Todd Mitchell's first memories of Paul 'Poey' Raveneau stem from the mid 90s.
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The pair first ran into one another almost literally, when they faced off for the North Tamworth Bears and Moree Boars on the footy field.
The current Boars president's first impression of the young Raveneau paints a daunting picture - "a big fella, strong, very well-balanced, and fast for his size".
But it wasn't until he moved to Moree a handful of years later that he actually got to know the man. It was only then that he realised that Raveneau didn't fully appreciate (or perhaps didn't care) how vast his talent was.
"He had no garbage in him at all, he was a very fair and clean footballer. Tough to play against, and I don't think he realised how good he was to be honest," Mitchell said.
"I think he just enjoyed playing the game with his mates, and had some fun."
Instead, Raveneau's focus was on the club. He went on to build a record-breaking career for the Boars, with more than 350 games to his name (a landmark 221 of which were in first grade).
He took part in multiple premiership victories with the club, one of which he oversaw as captain-coach in 2004.
But off the field, his impact was equally profound.
"Our connection was a football connection and a football friendship," Mitchell said.
"We both had the same intentions, to bring Moree back to where it was once before, a powerhouse of any group they played in. We went through some pretty tough times, and there were plenty of other people involved as well [in keeping the club going].
"That's what we've done, and the end result is where we are now. A lot of blokes hung in there for a lot of years to keep the club alive, and Poey was one of them."
Just a handful of years before he lost his battle against pancreatic cancer in March 2021, Raveneau was made a Boars life member. He was the 27th person to receive the honour.
After he passed, Moree announced that the Paul Raveneau Cup would be put on the line during every home game against North Tamworth.
The fourth such meeting was played last Saturday, in which the Boars clutched a 40-10 victory.
"There wasn't much said [after the game], but you could feel that it was quite a nice way to honour a really brilliant fella in the club," first grade captain-coach Mick Watton said.
"We didn't really say too much about it, because it did get quite emotional for some of the boys who knew Poe.
"You could definitely feel that we'd honoured his name."
Despite the 30-point margin, it was not a straightforward victory for the hosts.
The scores were tied 10-10 at half time, and Watton was unimpressed by their efforts in the opening 40 minutes.
It wasn't until the final portion of the game that the Boars really found their rhythm. In the last 20 minutes, they peppered the Bears with four more tries to put the result beyond doubt.
"To be honest, I can't even remember if we completed a set, maybe one or two in the first half, which isn't good enough," Watton said.
"But once we started getting through our sets a bit cleaner and getting to some spots we like to play from, it made it a bit easier."
