Tim Buchanan will take memory of good mate Halley Appleby to Perth for his Reds debut

THREE years after Halley Appleby died playing the game he loved, his memory will be carried powerfully into a Reds debut by his mate Tim Buchanan.

Tim Buchanan (right) at Reds training. Pic Darren England.

THREE years after Halley Appleby died playing the game he loved, his memory will be carried powerfully into a Reds debut by his University pack mate Tim Buchanan.

Just as he’s done since that awful day in 2011, Buchanan will look down at the sky-blue and ­maroon “Halley bands” on his wrist before warm-ups against the Western Force on Saturday night.

It is not just the name “Halley” that stirs something inside him but the inscription “live every day as if it were your last’’.

Buchanan was Uni captain in 2011 when hooker Appleby died in a freak accident from head and neck injuries in a legitimate front-on tackle.

But for that life-changing moment, 26-year-old Buchanan admitted on Thursday he would have headed overseas to play rugby or pursue his masters degree in business management and marketing.

Instead, the son of former Australian cricket coach John Buchanan kept playing club rugby for University.

He kept tapping on a selection door that showed no sign of opening at the Reds until Thursday.

“Sticking at it is probably the thing that I got from Hal,” Buchanan said after being named as one of four possible debutants on the bench.

Tim Buchanan jumps for a ball at Reds training.

Buchanan is sure his mate will understand him not attending the fourth Halley Appleby Ball on Saturday night at Brisbane’s Sofitel Hotel, where the Uni figure’s legacy will be celebrated.

“I’m sure Hal will understand me missing it this one time,’’ said Buchanan, who is backrow back-up for Perth.

“His dream was always to play at the highest level. He can’t but he’ll be part of this with me in Perth. I look down at my bands on every game-day before the wrist tape goes over them.

“What happened to Hal is ­cemented in my mind forever.

“It showed us rugby is just a game but every game is a great opportunity and nothing should be taken for granted.’’

Buchanan is the rarest of modern rugby players, a 109kg forward who has learnt his trade in more than 90 club games before getting the nod.

Buchanan wins his shot just a month after his fast bowling brother Nick, 23, earned a Brisbane Heat contract for next summer’s Big Bash.

Backyard games as kids with older brother Michael came with a tax of shattered windows, broken timber blinds and clever cover-ups.

“The trick was always to hide the damage or get the glass ­repairer around so everything was paid for and clear in time,” Nick said.

Originally published as Tim Buchanan will take memory of good mate Halley Appleby to Perth for his Reds debut