Mt Isa kids come to John Doyle’s gym desperate for direction

They come to his gym hungry, dehydrated, malnourished or high, but former NRL player John Doyle is determined to help Mt Isa’s youth find a way out of their disadvantage.

Some might think former NRL player John Doyle’s time is wasted trying to get through to teenage criminals, but he sees it as giving them a chance they’ve never had before.

Doyle runs a health and fitness program out of his gym, Three Sons Fitness, in the CBD of Mount Isa and has kids lined up at his door before he’s even open.

They’re from all walks of life, some repeat offenders, some on the cusp of crime, but they’re all in his gym for one reason, to feel a part of something.

“I try to use health and fitness as a vehicle to get these kids to be more conscious of how they feel, what they can’t achieve and what they can achieve.

“There’s a lot of kids who haven’t been told they can actually do something amazing. They can do things, so I try to show them that there’s people that have come from similar backgrounds, or worse, and have gone on to achieve some amazing things.”

Some kids come to him hungry, dehydrated, malnourished and “running off fumes”.

John Doyle in his Mount Isa gym, youth crime in Mount Isa. Picture: Liam Kidston

He gives them a safe space to talk, exercise, and finds most are receptive.

“A lot of these kids come from broken homes and... have never been they will amount to anything. You show them a bit of love and a lot of care and a lot of attention, amazing things happen.”

Doyle has already seen success, with multiple boys signed with NRL academies or feeder clubs with athleticism he says is “freakish”.

He doesn’t see himself as a role model, instead just someone who the children can turn to if they need help.

“A lot of these kids ideas of success is different than ours. There’s no role models. There’s no nothing.”

Doyle, an Indigenous man man with a Kalkadoon wife and children, says there was more than just a disconnect between juvenile offenders, who are largely indigenous, and their culture.

“It’s more a disrespect. Some from other areas are coming and desecrating our land by their behaviours.

“I just wish more people would take them out (to country) and let them experience it, go and show them that.”