{"id":480262,"date":"2026-02-14T21:17:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T21:17:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/480262\/"},"modified":"2026-02-14T21:17:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T21:17:13","slug":"kaiden-lahrs-indigenous-all-stars-north-queensland-cowboys-tom-learoyd-lahrs-father-son-nrl-season-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/480262\/","title":{"rendered":"Kaiden Lahrs, Indigenous All Stars, North Queensland Cowboys, Tom Learoyd-Lahrs, father-son, NRL season 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

After watching his father Tom Learoyd-Lahrs step up in the All Stars arena for the Indigenous side, Kaiden Lahrs is ready for the role reversal.<\/p>\n

Learoyd-Lahrs played in the first ever All Stars game in 2010, but this time it will be him and wife Amber in the stands to support his son as he makes his debut.<\/p>\n


\n
\n
\n \"Young
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\n Young Kaiden supporting dad Tom Learoyd-Lahrs in All Stars.
\n \u00a9Supplied
\n
\n <\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s definitely a pretty special feeling, it’s obviously something I wanted to do as a young fella, coming and watching my old boy playing it; it\u2019s pretty exciting,\u201d Lahrs said of becoming only the second father-son duo to play All Stars. Jayden Campbell and his pioneering father Preston Campbell were the first last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cDefinitely, that’s been something that’s been pretty cool, getting the opportunity to play in the side that Dad played in.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s something I don\u2019t take lightly.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe old boy, in his own way, I can tell he’s pretty pumped, pretty excited.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust ringing up, texting me, seeing how the camp’s going.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe just loves knowing how I’m going, how I’m feeling.<\/p>\n

\u201cGetting ready for the games, he is sort of letting you do your own thing, but he is just a proud dad definitely.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n
\n
\n \"Jersey
\n
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\n Jersey presentation.
\n \u00a9NRL Images
\n
\n <\/p>\n

For proud Kamilaroi \/ Bundjalung man Lahrs, it has been made even more special by the fact his is making his debut in a team that features Jack Wighton, a former team-mate of his dad.<\/p>\n

Wighton, named in the centres, will continue his reign as the most-capped Indigenous men\u2019s player, running out for his ninth appearance. Forward Josh Kerr is just behind him with eight.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know they played in Canberra together, so obviously, that’s a pretty special moment,\u201d Lahrs said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve known Jack for years and grew up idolising him and I get to go out there and actually take the field with him, so it’s a pretty special moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cLooking forward to going out there and play beside him.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n
\n
\n \"Jack
\n
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\n Jack Wighton in All Stars camp.
\n \u00a9Anthony Kourembanas \/ NRL Images
\n
\n <\/p>\n

Culturally, Lahrs said the camp was helping him build on the knowledge base that had been instilled in him by his grandmother. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cLearning more and more as the years go on, Nan is probably a big driving factor of learning new culture,\u201d Lahrs said.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe made sure me and my cousins at a young age knew who we were and where we came from, which was pretty special feeling.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, I am not the darkest blackfella, but I’m definitely proud to be a blackfella.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe shake-a-leg, I am not the best at it but having a go.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat’s what a lot of the other boys are saying \u2026 you’re going to look silly if you don’t go out there and have a go.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I’m getting better at it anyway. I’m not going to lie, I’ve been trying to do a bit more practice.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n
\n
\n \"Indigenous
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\n Indigenous All Stars captain’s run.
\n \u00a9Anthony Kourambanas \/ NRL Images
\n
\n <\/p>\n

Lahrs made his NRL debut for the Cowboys in Round 15 last year, going on to play seven games and was hoping to use this match and camp experience to grow his football knowledge as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it’s definitely a good opportunity for everyone, especially young fellas that haven’t had as many games as the other older fellas,\u201d Lahrs said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s definitely a good opportunity for some of us to go out there and show what we’re made of.<\/p>\n


\n
\n
\n \"Kaiden
\n
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\n Kaiden Lahrs at All Stars training.
\n \u00a9Anthony Kourambanas \/ NRL Images
\n
\n <\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve already learned so much.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve only been in the camp for less than a week and I feel like I’m learning so much, especially from Big Shaq [Shaquai Mitchell] and Kerry [Josh Kerr], older fellas that have played the game, they know how to play it the right way.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust trying to be a sponge and just ask questions and I think I’ve been annoying a few of them, but I just want to ask questions and learn and improve.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey’re definitely, the leaders of the group.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have something to say, tell the, all the boys sit there, listen and actually take what they have to say on board, just cos, yeah, they’ve been there, they’ve done it.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the best players in the comp, so you’d be mad not to take their advice on board.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After watching his father Tom Learoyd-Lahrs step up in the All Stars arena for the Indigenous side, Kaiden…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":480263,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-480262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480262","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=480262"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480262\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/480263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=480262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=480262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=480262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}