A FORMER NSW Waratah and Ken Catchpole Medallist made a surprise appearance for the Port Macquarie Pirates on Saturday, June 25.
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The player is also the current Port Macquarie-Hastings Council Mayor, Peter Besseling, who ended an eight year hiatus from the sport when he took to the field.
He put in an impressive showing, holding his own and scoring a try in their clash with the Wauchope Thunder.
Besseling laced up the boots to play alongside his son, Kaes, and while he was happy to pull out some niggle on his opposition, he was also the first to help a fallen Thunder player.
When Wauchope captain Dean Hawkins was heavily concussed, Besseling left his team mates behind, rolled Hawkins into the recovery position and called for help.
As for the game itself, which was called off early due to the injury, Besseling said it was a fantastic day in which both dad and son scored tries.
“It was great to be able to play alongside Kaes and even better to see him do well,” he said.
“I am a fan of the way he plays and it was even better to score a try before him, which means bragging rights to dad.”
Kaes crossed the line after a barnstorming effort that saw him brush aside no less than six Thunder players. But it was nothing compared to the efforts of his 46-year-old dad.
Besseling senior grabbed the ball from the back of the scrum barely two minutes into the game, creating a blindside opportunity with an offload.
He followed the play down the field, running wide in the centre position to touch down out wide and open the scoring for the match.
He had a couple of training runs to understand the line out calls and said his body pulled up better than expected.
“But I'm not letting that fool me into thinking I'm a regular starter,” he said.
“It was great to see the rugby spirit alive and well in Wauchope and that is a real credit to the Thunder club and committee.
“I'd like to thank Council and the club for providing a nice, soft playing surface for me to fall on.”
They weren’t the only father-son duo on the field, either. The Pirates also played David and Elliot Starr, with both grabbing a try during proceedings.
Hawkins spent time at the Port Macquarie Base Hospital before being cleared of serious injury. The first grade fixture, which was also dominated by the Pirates, was called off late in the second half also due to injury.
Young winger Daine Newcombe was hurt in a tackle and an ambulance was called. Like Hawkins, he was cleared to return home later that night but is unlikely to line up for the Thunder this weekend.