The mug reflected the description. Marked up from the historic rugby match just completed, it was the face of a workhorse. It was Tom Wake's face.

"He's not the fastest fella on the field, that's for sure, but he's a bit of a toiler," Wake's father, Bill, said after his boy had just played flanker in the Quirindi Lions' preliminary final win over the Red Devils in Gunnedah.

The 25-year-old will do some more toiling on Saturday, September 6, when the Lions meet the Bulls in the grand final at Moree. It will be their first big dance since 1992, when they won their last premiership - beating the Bulls, coincidentally.

Bill played for Quirindi in the following years up until 2000. He was a halfback. On Saturday, he will look on as his youngest son and his eldest son, Lions substitute prop

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