"We miss him, but we're proud of him."
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
With that, Jill Chappel encapsulated the feelings of parents everywhere who have farewell a child and then watched them thrive.
Jill was speaking after her boy, Hayden, had captained the Inverell Saints to a grand final win over the Tamworth Swans at Wolseley Oval in Gunnedah on Saturday, August 26.
The Saints remained undefeated for the season. Hayden was named best on ground.
A decade earlier, he left his family's dairy farm at Echuca, located on the banks of the Murray River in northern Victoria. He had followed his then boss - a close family friend - to Inverell to work on a cattle farm.
"And never looked back," said Hayden, who was 20 years old when he arrived in the North West.
Now he is 30 and married to Georgia Chappel, who cheered on her man on Saturday before playing in the Saints' loss to Gunnedah in the women's grand final.
Hayden now works on an Angus stud farm some 100 kilometres west of Inverell.
"I love the area," he said of Inverell and its surrounds. "I love the community. It's a brilliant place to be."
"I had nothing holding me back at home; I had no reason not to move," he added. "So I thought, 'Why not jump in and see how it goes.'"
Hayden celebrated his 21st birthday at the home of Dick Gleeson, who coached the Saints to premiership glory this year.
"He is the reason that the Inverell Saints exist," Chappel said, adding that he had "no words" to describe how he felt after the 16-point win over the Swans, in what was an enthralling grand final.
"We've done our hard yards the last couple of years ... So it's incredibly rewarding to contribute in any way that I can."
Jill Chappel was joined at the game by her husband, Ian. They flew back to Victoria on Saturday.
"It's really good, really good," Hayden said of having his parents at the decider.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark northerndailyleader.com.au
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Google News