A rugby league player growing up, Watchirs fell out of love with sport and was on the verge of quitting altogether.

An opportunity came up to attend school at Brisbane Grammar for years 11 and 12 and he opted to take it up.

And he hasn't looked back.

"The reason I moved to Grammar was, at the time after year 9, I had just come back from the Australian Championships, I was playing for NSW, and I played terribly. It was the worst I have ever played and I was in a really bad headspace," Watchirs said.

"I just thought 'Nup. I am going to quit footy. I am done. I don't want to play anymore and I want to give it up.'

"A year of that goes past, I had just finished my last season of footy in year 10 and I was going to move to Grammar for the academics.

"I knew that they didn't have a very good team but I moved to Grammar and all of a sudden I just fell in love with rugby again."

Then opportunities began opening up for Watchirs.

He played in the Brisbane Grammar team in the GPS rugby union competition, although they didn't win a game, and then trialled for the Tweed Seagulls to play in Queensland Rugby League's Mal Meninga Cup.

Around 200 players trialled for the team and, with most of the previous year's team already guaranteed spots, earning entry was tough.

But Watchirs succeeded and the Seagulls went on to win the competition undefeated.

That wrapped up in May and the 18-year-old when straight into pre-season training for the GPS rugby season.

In what Watchirs described as an "honour" he was named Brisbane Grammar's captain.

Then he tasked himself with reviving the rugby side who hadn't won a match in three years.

It was an uphill battle after getting "smashed" in their opening game against The Southport School.

"I was thinking 'what can we do to bring morale of the team back?' so I had a chat with the team and I just took it upon myself that we really need to step up and take control of the team," he said.

"Round two against Ipswich, we actually beat Ipswich and that was the best feeling ever.

"Then the rest of the season got cut off with Covid which is a shame because I was really keen to see what we could do with the rest of the season."

Watchirs efforts in those matches didn't go unnoticed though and was named in the GPS team of the year at inside centre.

He's also in the Queensland Reds Academy and was due to play matches against the NSW Waratahs and Melbourne Rebels but that was halted due to the pandemic.

At the moment, the former Inverell Hawks player has been focusing on his studies with the HSC looming.

Then he will have to make some tough decisions on where his future lies.

"I have got a few universities giving me options and stuff and I am also tossing up whether to take a gap year to play league for a year," Watchirs said.

"I don't want to give up on that dream yet because it is the game I have been playing since I was five-years-old and that is what I would prefer to play."

"But if union is a path that is going to get me into uni and get me an education and I can go professional then that is what I will play."

He aims to get into university in Queensland and begin a degree in physiotherapy while playing either rugby league or rugby union.

But no matter where he ends up, Watchirs is grateful for the opportunities he's had.

"The opportunities that footy has given me, it has set me up for life," he said.

"I have made lifelong friends through footy.

"I am at this prestigious school and I am happy that I didn't completely give up on it.

:It also just shows if you work hard enough at something you can use it to take you where you want to go."

And if he finds sport a struggle again, Watchirs is confident he has what it takes to get through the tough times.

"It might come on me again but I have already worked through that, I just have to learn how to work through doing things I don't enjoy doing at the time," he said.