Young athlete Lane Davis is, by all accounts, a rugby league tragic.
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According to his mother, Simone, he would play football “all day and all night if he could” and “watches it constantly.”
Lane was nominated for a Young Athlete of the Year Award by the Yass Valley Council for his exploits on the field in 2016.
The young talent was chosen to be the captain of the Yass Minor Rugby League side in nearly every match they played, a feat which according to Mrs Davis is highly uncommon in youth matches.
“[It] is quite a big thing for Under-12’s, they don’t normally pick captains that early.”
The young man from Wee Jasper’s ambitions are high. According to his mother, his goal is to play for the Canberra Raiders someday.
So therefore he must be a Raiders fan?
“No, not really,” Mrs Davis said. “He just wants to play for them.
“His [favourite team] is Rabbitohs.
“[It’s] probably because Canberra’s closer, he wants to play for Canberra first.”
Along with his obsession with the sport, it helps Lane that he is also a naturally talented player according to Mell Beck, who nominated the youngster.
“He just loves his footy, and [he’s] born to play footy,” Ms Beck said.
Lane was also chosen to represent the NSW Primary School Sports Association (PSSA) team in Tamworth last year.
While that alone would be a significant achievement for most young footballers, it was made all the more incredible for Lane because nobody from Berinba had ever trialed for PSSA football before.
“We couldn’t actually get him in a team,” Mrs Davis said, “[we] finally got onto a Queanbeyan school that was willing to let him go over there and trial with them.”
“So he had to trial at a school where no-one knew him or that he could play footy or anything, and he still managed to make it.”
Not only was he the first one to do it, but Lane’s success has made it easier for other kids to follow in his footsteps.
“And now, since he’s done that, all the other kids are able to try out at Berinba. I think there was 13 that went to try out this year, just because he’d opened it up and made the process easy for them.”
All of Mrs Davis’ six children play football, including Lane’s twin brother, but Lane is arguably the most driven to succeed.
“Once he gets his mind set on something, especially to do with football, he does it."
Being on the road for “most days of the week” to get her kids to training and matches, it would be understandable if Mrs Davis was weary of the demands placed on her by parenthood, but she insists otherwise.
Instead, she embraces that it is a necessary sacrifice, and knows that it’s “just what you do for kids, isn’t it?”