'Put me on the path': NRL School to Work graduate lights up Origin arena

Sydney musician Rebecca Hatch took her career full circle when she lit up CommBank Stadium in the Women's State of Origin pre-show entertainment, reuniting with NRL colleagues and friends. 

A graduate of the NRL's School to Work program as a teenager, Hatch recently graduated from the University of Technology, Sydney with a Bachelor of Sound Design and Music, and said opening the pre-game entertainment for Game One took her back to where her journey began.

"I've done a lot of different things with the NRL and from a very young age," Hatch told NRL.com. 

"When I was about 15, I joined the NRL School to Work program where every Thursday they would check in with me and where I was at with my career, university aspirations and help me apply for scholarships.

"The program definitely helped me to connect the dots with my career. I knew I wanted to be an artist and always thought that's what I'd do but School to Work really helped me find a path to get there.

"My mentor helped me apply for uni, sent me to open days which definitely helped me see all the pathways and make me believe it was possible.

There's no clear path to becoming an artist, so I definitely feel like School to Work guided me in the right direction.

Rebecca Hatch Musician

A proud Kamilaroi and Samoan woman, 22-year-old Hatch said in having a longstanding relationship with the NRL, she is always proud to support a game which in turn celebrates her people and heritage.

"I grew up between two cultures; between my mum, who is Samoan, Polynesian, and then my dad, who is an Aboriginal, Kamilaroi man," she said.

"It definitely feels like it took me a while to get here because playing gigs for people that support me as an artist is something that's really important to me and something I'm really proud of.

"The stage was amazing with all the Indigenous art and we had some beautiful dances before us.

"It's just so good to be up there representing mob and I think the NRL does a really good job in celebrating all the different cultures within the game."

A lifelong Wests Tigers supporter, the Campbelltown local said the most memorable performance for the NRL would be when she sang a dual language version of Advance Australia Fair before the opening game of the 2018 Indigenous Round at Leichhardt Oval.

"I'd go to any local games in Campbelltown and loved watching the footy growing up so it's pretty special to perform for the NRL now," she said.

"The first major performance I did with the NRL is I performed in Indigenous Round at Leichhardt when I was in Year 12, where I sang the anthem in Dharawal language which is out where I live in Campbelltown and I learnt it at school.

"I got permission through the elders to sing it and there was an amazing response from it. When I look back, I think I was too young to even know what was happening around me, but it was really amazing."

The RnB singer-songwriter also took a big step in her career after winning Triple J Unearthed High’s Indigenous Initiative in 2017 and has since established herself as a dynamic and influential artist.

"I'm graduated and full time now which is amazing and I feel like studying has put me on a really good path to being an artist," she said.

"When I was studying I learnt how to compose for films, all about background sound design for animation and film and I studied music business as well which was really important.

"It's just a great time to be able to showcase mob and our people and I'm just loving performing."