Doug’s dad gets Doug boxing lessons at Paddy Hubon’s gym in his early teens and Doug becomes a boxing fan. Doug joins the WA Band of Hope and the WA Temperance League, Doug becomes a lifelong non-drinker (apart from a few mishaps he tells later in his story). The League had a large role to play in junior football in the state. Doug continues his ties to the League when he moves to Coolgardie and he leads the Cobbers Club there.