Tom Lahrs was speaking over the phone from Townsville, and speaking a language parents around the world would understand.
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"Whether he listens, I don't know," Lahrs said of his advice to his teenage son, Kaiden. "I tell him what I think, anyhow. What he does with it is up to him."
You would think that being one of the best ever in your chosen field would qualify you for special attention when proferring advice to your teenage child in relation to that field.
Perhaps not.
For the uninitiated, Lahrs is a former Australia, Blues and Raiders enforcer.
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His front-rower son, 17, is one of the best emerging rugby league talents in the country - his selection last week in the Australian Schoolboys under-18 side further confirmation of that.
Almost three years ago, the Lahrs family relocated from Tamworth to Townsville - where Lahrs works as a carpenter and Kaiden attends year 12 at Kirwan High while engaged with the Cowboys' Young Guns program.
"He's lucky he's got plenty of good people around him now; I can take a bit of a back seat," Lahrs said of his boy. "Because you know what it's like, no one likes to hear the sound of Dad's voice all the time .... give him a bit of breathing room."
It's unreal. It's a great achievement.
The Lahrs family were at Redcliffe this month when Kaiden's Queensland side took part in the national secondary schools championships. Lahrs made the Australian Schools side in 2002 and 2003 while attending Farrer. Kaiden also went to the school.
"It's unreal. It's a great achievement," Lahrs said of Kaiden's Australia selection. Both of them making the side was "an added bonus", he said, adding that his family were "super proud" of the teen.
Lahrs continued: "He knows that if he wants to be successful in football, he's got to do all the little things in the game extremely well, because he's not a monster - he's no Payne Haas."
Kaiden told the Leader this week that he was "motivated" by his father's achievements - "just to try and be as good as the old man".
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Mark Bode
I’m passionate about writing stories that resonate with people. And I’m genuinely interested in the people I interview; I want to know about them and present their stories in a meaningful way.
I’m passionate about writing stories that resonate with people. And I’m genuinely interested in the people I interview; I want to know about them and present their stories in a meaningful way.
