You would image that in many ways Lachie Cameron is very different from the ambitious teenager who left Narrabri for Sydney years ago to realise the glory images in his mind.
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But as is often the case with athletes past their prime, there is at least one similarity between his young and older selves: the competitive animal inside him still stirs.
At age 32, the Blues utility can look back at the teenage version of himself – who left Narrabri straight after high school to play for Manly Rugby Union Football Club – seemingly without regret, but through the clinical eyes time provides.
“Life gets pretty tough when you’re down there to play footy and you’re spending half a season, two years in a row, injured,” he said.
Cameron spent three seasons playing Colts and a season playing third grade at Manly. Prior to that, he had a season of first grade at Pirates when in Year 12.
In 2009 he returned to Narrabri, where he was born, to play with the Blue Boars for a “couple of years” – a decision that his late grandmother Jean Cameron, a Blues life member, regarded with outward contempt.
“Actually, when I went to the rugby [the Blue Boars] she kindly told me [to] don’t expect her to go watch me over there,” he said. “But she ended up sneaking over there any having a bit of a look.
“But yeah, when I went back to the league she was there every opportunity she got to watch the games.”
Cameron returned to league in 2014, forging a reputation as one of Group 4’s better players and building a family his wife, Megan. They have two children, Ally, 4, and Nate, 1.
At Collins Park on Sunday, Cameron will play his second game since being sidelined for seven weeks with a thoracic ligament injury of the neck and back.
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Cameron agreed that a win would give the sixth-placed Blues, who trail the fourth-placed Magpies by two points, a big confidence boost as they look to recapture the form that took them to last season’s grand final.
He started the season as co-captain with Brenton Cochrane but after being out injured for so long, Cochrane is now sole skipper.
The Blues hope recent history repeats itself on Sunday. The Bears lost two games last season, both at Collins Park. Cameron said the match was "huge” for the Blues, “especially with how open the comp is”.
The good news for Blues fans is that the gym owner and personal trainer has no retirement plans. “The body feels good. Yeah, no reason to stop … And I always sort of envisioned that I’d play until my kids were old enough to watch me play a bit.”
