Home and Away begins the River Boys’ huge return storyline

Home and Away

Home and Away begins the River Boys’ huge return storyline

Home and Away has teased the return of the River Boys in its latest Australian episode, as a new street car racing storyline begins.

In tonight’s episode, Rose (Kirsty Marillier) told Cash (Nicholas Cartwright) that she had received numerous noise complaints from residents of Mangrove River, informing her that the infamous River Boys gang had expanded their activities into street car racing.

Cash didn’t seem too surprised, pointing out that “with Mangrove River station closed, there’s nobody monitoring the boys.”

The closure of Mangrove River’s police station means that the infamous gang have become a problem for Yabbie Creek Police, and Senior Constable Rose has been left to deal with the mess.

Mangrove River station closed last year, after countless attacks by the River Boys

Cash was briefly taken aback when Rose pondered if she could talk him into heading to Mangrove River and checking out the situation himself, but she quickly clarified that she was joking.

“With your history with the boys, it’s best not to inflame things,” she added with a smile, leaving Cash wondering what had put her in such a cheery mood.

Cash was caught up in last year’s big River Boy drama, when he was transferred to Mangrove River Police Station and experienced first-hand the hold that the surf gang had over the town.

He was shocked to discover that his sister Felicity’s (Jacqui Purvis) new boyfriend Rory Templeton (Joshua Orpin) was in fact the gang’s current leader.

In the end, Rory confessed that he was actually the one responsible for McGrath’s death, and was carted off. However, while their latest leader may be behind bars, the gang are still going strong.

Late last year, it was revealed that the whole of Mangrove River’s police force had been disbanded and redeployed elsewhere, as the town lost its battle with the gang and their constant attacks on their station.

Now, we’re about to see the gang make their return to Summer Bay.

The coming weeks will see the arrival of Lacey, played by Sophea Pennington, who is set to be Summer Bay’s newest River Girl.

Jeremy Greive

Lacey has been described as a “wild child” who will make “quite the entrance” when she arrives in Summer Bay in March.

A publicly-available audition tape for Lacey revealed that her character would be involved in organising a race day, confirming that Rose’s throwaway comments were setting up a big new storyline for the gang.

The dialogue from the tape sees Lacey talking to a ‘bad boy’ character who is planning a race day, but who runs into difficulties when one of the co-organisers lands himself in trouble after punching a cop.

Lacey then offers her skills to take over running the day:

Other character: Miss me?

Lacey: About time, I was starting to think that they weren’t going to let you out.

Other character: The grubs had nothing on me.

Lacey: What are you talking about? You were in the middle of a brawl when they showed up.

Other character: No, I was watching a brawl, there’s a big difference.

Lacey: And the cops bought that?

Other character: Well I’m here, aren’t I? Anyway, did the new shipment of parts come in?

Lacey: How am I supposed to know, I’m not your secretary … Yeah, I think they’re at the back.

Other character: There we go, that wasn’t so hard, was it?

Lacey: Will you at least tell me what happened to Mouse?

Other character: Genius punched a cop. He’s headed for prison. He can rot in there for all I care.

Lacey: What? I thought you guys were mates.

Other character: Well, I’ve got plenty of mates. What I don’t have now is a driver and we’ve got a race on tomorrow.

Lacey: Surely one of the boys could fill in?

Other character: They’re useless. Mouse was a moron but at least he knew how to drive.

Lacey: Well why don’t you do it?

Other character: Because someone has to run the day. Who’s gonna do that when I’m busy racing? You?

Lacey: Why not me? What, you don’t think I could? Well?

Other character: Yeah, I reckon you could for sure.

Lacey: Good answer.

Speaking to Perth Now, Sophea said: “I’m so thrilled to be joining such an iconic show. It has truly been the most exciting experience, joining the incredible team of cast and crew.”

“Landing this role has been a dream come true, and I cannot wait for what’s to come.”

The fact that the River Boys have found a new hobby in street car racing looks like it’ll come at the perfect time for Theo (Matt Evans).

Theo is currently in the middle of doing up an old car, an idea which came to him when he and Justin (James Stewart) were brainstorming ideas for new hobbies now that Lyrik have disbanded.

Much to Justin and Leah’s (Ada Nicodemou) disapproval, he also took out a $20,000 loan to fund the transformation.

While Justin has been encouraging Theo to buy legitimate parts for his new project, new arrival Sonny (Ryan Bown) encouraged him to shop around for cheaper parts online, much to Justin’s frustration.

It looks like Theo’s search for cheap parts may be what leads him to the River Boys.

Sonny is Remi’s childhood friend, and Home and Away’s newest arrival

When Lacey makes her debut next month, she quickly catches Theo’s attention. A clip on Channel 7’s The Morning Show previewed her first scenes, as Theo rocks up at what appears to be the River Boys’ newest compound, presumably picking up some parts he’s found advertised online.

“What are you staring at, weirdo?” Lacey asks, as she polishes the bonnet of her car.

“Your car,” Theo clarifies. “Sweet ride! You don’t see many of those around these days.”

“Do you even know what you’re looking at?” she asks, to which Theo quickly replies that it’s a Falcon XY: “I wanna say 1972.”

“I doubt you could handle what’s underneath here,” Lacey flirts.

“Wouldn’t stop me from trying.”

Sophea told The Morning Show that Theo and her character Lacey have an instant connection, suggesting that there may be romance in store for the pair.

Yet it won’t be long until the gang gets on the wrong side of the law once again, and this time Theo looks to get himself caught up.

Late last year, fan Ashton Richardson witnessed the filming of a dramatic scene in which Cash and his colleagues arrived to arrest a number of the River Boys.

The scenes appeared to show Cash and his colleagues swooping on the gang, making numerous arrests as they bundled the members into police cars.

Among the new River Boy cast was believed to be actor Tom Wilson, who previously starred as Ryder’s friend Blake Gollan in 2019.

Cash was seen bundling the handcuffed character into the back of his police car before dealing with the rest of the boys.

Theo appeared to be caught up in proceedings – what trouble will his and Lacey’s new friendship land him in?

Home and Away has also teased the return of the River Boys’ former leader Dean (Patrick O’Connor) and his girlfriend Ziggy (Sophie Dillman), though it’s not yet clear how their return connects to the latest River Boys story.

© Jeremy Greive

A very brief promo aired during last Thursday’s episode, and was later posted to the show’s social media channels.

While our reunion with Dean and Ziggy will take place in far north Queensland, where the pair moved back in 2023 to be closer to Dean’s son Jai (River Jarvis), Patrick O’Connor previously suggested that their return would involve the River Boys.

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph Confidential, he revealed: “There’s a bit of River Boy action, there’s a bit of road trips with them.”

However, with Dean and Ziggy not believed to be making a return to Summer Bay, it’s not yet clear how their return will tie into the latest chapter of the River Boys’ story.

Dean arrived as leader of the River Boys back in 2018

Today’s episode also progressed Rose’s departure from Summer Bay, just weeks after her brother Xander (Luke Van Os) left for good.

Xander’s decision to remain in Melbourne after his work placement came to an end initially upset Rose, as the pair of them had made the move to Summer Bay together back in 2022.

However, she eventually saw her brother’s departure as an opportunity, and she revealed to ex-boyfriend Mali (Kyle Shilling) that she’d decided to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a detective.

In today’s episode, she told Cash that she’d finally applied for the ‘Advanced Diploma of Police Investigations’, the first step to landing her dream role.

“It’s exactly what I need right now. A change, to move to the city, to try something new,” she explained.

In the final moments of the episode, as she sat in Salt, she let out a cheer after reading something on her laptop screen.

Has she secured a place on her course?

Kirsty Marillier filmed her final scenes late last year. Her exit scene saw her preparing to drive out of Summer Bay for the final time, before Irene (Lynne McGranger), Kirby (Angelina Thomson) and Bree (Juliet Godwin) ran in front of her car and forced her to stop.

After Rose stepped out of the car, Irene could be heard saying, “There you go, love,” as she handed over a leaving gift.

Kirby shouts “Go get ’em, Detective!” prompting cheers from the others.

Belinda Sinclair on Facebook

These scenes are expected to air in the coming weeks.

Home and Away has teased the return of the River Boys in its latest Australian episode, as a new street car racing storyline begins. In tonight’s episode, Rose (Kirsty Marillier) told Cash (Nicholas Cartwright) that she had received numerous noise complaints from residents of Mangrove River, informing her that the infamous River Boys gang had expanded…