"We miss him, but we're proud of him."
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With that, Jill Chappel encapsulated the feelings of parents everywhere who have farewell a child and then watched them thrive.
Jill was speaking after her boy, Hayden, had captained the Inverell Saints to a grand final win over the Tamworth Swans at Wolseley Oval in Gunnedah on Saturday, August 26.
The Saints remained undefeated for the season. Hayden was named best on ground.
![Saints captain Hayden Chappel is joined by his parents, Ian and Jill, after the side's grand final defeat of the Swans at Wolseley Oval on Saturday, August 26. Picture by Gareth Gardner Saints captain Hayden Chappel is joined by his parents, Ian and Jill, after the side's grand final defeat of the Swans at Wolseley Oval on Saturday, August 26. Picture by Gareth Gardner](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/KUhQizDbwW8WqAyPP4x5yp/67d1cbbe-993f-47d6-971e-eaf5d95d6d9b.JPG/r0_0_6488_4325_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
A decade earlier, he left his family's dairy farm at Echuca, located on the banks of the Murray River in northern Victoria. He had followed his then boss - a close family friend - to Inverell to work on a cattle farm.
"And never looked back," said Hayden, who was 20 years old when he arrived in the North West.
Now he is 30 and married to Georgia Chappel, who cheered on her man on Saturday before playing in the Saints' loss to Gunnedah in the women's grand final.
Hayden now works at Texas Angus, outside of Warialda, as cattle overseer and was on hand to see the stud break the national all breeds record in July.
"I love the area," he said of Inverell and its surrounds. "I love the community. It's a brilliant place to be."
"I had nothing holding me back at home; I had no reason not to move," he added. "So I thought, 'Why not jump in and see how it goes.'"
Hayden celebrated his 21st birthday at the home of Dick Gleeson, who coached the Saints to premiership glory this year.
![To the victor goes the spoils. Picture by Gareth Gardner To the victor goes the spoils. Picture by Gareth Gardner](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/KUhQizDbwW8WqAyPP4x5yp/63fc01a4-3c3e-4af0-8180-52bd82803575.JPG/r0_0_2580_1702_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"He is the reason that the Inverell Saints exist," Chappel said, adding that he had "no words" to describe how he felt after the 16-point win over the Swans, in what was an enthralling grand final.
"We've done our hard yards the last couple of years ... So it's incredibly rewarding to contribute in any way that I can."
Jill Chappel was joined at the game by her husband, Ian. They flew back to Victoria on Saturday.
"It's really good, really good," Hayden said of having his parents at the decider.
![Hayden and Ian Chappel embrace after the grand final. Picture by Gareth Gardner Hayden and Ian Chappel embrace after the grand final. Picture by Gareth Gardner](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/KUhQizDbwW8WqAyPP4x5yp/e54f5333-9910-4e60-b795-d34d6e2a25a3.JPG/r0_0_2256_1504_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)