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It’s been almost two years since Miller took what was perhaps the biggest gamble of his career.
Now he’s living his dream. In fact, when he is a little older and sits on the couch he can say ‘I did play that’ instead of ‘I could’ve played that.’
“My father was down on the weekend and he said he remembers the phone call when I said I wasn’t going to take the (Rugby 7s deal) and I’m going to try go to the NRL,” Miller said.
“If it didn’t work out I’d probably be in some sort of other work — I could’ve been digging holes maybe. I’m really grateful that it did work out and it is a real pinch-me moment.”
