The St George Illawarra Dragons launched their 'Back 2 Juniors' campaign on Tuesday which saw players from first grade and their Under 20s team visit 16 junior clubs as a way to give back to the game's young stars.
Ranging from teams in-and-around Wollongong to the St George area in Sydney, 30 players from the club visited the likes of the Shellharbour Sharks, Arncliffe Scots and the Corrimal Cougars.
Justin Hunt & @PeteMatautia are here at local club the Northern Suburbs Bulldogs signing some autographs #redv pic.twitter.com/PexLhgkRgW
— The Dragons (@NRL_Dragons) June 16, 2015Veteran Dragons halfback Benji Marshall took time out of his afternoon to visit the Arncliffe club and said it was the least the Red V could do.
"In my time playing footy one of the biggest things I've heard from a lot of the younger players is they don't get enough of their role models at their junior footy club's training so I think from our club's point of view it's just a matter of giving that back," Marshall told NRL.com.
"They support us so much so it's an hour out of our time to give back a little bit. I go down to a lot of junior footy training just out of favours to friends and it's pretty unbelievable just to see the smiles on kids faces and how much of a kick they get out of it."
"I've been down to [the Scots] before and done some stuff here. They are very passionate about rugby league here and when you have two clubs form in St George and Illawarra you have to keep both sides. So we have half down there and half here. We're just fulfilling our duties really."
