After only two weeks at the South Coast Register Courtney said he could already see the strong connection between the sporting community and the local paper.

“I get phone calls every day from people wanting to promote their sport in the paper. Everyone is proud of their own sport and proud to have it in their local paper,” he said.

Courtney a self-confessed, born and bred sports fan.

“I remember when I was little Dad would get up at 5am to watch the Wallabies play,” he said.

“Dad would watch any sport and he got me into it too.

“I think sport is like an unscripted drama. Most things in life have a predictable element to them but not in sport.

“In a 90-minute game of soccer nobody knows what is going to happen.”

Mr Ward, who is originally from Wollongong, came to us from the sports desk at the North West Star in Mount Isa.

“I’ve always enjoyed sport and writing so by the middle of year 12 I decided combining the two was the avenue for me,” he said.

“I studied sports journalism at Charles Sturt University at Bathurst, worked with Fox Sports for a while and it snowballed from there.

“Coming from Mount Isa where it would be 35 degrees by 8am I’m loving the coastal climate, you can’t beat it,” he said.