As Julian Huxley sung the Brumbies Runners team song yesterday he reflected on the children he met when he was in hospital, many of whom had to undergo as much as he did if not more.
Huxley had completed one of the most remarkable sporting comebacks when one year and two weeks after being diagnosed with a brain tumour he played his first game of rugby against the Junior Waratahs at Knox College in Sydney.
Playing at fullback the 30-year-old starred for the visiting Canberra side in its 36-16 win.
To get there he had to recover from an operation to remove the tumour, a month of radiation treatment and then six months of chemotherapy.
While Huxley declared his interest in returning to Super14 rugby as soon as possible, he made it clear he had a more important agenda.
''I feel real strongly having seen a lot of the kids on the radiation machine before and after me, [that] life's not fair and sometimes you cop the bad luck,'' he said.
''There's a lot outside your control. But that doesn't mean you still can't do it.
''Hopefully a message in the form of me coming back to play and hopefully me getting back to a higher level will bring a bit more profile to that message and give some comfort to some of those young kids, those champions I met.''
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