Roma was not for Jack. But it's where he met the woman who changed his life

It was 2018, and Grant had returned to the scene of his university education after the National Australia Bank transferred him from Roma to Armidale.

At Roma he began a relationship with the then-Catherine Blanch, who accompanied him to Armidale and then married him in October 2020. Fred, 2, and George, 1, followed.

"She's a very outgoing person," Grant said of his wife. "She's very social and has a great group of friends and family."

"She's a great mum," he continued. "She looks after the boys most of the time. So she keeps me balanced, and at the same time gives me freedom to do these things."

The "these things" in question is captaining the Armidale Blues. Grant has done that since 2019.

He was speaking after leading the Blues to a 34-12 round one win away to Tamworth.

And he was speaking after emerging as a better man from the most trying period of his life

"The transition from uni into the real world," he said of his biggest ever challenge. "I guess you fend for yourself to a degree at uni, but all of a sudden you're out working.

"And so learning to do all those grown-up things was definitely a time where I had to figure out things quickly."

Looking back, Grant said, "it was a tough time". "But I probably learnt more about myself at the time than at any other moment."

Grant hails from Bombala, went to Canberra Grammar School and now works in finance at SproutAg. He played for Robb College when he studied there.

"I left Armidale and I thought I was done with it," he said. "And I lived in a few other towns and realised that Armidale's pretty special."

Captaining the Blues was "huge" and humbling, said Grant, who is yet to lead the side to a premiership; Albies beat them 29-14 in last year's grand final.

"We're lucky, because we've got a very similar team to last year," he said. "So [we are] feeling that we can build on last year a long way. And so, this could be the year."