Chopping up meat in an Innisfail butchery at 21, Ty Williams would have been forgiven for thinking his NRL dream would remain just that.

After bursting into Innisfail A grade at the tender age of 17, Williams thought the NRL clubs would eventually come knocking - but all they did was knock him back.

Four years after making his flying debut for the Innisfail Leprechauns, Williams hardly had the luck of the Irish as first the Sydney Roosters then Brisbane closed the NRL door on him.

Still, he kept training and hoping.

Needless to say, when the North Queensland Cowboys eventually came calling, Williams jumped at the chance.

After first fearing he had "missed the NRL boat", Williams hopes to cap a season that included his Queensland Origin debut with the Cowboys' first premiership - and perhaps Tri Nations selection.

Williams, now 25, said the tough times at hometown Innisfail had steeled him for the Cowboys' rollercoaster ride into a maiden NRL grand final against Wests Tigers on Sunday night.

"Considering only four years ago I was playing for Innisfail and now I'm in the main event - this is unbelievable to me," Williams said at the NRL grand final breakfast on Thursday.

"I was 17 when I first started first grade but I didn't get picked up at the Cowboys until I was 21.

"I thought I might have missed the NRL boat.

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