Damian Price ‘drove’ his daughter Sarah down Bedgerabong Road in a tinnie to help her get to a Goannas Under 12s game during the recent flood.
There is dedication to Rugby League and then there is the Price family of Forbes.
Damian Price and his daughter Sarah were gearing up for a weekend match with the Dubbo Wiradjuri Goannas in Wellington, while keeping one eye on a swollen Lachlan River.
Sarah plays for the Goannas Under 12s tackle team and she’s also a member of the Red Bend Blues League Tag team.
So, there’s a strong commitment to the game from the Prices – even when Mother Nature comes calling.
“It was a normal Saturday game and on the Friday afternoon, the water was only ankle deep, so we thought ‘Yep, we’ll be able to drive out in the morning’.”
The Price family home on two-and-half hectares is situated 200m from the road into Forbes. But as Saturday dawned the water from the Lachlan River was above-the-knee and rising. They couldn’t get to their front gate. “So, we got the tinnie out and when we got out onto Bedgerabong Road it was over a metre deep,” said Damian.
So, Damian and Sarah ‘drove’ their boat along the bitumen road normally used by car, to rendezvous with another father Blake Goodsall and his daughter on dry land.
“Blake was able to drive them to the game as I couldn’t get my car out. We just didn’t think the river would rise that fast.”
Other players from farms further afield stayed overnight in Forbes so they could get to Wellington.
Sarah came home the same way – with her dad waiting in the tinnie at the meeting point.
“She plays League Tag too but she just loves the tackle game,” he said.
“I said to her, ‘Once we commit to the team we’ve got to support them no matter what’. That’s what she did and I did my part to make sure she didn’t miss out.”
(Story and photo: NSW Rugby League page.)