At twenty-one years of age Kalkadoon and Kuku-Yalanji man Tareq Parter, is showing potential not only as a rugby player but as a stalwart for First Nations communities and Rugby Australia.

Landing in Canberra through the Brumbies Indigenous Pathways program, Parter has overcome a number of hurdles to get to where he is.

Initially contracted to the NRL in his first year of professional sport, his achievements in this space were cut short due to injury. The following twelve gruelling months of recovery gave Parter plenty of time to reconsider his career and during this period he had several yarns with Matt Sonter.

Parter has now found himself a home with the Brumbies Senior Academy, playing for the Canberra Royals. When asked why he chose Royals as his team, Parter said they have a really good Indigenous program where accommodation, relocation assistance for items such as furniture and towels, rent assistance and financial support to travel home when needed are all provided. This assistance ensured that Tareq's transition into life in Canberra and professional rugby was as smooth as possible.

"When I moved to Brisbane, I didn't have the help that I have here and having people that look after these things for you, really makes things easier. We have people around us that I feel like I could relate to as well, with our mob we are big on family, I am the oldest of six kids and having that family feel is important," he said.

As the eldest in his large family, Parter has natural leadership qualities and is motivated to become a teacher to give back to community and support First Nations children in achieving their ambitions.

"I grew a passion for helping mob in schools and I feel like that's a space where you can make a real big difference too," he said.

Parter is currently undertaking an intensive training load of 12 hours per week and studying a Bachelor of Education with the University of Canberra. The wrap around support Parter has received from the Brumbies, UC Elite Athlete Program, Ngunnawal Centre and UC ASPIRE Program have all been essential for enabling a smooth transition into his studies and life in Canberra.

"Indigenous pathways means a lot, I am very grateful for the opportunity and for Matty and the crew. You grow up your whole life wanting to play footy and you get here and you feel like you belong and you are getting looked after and they take the stress factor out of it, so you can just focus on the things you want to focus on like health, study and sport. Our mob struggle with some of these things because there's that uneven playing field," he said.

Indigenous Advisor to the Brumbies and Player Wellness advocate Matt Sonter said: "It's funny for our kids in particular, you see when everything falls into place, then everything really starts to take off."

You can catch Tareq and the deadly Royals team playing against the Penrith Emus Saturday, 24 June, at Nepean Rugby Park.