Well Tony "Doc" Cardwell proved just why he is loved by so many in the community after he came to the aid of the Orange Tigers over the weekend.

The strapper with more than 40 years experience currently plies his trade for the Orange Hawks and Orange United. But when the emergency call came in from Tigers do-it-all star Kass Ings, Cardwell couldn't say no.

"They normally have one of those trainee physios help them out, but whoever it was couldn't make it on Saturday and Kass sussed it out and figured out I wasn't doing anything and called an SOS and I was too glad to help them out," he said.

"I hardly know anyone there apart from a few of the older ones and we get along great, but back in the day, especially in the 90s when Mark Burn was captain coach, it was like another family."

Cardwell first joined the Tigers back in 1982 and was the team strapper for 29 straight years.

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But when his beloved Hawks moved their regular games to Saturday, he wasn't able to do both and as a result, hadn't strapped for the Tigers since 2010.

And although firsts, seconds and women all went down to the Bathurst Bushrangers in the opening round of the Central West AFL season on Saturday in convincing fashion, Doc doesn't regret making the comeback for a one-off appearance.

"They were disappointing results but I had fun," he said.

"I just love being around footballers. It's my sought of interest that keeps me going.

"I'm 62 now and if I wasn't doing that I wouldn't be doing anything. I'd probably be drinking more and that's the very reason I took it up, to get me out of the pub for a while."

He's undergone training courses led by Dr Nathan Gibbs - former Australian Rugby League and Sydney Swans doctor - during his time and hopes he can pass along any knowledge he has to the future generation of strappers.

"The old bloke that got me into strapping said 'always ask' and so I get new players and I'd ask how their strapping was today or what did their previous strapper do and stuff like that," he said.

"We've had a few trainees at Hawks the last few years and they're fully trained physios now and they couldn't even strap an ankle when they started.

"I suppose from watching an experienced person do their craft and watching someone teach them at the physio course might be two different things."

Now the Hawks and Tigers life member will resume his regular rugby league duties for the rest of the season.

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