Loading Dylan Edwards is the NRL’s ultimate running man; nothing can stop him. Nothing, except maybe his mum. The Panthers fullback has a league-high average of 233 run metres a game this year, according to NRL.
com. But he somehow still looks the freshest man on the field after every match. You have to go back a while, but there was one occasion he ran out of energy and struggled to finish a rugby league game.
He was about 14 or 15, and his mother, Kerry, had reminded him countless times to have his boots and playing gear ready for a game the following morning. Edwards was living in Dorrigo, a bush town on the NSW north coast, up the mountain from beautiful Bellingen. Edwards celebrates with the premiership trophy and the Clive Churchill Medal in 2022.
Credit: NRL Photos Come game day, Edwards realised he had left his kit bag at a friend’s place. His mum was furious. Rather than drive her son to collect his belongings, Kerry wanted to teach him a lesson.
So she made him run. It was a round trip of at least 10 kilometres. “I remember that day, but I don’t know if it was 12km – it would have been closer to a 10km round trip,” Edwards recalls.
“My mate only lived down the road, but living down the road is a little further than you think when you live in the country. “Mum wasn’t happy, and you’re right, that would have been the only game I’ve struggled to finish. I cramped up pretty early.
” It tells you a bit about Edwards’ fitness and will to win that i.
