Nick Frost

Nick Frost is Australia’s most athletically gifted lock forward since the great John Eales.

He played his first rugby for the Hornsby Juniors U8s however Frost was so multi-talented that choosing between viable futures in several sports was far from straight forward. He was thrown into Little Athletics, nippers and gymnastics before rugby had even entered the mix. It was written that “Nick began collecting medals like no-one’s business”. He won the 2011 State aged beach sprint and his athletics CV included New South Wales titles in an array of events, including hurdles and throwing disciplines. Aged just 15, Frost came second nationally in discus and won the pentathlon - 100m, 800m, hurdles, discus and long jump. He also made NSW-level teams for basketball and rugby.

By the time he began the first of three years in the Knox Grammar 1st XV (2015-17) his future was an intense topic of discussion. Frost dropped basketball before a shoulder injury and subsequent rehab ruled a line through the discus. He won selection for Australian Schools (2017) however the Frost story took a turn when he accepted an offer to join the Crusaders’ academy in Christchurch. “The thought process was basically ‘where is the place I can go to become the best I can be at rugby?’,” Frost later said. “Where could I go to get the best development and best coaching at my age?” On a three-year deal, Frost undertook a demanding, and a rapid education in professional rugby, one that saw him play at the national Jock Hobbs Memorial National U19s tournament, however he returned home in 2019, signed with the Brumbies and played for the Junior Wallabies (U20s) at the World Championship in Argentina. At that tournament Frost announced himself to the broader rugby world when he collected a kick-off and then ran 65 metres, near untouched, to score a stunning solo try against Ireland.

He debuted for the Brumbies against the Rebels in 2020 and looked set to become a long-term lock option for the national team before there was another twist in the tale. Early in 2022, having spoken with Dan McKellar and Dave Rennie about his prospects of making the 2023 Rugby World Cup (apparently, he was on the radar but down the list) Frost accepted an offer to play for the Panasonic club in Japan under Robbie Deans. “The plan was to come back after that and with a few more years of playing in a new environment under the belt, and have another crack at the Wallabies,” Frost said. In the end, the opportunity to play for the Wallabies and stay with the Brumbies was enough to change his mind, and he signed a deal until 2025.

Frost went on to make his Test debut in the second match of the home series against England and following a wonderful first season, was named as the Rugby Australia Rookie of the Year.

Highlights

2022 Frost won his first Test cap off the bench when he replaced Caderyn Neville in the 60th minute of the 17-25 second Test loss to England at Suncorp. A week later, with Neville unavailable due to an MCL injury, Frost made his run-on debut at the SCG. Rory Arnold’s return to the side was merely a speedbump for Frost who went on to start four of the five Spring Tour internationals, including those against the world numbers one and two - Ireland and France.