Pair of Harvey dynamos' eastern odyssey sees them smash the carriage driving competition
In September, Sandy Elliot and Jenny Brett embarked on a six-month long journey to Sydney to compete in a plethora of competitions, coming home with a swag of medals.
The pair competed in two levels of combined driving with a carriage, with the experienced Mrs Elliot competing in the top cut of the competition.
Across 11 competitions, the pair were in fine fettle, with Mrs Brett and her pony Banjo taking home second place in most of her challenges while Mrs Elliot and her pony James were victorious in all but one competition.
The massive trip was a long-time plan of Mrs Elliot, who was keen to test herself against Australia's in a series of events.
'I've won in WA for the last 15 years and I've won nationals over east, but I've not put a string of events together, so I decided to go and give it a go,' she said.
'We're a bit sheltered in WA, so for me, I wanted to go over and see if I could do it. If I'm in the top three of events, I'll be rapt.
'But he (James) was winning his events everywhere, the last one we only lost by less than a point.'
For Mrs Brett, the adventure was just as successful with Banjo a trailblazer in the competitions.
'The cones and the marathon, which is speed orientated, that's what he flourishes in — he loves it,' she said.
'We were told, if we can get Banjo's dressage correct, no one will be able to touch him, no one will be able to beat him because he's so fast.
'He's actually faster doing the cones and the marathon than my brain — I can't keep up with him mentally.'
The highlight was the Battle of the Border competition — a major event with competitors attending from throughout Australia.
Winning the competition was the pinnacle of the trip for Mrs Elliot, and coming second in her own division was another major achievement for Mrs Brett.
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While that honour ultimately eluded him, Lane hangs up his boots satisfied with what he has achieved. 'I'm pretty happy with how it all worked out,' said Lane, who has retired despite being contracted until the end of 2026. 'As a kid you dream of just being able to play one game in the NRL, and I managed almost 200. 'I've definitely no complaints there. I've got plenty of good memories I can carry for all my life.' Some footballers struggle to make the transition into life after football. Lane has been preparing for that moment for years. Already armed with a bachelor of health sciences degree and a graduate diploma in psychology, he and brother Brett have just opened Pro Era Performance, a firm that focuses on psychological and physical wellbeing for athletes. The 30-year-old also remains involved with the Eels, mentoring the elite pathways and NRLW athletes in the areas of mental skills and wellness. With all that to look forward to, it was a struggle for Lane to remain hungry during the final stages of his footballing career. 'In terms of losing motivation, I felt football was getting in the way of me doing other things in my life that I actually enjoyed more,' he said. 'I wouldn't say I was depressed or anything like that, but there are times when things happen in your career when you are down, you realise you have these unhelpful thought patterns … 'As with most people who decide to walk away from the game, they all confirm it's the same thing; you're completely run down, you lose motivation to want to perform every week. 'Your body doesn't recover in time for games every week any more. You roll up to game day and you're still sore from the previous week and think, 'How am I going to get through this?' 'Then you see your performances start dropping off. The expectations you put on yourself and hunger to succeed starts working against you. 'Suddenly it becomes deep frustration and a source of anxiety. You know you can't live up to that any more because physically you're just not up to it.' In a bid to assist others, Lane is open about his own mental health struggles. Last year he launched a documentary, Out of My Lane. In it, Lane spoke about the moment he overheard his father Jeff, who suffered from a major depressive order for most of his life, talking on the phone about wanting to end his own life. 'If you look at the statistics around depression, it's one in four people, and less for men, who have experienced an actual bout of depression in their life,' he said. Loading 'It's really serious stuff. The fact that I'm opening up and talking about it, as someone who is a role model and professional athlete that young men in particular look up to, hopefully I'm giving them validation that what they've gone through is ok and a safe thing to talk about. 'They won't be scrutinised for opening up about their own challenges. That's the first step in reaching out and getting some help to get on top of the things you need to. 'And for people not going through things, it's a common thing that other people are going through. If you're out there ragging off 10 different blokes a week, one of them is probably going through something difficult in their life at that time. It's not a hard thing to be kind to someone.'
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While that honour ultimately eluded him, Lane hangs up his boots satisfied with what he has achieved. 'I'm pretty happy with how it all worked out,' said Lane, who has retired despite being contracted until the end of 2026. 'As a kid you dream of just being able to play one game in the NRL, and I managed almost 200. 'I've definitely no complaints there. I've got plenty of good memories I can carry for all my life.' Some footballers struggle to make the transition into life after football. Lane has been preparing for that moment for years. Already armed with a bachelor of health sciences degree and a graduate diploma in psychology, he and brother Brett have just opened Pro Era Performance, a firm that focuses on psychological and physical wellbeing for athletes. The 30-year-old also remains involved with the Eels, mentoring the elite pathways and NRLW athletes in the areas of mental skills and wellness. With all that to look forward to, it was a struggle for Lane to remain hungry during the final stages of his footballing career. 'In terms of losing motivation, I felt football was getting in the way of me doing other things in my life that I actually enjoyed more,' he said. 'I wouldn't say I was depressed or anything like that, but there are times when things happen in your career when you are down, you realise you have these unhelpful thought patterns … 'As with most people who decide to walk away from the game, they all confirm it's the same thing; you're completely run down, you lose motivation to want to perform every week. 'Your body doesn't recover in time for games every week any more. You roll up to game day and you're still sore from the previous week and think, 'How am I going to get through this?' 'Then you see your performances start dropping off. The expectations you put on yourself and hunger to succeed starts working against you. 'Suddenly it becomes deep frustration and a source of anxiety. You know you can't live up to that any more because physically you're just not up to it.' In a bid to assist others, Lane is open about his own mental health struggles. Last year he launched a documentary, Out of My Lane. In it, Lane spoke about the moment he overheard his father Jeff, who suffered from a major depressive order for most of his life, talking on the phone about wanting to end his own life. 'If you look at the statistics around depression, it's one in four people, and less for men, who have experienced an actual bout of depression in their life,' he said. Loading 'It's really serious stuff. The fact that I'm opening up and talking about it, as someone who is a role model and professional athlete that young men in particular look up to, hopefully I'm giving them validation that what they've gone through is ok and a safe thing to talk about. 'They won't be scrutinised for opening up about their own challenges. That's the first step in reaching out and getting some help to get on top of the things you need to. 'And for people not going through things, it's a common thing that other people are going through. If you're out there ragging off 10 different blokes a week, one of them is probably going through something difficult in their life at that time. It's not a hard thing to be kind to someone.'
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Pair of Harvey dynamos' eastern odyssey sees them smash the carriage driving competition
A pair of Harvey dynamos have recently returned from an eastern odyssey where they took part in a carriage driving competition. In September, Sandy Elliot and Jenny Brett embarked on a six-month long journey to Sydney to compete in a plethora of competitions, coming home with a swag of medals. The pair competed in two levels of combined driving with a carriage, with the experienced Mrs Elliot competing in the top cut of the competition. Across 11 competitions, the pair were in fine fettle, with Mrs Brett and her pony Banjo taking home second place in most of her challenges while Mrs Elliot and her pony James were victorious in all but one competition. The massive trip was a long-time plan of Mrs Elliot, who was keen to test herself against Australia's in a series of events. 'I've won in WA for the last 15 years and I've won nationals over east, but I've not put a string of events together, so I decided to go and give it a go,' she said. 'We're a bit sheltered in WA, so for me, I wanted to go over and see if I could do it. If I'm in the top three of events, I'll be rapt. 'But he (James) was winning his events everywhere, the last one we only lost by less than a point.' For Mrs Brett, the adventure was just as successful with Banjo a trailblazer in the competitions. 'The cones and the marathon, which is speed orientated, that's what he flourishes in — he loves it,' she said. 'We were told, if we can get Banjo's dressage correct, no one will be able to touch him, no one will be able to beat him because he's so fast. 'He's actually faster doing the cones and the marathon than my brain — I can't keep up with him mentally.' The highlight was the Battle of the Border competition — a major event with competitors attending from throughout Australia. Winning the competition was the pinnacle of the trip for Mrs Elliot, and coming second in her own division was another major achievement for Mrs Brett.
