Field of dreams
"TWO marks, three disposals, one goal, one behind, Robbie's back!" That was Robbie Van Allen's reaction to his first game of masters Aussie rules.
The autistic 20-year-old is a man of few words but over the past few years he has really found his voice through sport.
Robbie played footy as a child but had to stop when it became too dangerous for him to play with the seniors.
He ran at a national level from the age of 15 before finding his way back to Aussie Rules just a few weeks ago.
"AFL has always been his passion," Robbie's Mum Pippa Wiles said.
"He likes running, he likes cricket, but he loves AFL."
Now Robbie is playing for Caboolture in the over-45s division and both he and his mum are ecstatic.
"Robbie just wants to play," she said.
"They've really embraced him and they look after him.
"You just can't wipe the smile off his face."
Cameron Thomsen, a fellow Caboolture player, used the exact same phrase to describe Robbie.
"We just love having him down there," he said.
"He catches the ball well, he can run like the wind and kicks straight as a die.
"He's welcome to play footy with us for another 25 years."
Robbie's autism means he finds many parts of day-to-day life harder than he otherwise might.
Sticking to a routine is particularly important. Even if he doesn't finish breakfast until 11.45am, lunch still has to be at 12 sharp.
But Pippa said a lot of his disability simply faded away when he took the field.
"He actually does sport a lot easier and a lot better than he does life," she said.
"For the level of disability he has, he does remarkably well.
"He has a sports brain and he does seem to be a team player, he will pass the ball on if there's an opportunity."
While Robbie can struggle with learning some things and his speech is very limited, he has an amazing capacity for learning any type of sport.
The first time he ever played soccer was an interschool match in high school and he scored two goals.
"He'd never played soccer before but he'd watched it," Pippa said.
"He somehow understood the offside rule and stuff.
"He's really found his niche in sport."
