“Go hard or go home. That’s what mum always said,” Boggabri second-rower Jay Urquhart said of Tracey Steele-Urquhart’s advice to him.

Urquhart, 27, has been doing that since under-6 at the Kangaroos – his dream of playing senior footy for the club realised when they reformed in 2013 and played in the now-defunct second division.

But if he rebirth had not taken place, Urquhart admitted he may not be playing now. Prior to 2013, he had three seasons off, after injuring his knee playing under-18s for Gunnedah.

“I was just happy to be back playing,” he said of his return to the sport. “I just had three years off,” he added, “… and they set Boggy up. Well, strap on the boots.”

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Urquhart said Boggabri was a club where men passed the baton to their sons – the current side littered with players whose fathers had also worn the green and gold.

Urquhart’s dad, Craig, played for the club. And like other former Kangaroos, he will be there on Saturday when the winless Roos confront Dungowan at Jubilee Oval.

Urquhart said the club had been part of his life since “day dot”. “It means a fair bit [to me], I suppose.”

Boggabri vice president Jason Kemp said Urquhart was “everything you could ask for” in a player.

“He never misses training, often does overtime shifts in the mine so he can get a day off on the weekend to play, and on the field he puts in 110 per cent every week,” Kemp said, adding that Urquhart often provided comedy relief.