Miles Amatosero started the year stuck training on his own. He could now be playing in front of a full house on his Wallabies debut in front of friends and family.
Amatosero was one of the main bolters out of the 37-player squad named for the July Nations Championship matches against Ireland, France and Italy.
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The 24-year-old has been in the headlines throughout 2026 after a training incident with Angus Scott-Young saw him suspended to start the season.
“It's a massive surprise for me,” Amatosero said on the call-up.
“Obviously, I knew that it was going to be a tough period in the beginning. I just went back to going back to working hard and trying to do my best and perform each week for the boys has resulted in this and this is amazing.”
The lock missed the two pre-season trials after a scuffle with Scott-Young saw the former Reds' eye socket fractured amid several punches thrown.
It led to Amatosero being unable to attend training sessions, forced to slug it out alone at nearby Snape Park.
“I was training on my own. Some of the starts were 5:30 am or 6 am, and I do my field session and then head to the gym at Bondi Junction," he explained in February.
“It was so tough. My biggest thing is the boys and team, and being away from them, seeing how it affected the team really hurt.”
Now, Amatosero is on the verge of debuting in front of his friends and family at Allianz Stadium against Ireland, likely battling fellow rookie Lachlan Shaw.
“I think that time away made me reflect on really how much this game means to me and just being back in with the boys and around them did a lot,” he reflected.
“I can’t really put it into words, it’d mean everything, home city in front of friends and family, living out my dreams.”
The call-up continues to justify his decision to return home after spending his late teenage years in the south of France playing for Clermont.
“Coming home was a decision that was pretty easy for me to make because I wanted to work hard and hopefully just get the chance to be in the position where I am now," Amatosero added.
“It was definitely was a big step up from what I was used to just with the speed of the game. Obviously, I'm still quite young so getting used to that on that side of things but I've really found my confidence and I'd like to think that I took quite a lot away from the French scene and now I've brought it back home.”
