For Brent McDonald, each hug must have felt like a group embrace.
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With his body marked up and his heavily bearded face parting to unleash a winner's smile, McDonald celebrated sideline with family and friends after Moree's uplifting preliminary final vanquishing of the Roosters at Boughton Oval.
One of Moree's best on a famous day for a proud club, the back-rower was being rewarded for years of devotion to the Boars cause - beginning at age eight.
Now a seasoned first-grader, McDonald was also an advertisement for the benefits of staying put. As Moree as a cooling breeze off the Mehi River in summer, the 26-year-old's feet have remained rooted to the area's fertile land.
Consequently, the love is always near him.
![Moree second-rower Brent McDonald savours a preliminary final victory over the Roosters at Boughton Oval on Saturday, August 12. Picture by Mark Bode Moree second-rower Brent McDonald savours a preliminary final victory over the Roosters at Boughton Oval on Saturday, August 12. Picture by Mark Bode](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/KUhQizDbwW8WqAyPP4x5yp/9a882a21-3c75-4a5e-9072-080c5b0c0f41.jpg/r0_0_3330_2686_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
And on Saturday, August 19, his hometown will be united in a single cause: deliver a boilover for the ages by beating the Bears in the grand final at Jack Woolaston Oval.
"Over the moon. Over the moon," McDonald said after the 42-20 preliminary final win. "One more to go. And the boys are playing with confidence now, and we're looking good."
Getting the chance to win his debut first-grade grand final with the Boars meant "everything" to him, he said.
"Been here for years, since I was a kid, toiling away. And now we get a crack at it."
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Moree, who returned to Group 4 in 2020 after a long absence, will attempt to win their first Group 4 premiership since 2002.
"Of course we can," McDonald said when asked if Moree could stop North Tamworth from winning a record-extending eighth consecutive premiership. "Wouldn't be here if we couldn't."
That was the perfect response to a somewhat stupid question. And over the next few minutes, as the sun sunk and the revelry rose in the distance, it became apparent that while McDonald surely doesn't have a perfect life (who does?), it is a rewarding one.
I've always loved Moree
He drives trucks for McDonald's Concrete and Earthmoving, which was started by his grandfather. Eventually, McDonald will run the company.
He has a child. And his fiancee, Stacey McIntosh, is pregnant. "Very lucky to be where I'm at and have the friends and family that I do," he said.
"I've always loved Moree," he added. "I couldn't imagine myself leaving. I think I'll die here."
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