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Guest Character Profiles > Harley Canning Justin Holborow

Harley Canning 2012
Lived: 26 Ramsay Street
Parents: Jackie Canning
Siblings: Dane
Occupation: Student at Erinsborough High

The troublesome teenaged cousin of Kyle Canning, Harley first appeared in Ramsay Street in the back of a police car, having been caught spraying graffiti at Flinders Street station, and having told the police constable that Kyle was his dad. Kyle quickly put this street, but agreed to keep an eye on Harley until his mum could come from Frankston to pick him up. Having agreed to be the godfather to the unborn child of neighbours Sonya and Toadie Rebecchi, Kyle realised that keeping an eye on Harley, and getting him back on the straight and narrow, would be good experience, so he phoned his Aunt Jackie and told her that Harley could stay for a week. Unimpressed, Harley did his best to annoy Kyle and his girlfriend Jade, as well as their housemate Rhys, by listening to loud music, eating and drinking them out of house and home, and flirting with Rhys' partner Vanessa.

Kyle dragged his cousin out of the house and put him to work at his handyman yard, but Harley didn't respond well to being watched and ordered about, so Kyle took a different tack, leaving Harley at the yard with some money to wait for a delivery, making it clear that he trusted him with the task. Whilst waiting, Harley met two of his new neighbours, Callum and Rani. Immediately smitten with Rani, Harley decided that he wanted to stick around, so he did as Kyle had asked and took the delivery. When Kyle returned, Harley mentioned that perhaps he needed a better male role model, and Kyle agreed, allowing Harley to stay for the rest of the school term, until the end of the year, as he'd already been expelled from his high school in Frankston for setting fire to the staff room. Harley's first day at Erinsborough High proved eventful, as Callum mentioned to him that student teacher Kate Ramsay, who was returning to work that day, had originally left because she'd kissed a school pupil. When Harley started goading her about this during a lesson, she put him on detention and, as revenge, he removed the wheels from her bicycle and put them on the school roof. Meanwhile, Callum was upset to realise that Rani was attracted to Harley, and he asked Harley to keep away from her as he was hoping to ask her out soon. Harley agreed to this, saying that he wouldn't do that to a mate, but wasted no time in getting closer to Rani at every opportunity and even winning over her over-protective dad, Ajay.

Meanwhile, Harley's friendship with Callum continued and their video games even helped Harley to bond with grumpy Rhys. But when Callum went home and took his game console with him, Harley lied that he had one at home in Frankston and would go and get it, before stealing $200 from Rhys' wallet and buying a new one. Kyle was immediately suspicious of the brand new game console and, when he found the receipt, then Rhys announced that the money was missing, he realised what had happened. After covering for Harley, claiming that he'd taken Rhys' money to cover the rent, Kyle warned Harley that he was on his final chance. As he got closer to Rani, Harley was happy to be able to stick around and, after a night out at the movies, they shared a kiss and agreed to become girlfriend and boyfriend. Harley wanted to keep it a secret, knowing the promise he'd made to Callum, but when he and Rani were caught kissing at school, Callum found out the truth. Rather than admitting how upset he was, Callum decided to become a rebel, modelling himself on Harley, and try to win Rani. The rivalry backfired when Harley stole money from the nursery owned by Callum's mum Sonya, where both Callum and Rani worked, and, with all of his new clothes, Callum was blamed for the missing $150. Seeing how upset Callum was about being blamed, Harley tried to put the money back under the till, but this only made matters worse and he was forced to own up. This time, Kyle was determined to send him home to his mum, until Callum stepped in, not wanting to lose one of his few friends. He told Kyle that he used to steal too, but Toadie hadn't given up on him, and Kyle shouldn't give up on Harley. Kyle agreed that Harley could stay, and the boys fixed their friendship, though it looked like the fight for Rani was far from over.

The rivalry between the boys continued as Rani's best friend Sophie Ramsay returned to town after having rehabilitation on her leg, and immediately took a dislike to Harley, believing that he wasn't right for Rani. Callum was pleased as Sophie wanted to spend time with him and Rani, without Harley there, but Rani lied and said she had work to do, before spending the day in the spa with Harley. In a further effort to impress Rani, Harley stole a necklace from Kyle's bedroom, a necklace that had belonged to Jade, who had only the day before split from Kyle and gone to live in the USA. When Kate spotted Rani wearing the necklace, she recognised it and called Kyle. It was the final straw for Kyle, who said that he was giving up on his cousin, Harley accepted he was a lost cause, but it was Kate who managed to convince Kyle that he needed to try and get through to Harley before it was too late and he completely went off the rails. Taking Harley to work with him at the yard, the boys finally seemed to be making some progress, as it helped Harley to feel more useful and gave Kyle a chance to move on from Jade.

It wasn't long before Harley was up to his old tricks again, however, as he talked Rani into convincing her mum to allow the year 9s to have their own end-of-year formal. After learning that they'd only managed to arrange a barn dance, as there was a small budget, Harley told Rani that he was going to take her to a party in Frankston afterwards, and that they'd have to stay the night, hoping that she would sleep with him. Knowing his intentions, Rani was reluctant to go, and Callum was pleased to listen to her as she told him about her dilemma, but after learning that her mum had been having an affair with Paul Robinson, disgusted Rani went off the rails and agreed to go with Harley, though some of her doubts remained. When the pair were caught by a furious Ajay, it was the final straw for Kyle, who contacted Jackie and told her that he'd tried, but couldn't cope with Harley on his own anymore, so was sending him home.

Tenure
6481, 6482, 6483, 6488, 6489. 6490, 6495, 6496, 6497, 6498, 6499, 6509, 6511, 6513, 6507, 6520, 6522, 6527, 6532, 6533, 6534, 6539, 6544, 6545, 6546

Biography by Steve

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