Narelle Mason, the Dubbo-based cousin of murdered Manly footballer Kane Mason, took the long drive to Goodooga yesterday to help her family prepare for the funeral.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Expecting Goodooga's population of 400 to double in size for the funeral, Ms Mason headed out early to support his grieving parents, her aunt and uncle Les and Denese Mason.
"Kane and I were more like brother and sister than cousins," Ms Mason said.
"His father and my father are brothers and our mothers are sisters."
The cousins grew up together at Goodooga before moving to Dubbo about 10 years ago.
"My parents moved to Dubbo to improve our education and employment opportunities," Ms Mason, a nurse at Dubbo Base Hospital said.
"Kane came with us and we went to school together at Dubbo High.
"He played Astley Cup for Dubbo and made it into the Group (11) side with his mate Jai Dunn.
"They both went Penrith together but Kane left after Jai was killed in a car accident.
"He went to France for six months but missed his family too much so he cut short his contract and came home."
It was after his return from France that the talented young footballer was offered a contract with NRL club Manly.
"He'd always loved Manly since he was a little kid," Ms Mason said.
It was while on leave from the club almost two weeks ago that he was gunned down with team-mate Darren Ward on a quiet street in the north coast village of Macksville.
Mr Ward survived the attack receiving about 30 pellet wounds from a sawn-off shotgun.
Mr Mason died at the scene having been shot in the chest from less than a metre away.
Kane Mason's funeral will be held at Goodooga Catholic Church at noon tomorrow.
Camping accommodation is available by calling the Goodoga school on 6829 6257.
