But if not for the opportunity to be part of the Brumbies feeder system, the former Robb College captain might have been lacing up the boots for the Red Devils long before then.

"I nearly came to Gunnedah to play when I finished uni in 2010," the breakaway recalled.

"I knew a couple of guys from uni - Matt Roseby and John Waugh - and they were quite keen for me to come."

"But I had another offer down in Canberra, which was quite good."

READ ALSO:

Understandably the chance to train and play with the Brumbies Academy won out.

Hobden had been invited to be part of the academy after being spotted playing for NSW Country against ACT.

An "exceptional opportunity", the now 33-year old reflected he just "wasn't good enough" to take that next step.

"The standard of football there was really good," he said.

"From my point of view I wasn't quite there."

He then headed to Sydney where he played Shute Shield with Gordon.

"It was excellent," he said of his six years with the Highlanders.

"It's such a fantastic level of football."

After breaking his arm in a game and requiring surgery, he gave the game away for a few years.

But when he moved to Gunnedah at the start of 2019 to take up a job as the commercial manager at the Maules Creek mine, Hobden thought getting involved with the local club would be "a good way to meet people".

The decision to pull on the boots again has also been a good one for the Red Devils.

The former Cockatoos hooker has been outstanding for them the last two weeks and will be a key man in their top-of-the-table clash against Narrabri on Saturday.

He said it has "been a lot of fun" getting back to bush footy. He has also enjoyed this season moving from hooker into the back row.

"In juniors and even a little bit at uni I got to play openside, but all my rep footy was at hooker," he said.

"Finally this year I moved back into the back row."

He believes the Red Devils have "got a really good chance" this year.

Saturday will be a good barometer with the Blue Boars also sitting on five wins and one loss.

"It will be a good test for us," Hobden said.

It is set to be a big day at Dangar Park being Ladies Day. One of the Blue Boars' favourite sons - Matt McDonnell - will also play his 150^th game for the club.

In the round's other games Walcha are at home to Quirindi, Barraba and Scone will have the chance to break their season duck when they clash in Scone, and Moree travel to Inverell.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: