As Rory and Dingo arrive to help Mali get out of trouble, Home and Away is set to welcome the River Boys back to Summer Bay.
In this week’s Australian episodes, Mali (Kyle Shilling) calls his old friend Dean (Patrick O’Connor) for assistance because he and his brother Iluka (Dion Williams) are currently in serious trouble with the Allen gang. This leads to the River Boys returning to Summer Bay.
Home and Away’s narratives were dominated by The River Boys, a local criminal gang from Mangrove River, for nearly six years, from 2011 to 2016.
Darryl “Brax” Braxton led the group when they first arrived in slumbering Summer Bay, with the help of his three brothers, Heath, Casey, and Kyle.
The infamous Mangrove River gang was easy to spot thanks to their love of being shirtless and their characteristic “Blood and Sand” tattoos. With their violent antics frequently spilling onto the Summer Bay sands, their storylines gave the show a darker edge.
With the passing of the years, their numbers decreased, Heath being the last of the brothers to depart.
After following his wife Bianca (Lisa Gormley) back to the Bay, he made a comeback in 2017. When she learned that Heath had killed Gunno, a criminal who had previously abducted Casey and attempted to kill Brax, she sought safety at Irene’s (Lynne McGranger) home.
After their eventual reconciliation, the two returned to the city, ending the River Boys’ dominance of the Home and Away narratives.
That is, until February 2018, when Dean Thompson showed up.
After the Braxtons’ deaths, Dean took over as the group’s leader. Ash (George Mason), who was searching for an escaped Robbo Shaw (Jake Ryan), called the group back to Summer Bay.
Ash was vengeful, believing Robbo was to blame for the deaths of his own unborn son and Kat Chapman (Pia Miller) in a car accident.
Ash pursued Robbo up to the lighthouse when the gang eventually located him, and the boys used this time to hold up the police.
Dean was taken aback when former River Boy Colby Thorne (Tim Franklin), another newcomer to the force, pinned him to the ground.
After a while, Dean moved on from his River Boy days and lived a more laid-back lifestyle in Summer Bay. He eventually took up running Ben’s Boards and moved in with Ziggy (Sophie Dillman).
But Dean never completely moved on from his River Boy past, and the gang came back several times to bail Dean and his friends out of tight spots.
Heath made a fleeting appearance in the 2021 Season Return, assisting Ari (Rob Kipa-Williams) and Tane (Ethan Browne) in resolving a confrontation between Paul (Jack Finsterer) and Leon (Will McNeill), two men who were causing fear among the Parata brothers.
Tane (Ethan Browne) participated in a job for Paul that went wrong, which is when the trouble began. Tane was left to dispose of a van full of pilfered items, some of which, he had no idea, also contained drugs concealed in the panels.
Ari and Tane were left in debt to Paul and Leon after Ziggy and Willow (Sarah Roberts) made the unfortunate decision to sell the van.
In order to repay them, they were compelled to conduct an armed robbery; however, on the day of the robbery, Dean did the Paratas a favor by offering the River Boys as assistance.
Heath and his River Boy heavies ambushed Ari, Tane, Paul, and Leon as they arrived at a local leagues club to carry out the robbery.
Putting Paul and Leon through a rough ride in their utes, the group hoped this would scare them away from ever chasing the Paratas again.
When Dean’s sister Mackenzie (Emily Weir) ran an illicit poker night and ended up in debt to PK King (Ryan Johnson), another group of River Boys made a brief reappearance in 2022.
To warn him off Mac, Dean and a few River Boys abducted PK, but when PK turned up dead, there was cause for serious concern.
Ziggy provided Dean with a false alibi, but the police were able to uncover it. When Dean later turned to the River Boys once more to keep her in the dark and trap the real killer—another poker player named Nathan (Ryan Panizza)—she became enraged.
She took a few days off to think about their relationship, but after Dean told her that he would always be a River Boy, she finally decided to stay with him.
The next chapter of the River Boy story came to an end with Dean’s departure in 2023, but this week will see the story pick up as Mali (Kyle Shilling) tries to find a way to help his brother Iluka get out of trouble.
The Allen siblings arrived in Summer Bay during last week’s Australian episode of Home and Away. The Allen family, who are a bunch of small-time criminals from Mantaray Point, Iluka’s hometown in Mali, are led by their ringleader Nat (Claire Lovering).
After stealing $8,000 from them and leaving town, Nat and her brothers Campbell (John Harding) and Gordie (Brandon McClelland) came looking for Iluka.
Mali’s brother Iluka surprised everyone this month by showing up in Summer Bay. He told Mali at first that he was only there to catch up, but it was soon obvious that he was running away and in big trouble.
After they trashed the farmhouse and left Levi (Tristan Gorey) for dead after he attempted to tackle one of the male siblings, the siblings took Iluka away at the end of the week.
Since Iluka is still missing as of this week, Mali makes the decision to contact his old friend Dean and request assistance in rescuing him from the Allen siblings’ clutches.
After a severe beating, Iluka is eventually brought back, and Mali resolves to exact revenge.
According to Kyle, Mali is only concerned with protecting his family, as reported by TV Week in Australia. He wishes to convey that they are not taking the matter lightly. He will stop at nothing to support his brother.
In a recent teaser for a week of intense episodes, he arrives in a truck with two heavyweights, and Gordie, Nat, and Campbell are arranged in front of their ute.
Then, Rory (Joshua Orpin) and Dingo (JK Kazzi), the newest River Boys of Home and Away, appear for the first time.
Dingo is on his left in a checkered shirt, and Rory is to his right in a black vest top as Mali advances.
Kyle continues, “Mali has truly reached his breaking point.” He’s about to turn red in the face. Nobody can truly predict the depths to which someone will go when experiencing intense rage.
Soon after, Mali and his hired assistance are fighting with the Allens, but their altercation is interrupted when Rose (Kirsty Marillier) shows up. Rose is clearly not impressed with her boyfriend taking the law into his own hands.
Earlier this year, Australia’s Daily Telegraph revealed that Joshua, best known for portraying Conner Kent, aka Superboy, in the second series of DC Comics’ Titans, had joined the cast. This news heralded the arrival of a new bad boy character.
Joshua told the publication, “I can say he is a bit of a bad boy who comes into the show and stirs up some trouble among the Summer Bay locals.” “On the surface, he seems like one thing, but I’ve had a lot of fun discovering his great depth.”
The promotional image for Joshua’s character, who is now officially named Rory, resembled the one used for Dean’s 2018 debut quite a bit, which led many to believe that he would be a River Boy.
Although Joshua didn’t have any tattoos in the promotional photo, the teaser shows that his character does, in fact, have one on his left shoulder.
Given the River Boys’ penchant for toplessly parading around the bay, we anticipate Rory’s renowned “Blood and Sand” chest tattoo to be revealed soon as well.
Rory is anticipated to stay for a short while, but Dingo is thought to be a transient guest character.
Is Summer Bay going to see any more mischief from the newest River Boy?
