STAR STEPS IN: Limestone Coast senior constable Jade Hill reached out to Australian comedian Merrick Watts (centre) to help facilitate a recent guest speaker event at Mount Gambier High School, which was attended by hundreds of students including Amber Thompson, Jack O Connor and Joel Griffith. Picture: BRETT KENNEDY
By Brett Kennedy
IT IS easy to typecast Australian comedian Merrick Watts as a likeable larrikin who always radiated confidence but to do so would disregard the significant transformation he underwent in high school.
Before he became known as one half of the hit duo Merrick and Rosso, Watts was a troublesome teenager involved in drug use, graffiti and vandalism as a Melbourne street gang member.