WHEN Clancy Fallon runs out for the Murwillumbah Mustangs against Casino tomorrow, he’ll be giving it his all, but the proud former soldier will also be looking towards our country’s most hallowed sunrise on Monday.

Fallon, a decorated Country rugby league player who came to the attention of the Mustangs after relocating to an ambient farm nestled below Mt Warning, is also a decorated soldier who always raises a glass on Anzac Day.

“I lost a lot of friends,” Fallon says, reflecting on a career in the army that took him from the Fraser Coast, Sydney and Brisbane to the 2006 Timor riots and on to tours through the Middle East and Afghanistan in 2011.

Fallon, a sergeant, served in aviation and infantry units in a career that intertwined with his love of rugby league.

Fallon played premier and first grade football and has great memories of captaining an army side against Palm Island for NAIDOC and a combined services side, where he was voted the army’s best player.

“You play against the navy and air force and from that you can play against New Zealand or a touring British force,” Fallon said.

“The one that sticks out the most was the Matthew Lock Charity Match that raises funds for underprivileged kids in Timor. We’d have that each year.

“Being such a worthy cause and what it stood for, I was extremely proud to be a part of that.”

After leaving the army and relocating to Smith’s Creek, Fallon was content to walk away from rugby league.

Inevitably, the Mustangs came calling and were able to talk Fallon into returning to the field after the second-rower decided he had more to achieve.

“I was happily retired from the game after playing in a losing grand final for Hervey Bay where I got sent off in the first 10 minutes,” Fallon said.

“I was resigned to the fact that I wasn’t going to play again but I found that I had unfinished business.

“Now I’ve made the decision, I’m fully committed and the club and people are great. I couldn’t picture doing anything else now.”

The mateship and camaraderie is there and he’s thriving on being back in a team environment.

Fallon has already sparked a bond with teammates and he’s confident of rectifying his grand final heartbreak.

”I’ve got a good feeling about this club and I can see us going a long way,” Fallon said.

As he walks off the field on Sunday, having gone into battle with the Mustangs, Fallon’s mind will no doubt turn to Anzac Day on Monday, when he’ll put on his medals and march for his fellow servicemen and women who made the ultimate sacrifice.