Hoy tragically had his left leg amputated above the knee at Newcastle's John Hunter Hospital last Saturday after a number of complications developed when his knee was dislocated in Walcha'a clash with Barraba back on August 3.

Hoy's rugby career may be over, but he is and has been regarded for his outstanding qualities as a person.

Walcha Rugby Club president John Burnell said Hoy was part of the lifeblood of the Walcha Rugby Club.

A real character and a chirpy one at that.

"He is a terribly likeable, cheeky rascal I suppose," Burnell said knowingly earlier this week.

"He's always had a quick wit and has been a special part of the club over the years."

Tragedy seems to have followed Walcha rugby players in the past half-decade.

Former Walcha half Hamish McLaren lost an arm in a work accident back in 1998.

"Two of our stars have each lost limbs now. We don't want any more," Burnell said.

Walcha's 2002 halfback Jock McLaren endured the agony of his brother Hamish's injury four years ago.

Now his close friend Steve Hoy has suffered an equally devastating injury.

Jock was able to report that Hoy was showing typical Walcha spirit under duress in the days immediately after his operation.

"Hamish went down to see him," Jock McLaren said on Monday

"He was in good spirits ... probably too good, Hamish said."

Hoy's Central North coach in the 1990s was Joe Goldsworthy, who paid tribute to Hoy as a person.

Goldsworthy visited Hoy in hospital in the days before he was taken to John Hunter Hospital.

"Steve is the loveable rogue, one of those characters that you meet in rugby," Goldsworthy said.

"He's one of those guys that you value in your team just for the chemistry of the team - just for the type of person he is.

"He is very loyal and I certainly count him as a friend. I'm just really stunned by the whole thing."

Goldsworthy said a passion for the game and an ability to read the play were Hoy strengths.

"He'd be one of the first to admit that he wasn't going to play for Australia but he loved his football.

"He played with the Central North side that won the Caldwell Cup down in Wagga (in 1997) and toured New Zealand with us.

"He wasn't the longest kicker or the best tackler or the best runner but he was a footballer. And a good footballer.

"He had a real instinct for the game that probably distinguishes average footballers from good footballers."

Hoy's ability to win games with his kicking game and with a magical intercept are legendary.

Inverell coaches over the years, when asked how they were approaching a clash with Walcha, would invariably say "nullify Steve Hoy's kicking game" or more wryly "don't pass the ball to Steve Hoy".

Hoy is well known at Inverell Rugby Park for his regular knack of sinking Highlander sides with his left boot.

Jock McLaren gave Hoy the green light as the undisputed on-field pilferer of all time.

"He was the intercept king – always jogging on the spot to take those intercepts," McLaren said.

"He read the game very well. He was a general good bloke on and off the field. That's how he played his rugby.

"And he was a team player more than anything else."

Rugby was just one of Hoy's many sporting talents.

"He's the sportiest person in Walcha," McLaren said.

"If he's not playing footy, he's playing cricket or indoor hockey ... always involved in a sport all year round. He's good at any sport he puts his hand to."

Hoy was a junior rugby player at the Walcha club.

A classic photo of Hoy as a youngster along with highly regarded Walcha players such as Jock McLaren, Doug Haslem, Sam Payne and others appears in Graham Croker's excellent book on the history of the Walcha Rugby Club - Memories From Scrum and Ruck.

The juniors are pictured with Wallaby Mark Ella and Walcha's 1971 premiership winning captain John McLaren.

Croker makes a point in his book about some of the special qualities of the Walcha club.

Those qualities are reflected in what we know of Steve Hoy the man and footballer.

Croker stated that "the faces at Walcha don't vary much from year to year and an unusually high percentage of them have had fathers, uncles or brothers who have played for the club. In addition, they nearly all earn their living in one way or another off the land, giving them another common bond not available to city clubs".

Hoy worked on his own farm and in the rural industry – but mainly on his own place with mixed grazing (sheep and cattle).

Croker spoke of the way Walcha players "absorb the style and mythology of the club" and that was true of Hoy.

Hoy's Central North coach Joe Goldsworthy recalled how Hoy was "always fiercely proud of Walcha".

Rugby in Walcha has an elevated status – not just because it's played at a greater altitude – but the feeling of any rugby player from another club venturing there for the first time is one of trepidation.

Walcha boys were born for rugby and it for them.

It's their game.

Or as Jock McLaren says: "The Walcha rugby community basically is the town."

There is a tenacity about Walcha sides that exists intrinsically – it's part of the being of the place.

And a good Walcha side is something else.

In recent years the 1997 side was just an awesome outfit.

Hoy was a major part of that and he was able to celebrate the 1997 grand final win over Tamworth with a try.

"I missed his biggest highlight," Jock McLaren confessed.

"He tells me that was one of his biggest highlights, scoring the winning try in that grand final when we were written off. I was on a trip around Australia at that stage."

McLaren said he played Central North with Hoy for a number of seasons.

"It was four or five years – mainly when Michael Bird and Joe Goldsworthy were coaching."

Hoy, 30 years of age, began playing for Walcha as a teenager.

He rated Walcha's 1997 grand final win over Tamworth the highlight of his playing days and former Walcha Ram captain and number eight Hyde Thomson as one of the best rugby players he'd seen.

Hoy's exuberance for rugby union and Walcha in particular was exemplified when he "did a backflip" when Barraba's Charlie Darlington missed a long range penalty attempt in the 1990 grand final.

Walcha won 12-11 and Hoy was watching the game at the time.

A tragedy for Hoy was the fact that he wasn't able to retire at the time he wanted to as Jock McLaren explained:

"Steve said that he had 120 minutes of football to go.

"He was going to retire then. Just one half of football (against Barraba) and another game the next week.

"That would have been it. I said that I'd retire when he does so I think that might be it for me too."

Jock McLaren and his wife are expecting a baby in December so he won't be going on Walcha's end of season trip to Eastern Europe.

Joe Goldsworthy pointed out that losing a limb is not one of those risks usually associated with rugby.

Steve Hoy was desperately unfortunate to be cut down in such a manner.

His contribution to the game though will always be valued.

Joe Goldsworthy found the right words to express what is the most important featureof rugby union: the people.

And blokes like Steve Hoy are as good as it gets.

"Steve and guys like Hamish (McLaren) are what football is about," Goldsworthy said.

"Winning and losing goes out the window. They don't even rate as major considerations or even minor considerations.

"The worse thing is that you feel that you'd love to reverse the situation with everything in your power...

"But life goes on too. I'm sure , without trying in any way to diminish what has happened, that Steve will be like Hamish and get on with it.

"That same approach that they used in their football will come through in their lives too.

"Hamish has been an inspiration to a lot of people and Steve will be the same."