He is used to being surrounded by cows but is about to become a Bronco.
John McGlashan College First XV captain and deputy head boy Rory Ferguson has signed a two-year deal with the Brisbane Broncos rugby league side and is heading across the Ditch at the end of the school year.
Ferguson, who turns 18 next month and who still works when he can at the family dairy farm just outside Milton, said he dreamt as a youngster of having a professional sporting career.
"It has always been something I've wanted to do and now it has become a step closer. For all this to happen so far is pretty cool,'' he said.
"Back in year 9 and 10 I was just playing rugby and never thought I would be able to make a career out of it.''
Ferguson grew up in South Otago, playing rugby, and it was just an off chance he was introduced to league in his early years as a boarder at McGlashan, in Dunedin.
"Grant Milne (southern zone league development officer) wanted to get a few of us down to have a go and I had nothing else to do, so I ended up going down.
"Then I got picked for a tournament on the West Coast and it just all went from there.''
He was player of the tournament on the Coast and that opened the door into the New Zealand league system.
His performance for the New Zealand under-16 side in a curtain-raiser to a Kiwis test in Whangarei in 2014, was spotted by Kiwis coach and Broncos assistant coach Stephen Kearney.
Rory and his father Stafford travelled to Brisbane last year to view the Broncos' facilities.
"They treated us really well, we had a good look around at all the facilities, then went to a game against the Eels, where they won.
"I got to sit on the bench. After the game they invited me into the changing rooms. I got to meet all of them.
"I met [coach] Wayne Bennett and it turns out he used to be a dairy farmer. He used to milk cows on his uncle's dairy farm. So we talked about that for a while.''
Ferguson, who plays second row or lock in league and in the loose forwards for his unbeaten school rugby side, will enrol at university next year in Brisbane.
"When you sign the document it all seems like fun and games. But as the time gets closer the reality is it is really going to happen.''
Ferguson said he loved rugby and was invited to the Highlanders under-18 training camp next week but had committed to a league camp in Rotorua at the same time.
"I grew up wanting to be an All Black. But this opportunity came along and it was too good to turn down.
"Who knows? If this doesn't work out I can always come back here and play rugby.''
The Brisbane Broncos is one of Australia's most successful and wealthiest sporting clubs. It was founded in 1987 and has won six Australian league premierships.
