The Cowleys have a strong history with Robb College. 

Steve and Jen Cowley went through the college in the 1980s and were back at the university on Saturday watching their son Max run out for Robb in the first grade decider. 

Steve was also the coach of the Robb side who clashed with Albies in the 1985 grand final. 

He said the encounter brought back a few memories for him and it was special to see his son run out for the team he once knew inside and out. 

“I am absolutely proud of him, given the fact he has only come back from a knee reconstruction this year so he missed most of last year and to see him running around again after only playing five weeks worth of football and to make the grand final was fantastic,” he said. 

“To see him run around in the same colours against the old foe was good to see.”

While the Cowleys were hoping for a Robb victory, the most message Steve had for Max wasn’t focused on the end result. 

“Try and enjoy it,” he said. 

“There's a lot of blokes running around who never get a chance to get in a grand final, let alone be successful in it.” 

Throughout Max’s rugby career, Steve has been on the sidelines and given his son plenty of encouragement along the way.

“When he was growing up, we gave him every opportunity to play soccer, he played rugby league at rep level and rugby union at rep level and NSW Country in his younger years.

“He was always pretty handy at it. We also encouraged him with it, it is a great sport.” 

For Max, he credits his parents’ ongoing support for helping him reach his goals and improve every time he runs out on the field. 

“I have always grown up playing rugby and rugby league and dad has always been there and been supportive,” he said. 

“He has taken me to pretty much every game, he's only missed a handful, he's managed to balance his job with watching me play most of my rugby games over my life.

“He's always there to give me tips or a bit of advice on anything rugby related so that's really good.” 

Max was only made aware of his father’s 1985 connection to a Robb-Albies decider in the days leading up to this year’s big dance and said it was “pretty special” to keep up the family tradition. 

“To find find out about a week before that dad coached in ‘85 against Albies was a pretty big surprise because I had no idea,” he said. 

“It gave me a bit more incentive to go out and try and win it.” 

He gave it his best shot, scoring Robb’s first five-pointer for the game. 

“It was unreal, I only just there but thanks to my long arms and long legs, I got there in the end,” he said. 

“That was pretty good, I knew dad would enjoy that one.”

It was a well-earned try for Max, after he sat out of Robb’s 2016 campaign from an ACL injury early he sustained early in the year. 

He only managed one game for the college last year, a fresher clash against their university rivals. 

“It was pretty annoying, I love rugby and it really took its toll on me sitting on the sideline watching and not being able to get out there and not being able to run around, especially getting a taste of one game and a good victory over Albies,” he said. 

“It was really taxing but I set an end goal of running back on to the paddock for Robb and after 12 and a bit months, I succeeded in doing that.” 

Max intends to be back in Robb colours in 2018 for another title tilt. 

Signs are looking bright for the side with only a handful of players not returning. 

“The biggest thing between last year and this year, it was hard for me because I wasn't playing last year at all but looking at it I think we have had a few new players come into the team and everyone is a bit more switched on and tried to give it a crack,” Max said. 

“We had the talent there so to put it into play with the help of the coaches and the leadership team, Robb Rugby really took a huge step forward this year and I think next year bigger and better things will come of it. 

“There's only our halfback, our five-eighth and our outside centre are the only ones not coming back.