It's quite possible that the past 21 years has flown by for Trevor Tighe, as is time's wont when your youth disappears, while for this son Jake the opposite is likely the case.
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One thing is certain though: Trevor would find it difficult to recreate the moment when he was photographed nursing his then toddler boy after the Moree Boars' 2002 grand final defeat of West Lions.
On Saturday afternoon, August 19, Trevor - a member of that premiership side - will undoubtedly swell with pride as his lump of a lad attempts to help create a new timeless classic in the Boars' 105-year history, and deliver them their first Group 4 premiership since 2002.
![Jake Tighe is captured after the Boars' preliminary final win over the Roosters at Boughton Oval on August 12. Picture by Mark Bode Jake Tighe is captured after the Boars' preliminary final win over the Roosters at Boughton Oval on August 12. Picture by Mark Bode](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/KUhQizDbwW8WqAyPP4x5yp/cb13ae1c-bce8-4a58-92bf-94ba42920abe.jpg/r0_0_4032_3024_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Jake, 22, will play on the wing when Moree meet North Tamworth in the grand final at Jack Woolaston Oval. He shone brightly in the Boars' 42-20 preliminary final win over the Roosters at Moree's Boughton Oval last Saturday, rumbling down the right edge to bagged a try hat-trick.
After the game, the day's dying light suitably looked good on the powerfully built speedster as he detailed how his parents' separation, several years after the 2002 grand final, resulted in him moving to Queensland with his mum.
And he revealed how it was the COVID-19 pandemic that resulted him returning to his hometown, where he found work as an apprentice carpenter, found a partner, found home to buy and found himself falling for Moree.
![Trevor Tighe nurses Jake after Moree's grand final win over West Lions in 2002. Picture supplied Trevor Tighe nurses Jake after Moree's grand final win over West Lions in 2002. Picture supplied](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/KUhQizDbwW8WqAyPP4x5yp/243d8fcb-8c7f-4abb-9d69-b94d976e6cfa.jpg/r0_0_1231_1788_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Tighe doubts that he would have returned home from Brisbane in 2020 had it not been for the pandemic. He graduated from Brisbane's Nudgee College, where he was a boarder, in 2018 and stayed in the capital doing a cabinetmaking apprenticeship.
"I've got a partner [Shirley Swan], and we've got a house," he said. "Yeah, I just think it's been a massive blessing for me [returning home]."
"I enjoy playing football again," he added. "And I just love the boys. This is where Dad's been. My brothers have played here. Yeah, it means the world to me to play in a grand final."
![Tighe savours the moment after scoring his third try in Moree's preliminary final win over Kootingal-Moonbi at Boughton Oval on August 12. Picture by Mark Bode Tighe savours the moment after scoring his third try in Moree's preliminary final win over Kootingal-Moonbi at Boughton Oval on August 12. Picture by Mark Bode](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/KUhQizDbwW8WqAyPP4x5yp/76bb186a-a6cc-455f-9f89-bdaa969f8a10.jpg/r0_0_2950_2050_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Tighe is in his first season of full-time top grade. He was joint best back in Moree's premiership-winning reserve-grade outfit last year.
The Boars' 2002 grand final triumph "means a lot" to him, he said.
"To carry on that tradition, I just think it's a massive effort for the club," he said, adding that he "loves" the Boars' culture. "It's a tight culture."
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