The River Boys are a criminal gang from nearby Mangrove River, whose storylines dominated Home and Away for almost 6 years from 2011 until 2016.

The Braxton Brothers.

When the gang first arrived in sleepy Summer Bay, they were led by Darryl ‘Brax’ Braxton, and supported by his three brothers Heath, Casey and Kyle.

The notorious Mangrove River gang were easily identified, with their distinctive ‘Blood and Sand’ tattoos and love of being shirtless making them hard to miss. Their storylines saw the show take on a darker edge, with their violent activities often spilling onto the sands of Summer Bay.

Their numbers dwindled as the years went by, with Heath being the last of the brothers to leave.

He returned in 2017, having followed wife Bianca (Lisa Gormley) back the Bay. She’d taken refuge at Irene’s (Lynne McGranger) place after discovering that Heath had killed Gunno, a criminal who’d previously kidnapped Casey and tried to kill Brax.

The pair eventually patched things up, and they moved back to the city, bringing an end to the River Boys’ domination of Home and Away’s storylines.

That was until Dean Thompson arrived in February 2018.

Dean had become the new leader of the gang after the Braxtons’ demise, and they were summoned back to Summer Bay by Ash (George Mason), who was on the hunt for an on-the-run Robbo Shaw (Jake Ryan).

Ash blamed Robbo for the death of Kat Chapman (Pia Miller) and his own unborn son in a car accident, and was seeking revenge.

When the gang finally tracked down Robbo, Ash chased him up to the lighthouse whilst the boys delayed the police.

Dean was shocked when he was pinned to the ground by another recent arrival who was a new recruit to the force, former River Boy Colby Thorne (Tim Franklin).

Dean soon put his River Boy life behind him (for the most part) and settled into a more relaxed life in Summer Bay, eventually finding himself running Ben’s Boards and shacking up with Ziggy (Sophie Dillman).

However, Dean could never fully put his River Boy past behind him, and the gang returned on a number of occasions to help Dean and his friends out of some sticky situations.

In the 2021 Season Return, Heath made a very brief return as he helped Ari (Rob Kipa-Williams) and Tane (Ethan Browne) deal with Paul (Jack Finsterer) and Leon (Will McNeill), two men who were terrorising the Parata brothers.

The trouble started when Tane (Ethan Browne) took part in a job for Paul which went wrong. Tane was left with a van full of stolen goods to dispose of, which unbeknownst to him also had drugs hidden in the panels.