Sitting at Bondi Beach wearing a T-shirt, towel and thongs, Remi Casty slips into an atmosphere of calm without anyone noticing who he is.
Nearby are his Roosters teammates, who have all just finished their recovery session from the tight win over the Cowboys the night before, some of them surrounded by media asking questions about the defending NRL premiers' scare.
Casty is remarkably calm at the tail end of a season like none he has experienced, considering his journey, which has taken him to one game away from an NRL grand final.
Asked what winning that title would mean, his eyes light up before he says with a boyish grin: "Ahh ... that would be incredible, like a childhood dream come true. If we win it will be ... unbelievable." But then Casty stops himself from talking the dream, reminding that there is one massive hurdle to get over: beating Souths on Friday night. "That will be a very, very hard game," Casty adds, smiling.
His has not just been a story of personal success, but also of achievement. For his family and his friends and fellow residents of the village of Ornaisons on the outskirts of Narbonne in the south of France, where he was born and raised. And also the Catalan Dragons rugby league team he left to join the Roosters on a two-year deal.
Rugby league has been a part of him – and his family – for as long as he can remember. He dabbled in football, took up judo for a while; but all along played league; and never entertained any ambition for rugby union despite interest from the Narbonne club.
Little wonder, considering his father Jacky, 70, is a former rugby league player; and continues to be an avid fan of game. He is in Australia watching his son play. His elder brother Benjamin, 32, also played the game and is now a referee in the French championship. And while his stepsister Evee, 40, is not into the game, he says his mother, Joelle, "always calls to check if I am OK. She is my No.1 fan".
And then there is the seed from which Casty's dream to play in the NRL grew: another forward like him in Jerome Guisset who played for the Canberra Raiders in 1999 and alongside him at Catalan Dragons from 2006 to 2010. "I got the honour to play with him ... he became my mentor," Casty says proudly.
While Casty is a committed Rooster, the Catalan Dragons are still a large part of him. If anything, he feels a bond between the two as they represent a junction in his career, made by the person who has coached him at both clubs – Trent Robinson. "When he came to Catalan, it had been a difficult season for us," Casty recalls of Robinson's time at Catalan from 2011 to 2012.
"He made a lot of changes, but what he brought to Catalan he brought to the Roosters. That was a lot of professionalism and attention to details, and he personally helped me overcome the challenge and to have more confidence in myself. He is the coach who taught me the most. He also helped me progress as a player. I told him that I wanted to come to Australia, whether it was at the Roosters or elsewhere. He told me, 'I want you in my team rather than any other.' "
The move, with his wife Paula, was not without its challenges. After they set up home in Coogee, there was the inevitable process of settling into a new team; but with that a new culture and new language. "The language was difficult when there were a lot of people in one group," he says. "It was hard, but everyone has been nice and they made efforts to speak slower to me ... but with my wife it's been a great experience." Transfer all that onto the field in a NRL game with players yelling, referees blowing whistles and barking calls and the crowds screaming, and the challenge heightens.
Hence, Casty, who has played 19 Tests for France, has been playing as interchange, always hoping for more game time. "It's a new role [at the Roosters]," he says. "But that is normal. With the World Cup last year the preparation was shorter, there is a change of competition which is different and more physical. I need to learn it and will do so. That takes a bit of time."
Of course, it helps playing alongside Sonny Bill Williams, whom he rates as "the best player from rugby or league. He is so professional with his training, diet, lifestyle ... video reviews of his game. It's a pleasure to train with him and to play with him".
