Group 4: Inspired by family, Billy Nean scores Group 4 reserve grade awards

The Tamworth product grew up playing rugby league, but had always struggled to commit to the sport in which the Nean family are known to excel.

In fact, the 27-year-old said, the last time he played a full season was in the under 12s.

"Growing up, I really had no interest in it," Billy said.

"My brothers were already big names in the game. I just thought that because they were already making a name, they'd done the job.

"But then I realised I could have been a part of that for all those years."

His older brothers, Matthew and Sean, were players known for both their brilliant talent and behavioural issues on-field.

Neither of his siblings have played since the 2016 Group 4 grand final, after which they were both slapped with decades-long bans stemming from incidents in that game.

Matthew attempted to overturn his 20-year ban, which Billy believes was excessively harsh, ahead of the 2023 season.

He was unsuccessful, and urged his younger brother to go out and make a statement for the Dungowan Cowboys during the year.

"[Matthew] is the one that gave me a bit of drive too. He said 'Come and have a run at Dungowan," Billy said.

"He was meant to be playing this year ... but one day he got a letter saying he wasn't allowed to play. So I turned that negative into a positive.

"He really wanted me to play, so I used that as a bit of motivation."

The Tamworth Local Aboriginal Land Council employee had played in fits and starts for a variety of local teams throughout his life, but always found his motivation would drop off before the season's end.

This year, however, he wanted to really get stuck in and commit. Not just for his brothers, but also his son, Keadan.

"I just did it to show him anything's possible," Billy said.

"That's the main thing in my life, to show him you can do anything you put your mind to."

A fired-up Nean is a formidable force. Billy scored 18 tries this year as the Cowboys' reserve grade outfit made it to the grand final, where they lost to the Moree Boars.

Despite the result, Billy's scoring feats secured him the Highest Tryscorer award at the Group 4 presentation night.

He knew that gong was coming. What he didn't expect, however, was to win the Player of the Year award on top of it - Billy was convinced it would go to Moree fullback Wyatt Roberts.

"The fullback from Moree just came back from receiving all his awards, he got Highest Pointscorer and everyone at the table was saying 'Don't sit down, you know you're going to get [Player of the Year]'," he said.

"And then they said 'Player of the Year goes to Billy Nean', and I was like, 'Wow'. It was amazing."

Now, Billy's fire has been lit.

After a lifetime of half-committing to league, the 2023 season has shown the centre what he is truly capable of. And in 2024, he hopes to do the same again in first grade.

"I've already started thinking about how far I really want it to go," Billy said.

"I want to see if I've got it in me to push for first grade. I want to make Team of the Year and see if I can score all these tries in first grade."

But at the end of the day, he just wants to inspire his children.

"I've got to try my hardest to make them proud," Billy said.

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