'Always been a mumma's boy': Gungahlin Eagles star Jamie Mazzarol-Kotz and his try-scoring celebration

He knows where to look when he scores a try, but the Gungahlin Eagles winger isn't doing it to brag or showboat.

Mazzarol-Kotz is doing it for his mum Rebecca Kotz, and his nan Bev Mazzarol. Every time he crosses the line, he picks out the camera streaming the game live and holds his hands in the shape of an 'M' for mum, and then an 'N' for nan.

Rebecca was diagnosed with colon cancer in July 2016. Then came Bev's cancer diagnosis last year.

There was a time the family thought Rebecca had gone into remission before cancer "came back with a bit of a vengeance". But the thing about mum is, she's a fighter.

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So as she prepares to start a round of radiation, she'll be watching from her home in Rosewood in Queensland.

She'll be tuned into a live stream when Mazzarol-Kotz and the Eagles take on the Tuggeranong Vikings at Nicholls Enclosed Oval on Saturday, hoping her boy gets over the line.

Because now she knows what's coming. But the first time she tuned into a stream with Bev by her side last year? Her son had kept that one a surprise.

"I just said 'watch closely, if I score a try there will be a bit of a surprise'. I got the call after the game, mum and nan were in tears, they loved it," Mazzarol-Kotz smiled.

"I've always been a mumma's boy. I've got her name and favourite flower on my forearm.

"The time I spend with my mum has always been special, even more so now when I can really take it in and enjoy it for what it is."

Mazzarol-Kotz has scored five tries this season, but the story of celebration was an unknown until the past fortnight.

The university student, who bounced from working as a sparky to the ACT Brumbies' wider squad, wasn't doing it for praise. None of those boys really knew what the 'M' and 'N' were for.

"It wasn't until the other week where one of our strappers and old boys asked and I told him," Mazzarol-Kotz said.

"He asked if it was alright if they made a [social media] post and everyone could try to do that for Mother's Day round. It meant a lot, especially to mum, when I sent her all the posts on the Eagles page and all the photos that were taken of the boys throwing up the 'M'.

"That meant massive things to her. It just showed that even though Eagles sometimes have a rough reputation for players, it is very much so a family club.

"Family is everything to everyone. That's right across the board, the whole John I Dent Cup can relate to that, everyone loves their mum.

"Big boys can try to save face as much as you want, but everyone loves their mum."

The challenge of bringing down the ladder-leading Vikings looms as no mean feat for Mazzarol-Kotz and the fourth-placed Eagles, who are still finding their groove following the departures of Matt Giteau and James Dargaville.

"It just means some other boys have to step up. We've got a pretty young team," Mazzarol-Kotz said.

"I'm considered one of the old boys now and I'm only 24. It's a bit ridiculous but it also comes with the territory."

An old boy at the club, sure, but always a mumma's boy at heart.

JOHN I DENT CUP ROUND FIVE

Saturday, May 22: Queanbeyan Whites v Canberra Royals at Campese Field, 3.05pm; Gungahlin Eagles v Tuggeranong Vikings at Nicholls Enclosed Oval, 3.05pm; Uni-Norths Owls v Wests Lions at ANU North Oval, 3.05pm.

ACT Women's Premier XVs: Goulburn v Tuggeranong Vikings at Simon Poidevin Rugby Park, 1.40pm; Queanbeyan Whites v Canberra Royals at Campese Field, 4.45pm.

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