Current Bond Law student Ben Daley has been selected in the 30-man Wallabies rugby union squad for the upcoming Tests against Ireland, England and Fiji.
Impressing the Wallabies selectors through his captaincy of the Queensland Reds Super 14 side in trail matches, Ben led the Reds to back-to-back wins; scoring two early tries to set up a 20-12 win over the Canterbury Crusaders at Ballymore.
“Although it was only for a couple of trial matches, the captaincy is something you dream about as a little kid,” says Ben.
“It was a great honour and a privilege to have been chosen and something that I will always cherish.”
The stakes rose even higher for the son of rugby league legend Phil Daley when the call came from Wallabies coach Robbie Dean, telling Ben he’d be joining the Australian team at their Sydney training camp this month.
With the sports media predicting a big future for Ben, he is not neglecting his academic commitments as celebrations were put on hold to prepare for a law exam the following morning.
After scoring an OP2, Ben was accepted into the law program at Bond University where he is now studying part time to balance his sporting commitments.
“When I made the decision to study law, a major factor in choosing a university was the reputation of the different law schools,” he says.
“Every person I asked told me the same thing: Bond University is the absolute best in Australia if you want a more personalised learning experience.
“The classes are smaller and the tutors and lecturers actually know your name, rather than just treating you like a number.
“They’ve also been very supportive and accommodating of my sporting commitments; helping me out by adjusting deadlines that conflict with football games and training.
“Even so, time management is a massive factor. I’m only doing one or two subjects a semester at the moment but I have achieved distinctions in a couple of subjects and am really enjoying having an outlet outside of the ‘football bubble’ to focus my attention on.”
To find out more about Bond University’s law program, contact the Office of Admissions on 1800 074 047 or via email to [email protected].