'Don't come here, bro': Dylan's 1600km round trip to play for winless side

After the winless Wee Waa Panthers suffered another mercy-rule loss (the lead hit 60 points), at their home ground on a lustreless Sunday afternoon on July 7, Dylan Harradine-Hall promptly jumped in his 2012 Commodore ute and drove the 800 kilometres back to his Bundaberg home.

The 38-year-old father of three has been doing that all season, in what is the Panthers' return to Group 4 after a six-year absence.

Week after week, the Panthers have been thumped (they have scored 16 points and conceded 486 in 12 rounds).

And week after week, with the exception of two rounds, the Narrabri-raised footy veteran made the 1600km, 18-hour round trip to play for a club he previously represented before moving to Bundaberg five years ago.

"I told him, 'Don't come here, bro, you don't have to' ... but he still comes down," Harradine-Hall's teammate, Matthew Freeman, said after Sunday's clash; as the former, who played hooker in a 60-0 loss to Werris Creek, displayed a palpable urgency to want to get in his car and drive.

After lobbing in Wee Waa at about 10.30pm the previous night, he had to be back home for the 6.30am start of his shift at Bundy Juice on Monday.

"Definitely feeling it today after the drive home," he told the Leader.

And get this: as he always does when the Panthers play on Sunday, he played for East Magpies in Bundaberg the previous day. On this occasion, he endured a full game of reserve grade at lock.

"It is pretty unreal," he said of his marathon effort. "So I was probably struggling in the second half there [on Sunday]."

For those of you who, like Freeman, can't fathom why Harradine-Hall punishes himself so severely, know this:

"I love playing here," he said. "That's the whole reason why I came back here. So, even the losses [don't affect that]."

"We're still trying to build towards it [the first win]," he also said, adding: "We'll just keep poking away at it. It [that win] won't be far away, hopefully."

In Harradine-Hall's corner is an understanding woman. His partner, he said, was "very supportive" of his gruelling schedule.

"She loves that I get back to my home area," said the road warrior, whose son, Braith Hall, commenced his tenure at the Brisbane Lions Academy on the weekend.

This weekend, Harradine-Hall will be on the road again for the Panthers' away clash against the Kangaroos on Sunday, July 14.

And come next season, he expects to pull on the Panthers jersey once more: "If I'm fit enough, I can't see why I won't go around again."