'Lagau garkazil': The words driving Roxin Eagles' influence on Dauan Island

Eight 'marine hours' from the mainland on a good day, 2284 kilometres or so from The Cauldron - no matter way you look at it, Dauan Island is some distance even to their closest competition.

But boy do they live and breathe rugby league. It's in their blood, their DNA.

And the local club Roxin Eagles is making sure every footy experience they have is a valuable one for their community, with a number of small gestures aimed at delivering big results in the long run.

Put aside their talent - the seniors pipped in the Island of Origin final on Badu Island last year - their main goal is to make sure the club established in 1988 gives the community a bright future in health and harmony and develops strong community men - 'lagau garkazil'.

Roxin Eagles manager and local councillor on Torres Strait Island Regional Council Torenzo Elisala said it was impressive to see everyone at the club taking on that responsibility, especially with the kids.

"At the moment we've organised with the school and we go down every second Friday and just run basic drills with them, passing the ball, line runs, playing the ball, just the one-percenters that we do down at training, just sharing with the kids," Elisala said.

"We even get them down when we have our training sessions participating in our drills and that.

"If we invest now, we'll see bigger things into the future."

The efforts with these children are in addition to members of the team supporting the elderly members of the community and tidying the cemetery, generating pride in the island.

"It was about how to get everyone together... and have the players have the opportunity to give back to community, so it's about the community engagement and participation in activities, getting everyone together besides boys training Monday to Saturday," Elisala said.

You read that correctly - they train six days a week even though they don't play many more than six games in a year.

"The approach is to get sponsors and people to jump on board our campaign and to invest into grassroots footy," Elisala said.

"The key thing is how we can expose the younger guys and it's about building that good environment where they can thrive... and they can feel proud about themselves, their culture and their community.

"Our motto is it's about much more than footy, it's about family, it's about identity and it's about community at the end of the day, and that's what rugby league has done for my community and for me as a leader, that's where I get my inspiration, from guys like (Nelson) Mandela, who built a nation through rugby union.

"Rugby league is the No.1 sport in the straits, so I think that's why everyone has jumped on board and taken responsibility."

The long-term goal is to have backers on board to assist more players to participate in the Zenadth Kes senior competition.

This year there's two big tangible targets - going one better in the Island of Origin in June, and a big trip to Cairns.

"This year we're trying to improve on last year, going back to the Island of Origin carnival on a bit of a revenge tour, given we fell short in grand final last year, so we're targeting Island of Origin again and also the Gordonvale Indigenous Carnival in October," Elisala said.