All it took was some gentle words of inspiration from son Jayce and daughter Immity to stoke the fire and get it burning inside Mitch Fowler's heart again.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Port City Breakers forward admits he had lost the love of playing rugby league until the moment his children encouraged him to return to the field.
"Over the last three or four years I'd never played with purpose because I'd find every excuse in the world not to go to training because of the kids and stuff like that," he said.
"But this year the kids said I should play footy again and them saying it made me think if I'm going to do it, I'll put my all in to try and have another good crack.
"I found the love for it and enjoyed being fit again whereas previous years I wouldn't make the effort and get fit.
"I've got heaps of things I need to improve on, but it's certainly not going to happen overnight."
He has returned with vengeance and been arguably the Breakers' best in the opening five rounds of the Group 3 rugby league competition.
Fowler said his life had always been about work and family until he reached the crossroads following the cancellation of the 2020 season.
"I felt like I was missing something so the next thing was to really get fit," he said.
"I'd previously never made much of an effort to see my new friends whereas if I play football I'm going to get fit and force myself to see my friends so I was hitting two birds with one stone."
While they have had a slow start to the season, Fowler felt Port City had turned a corner despite the successive losses to Wauchope and Wingham.
They won't get a better chance to snap their two-game winless run than when they host Taree City Bulls at Regional Stadium on Sunday.
Fowler admitted the key to continued improvement was to place an emphasis on doing the little things right.
"Ill-discipline and giving away penalties has cost us, but you've got to take it on individually before you take it on as a team," he said.
"The score isn't really influencing too much on how we're playing and I certainly wouldn't call it disappointing, (there's) just a lot of room for improvement."
First grade kicks off at 3pm.
What else is happening in news, sport?
- Batt's Gladiators 'smash' Cyclones at national wheelchair rugby titles
- Kitchen starts to plan for the future as career comes to an end
- Parish rallies troops to lend a hand in region's flood rebuild
- Strengthening connections during Reconciliation Week
- Lockdown extension speculation as Vic records six new COVID-19 cases
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 our website
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- You can support us with a subscription
- Follow us on Twitter: @portmacnews
- Follow us on Instagram: @portmacnews
- Follow us on Google News