NRL players will take to the school of the air in a Community Carnival blitz that tomorrow will stretch from Emerald in Queensland, to Perth in Western Australia, to Rotorua in New Zealand.
Now in its sixth day, the Community Carnival footprint will tomorrow stretch further than ever before with players and development officers engaged in school and hospital visits, assisting in community projects and hosting coaching clinics in Perth, across remote areas of Central and Western Queensland, the central-north of NSW and across the Tasman to New Zealand.
Having spent today visiting schools and hospitals across Emerald, Capella and Tieri, Brisbane Broncos stars Nick Kenny, Corey Parker, Ashton Sims and Antonio Winterstein will tomorrow be guests of the Capricornia School of Distance Education in Emerald.
The players will join 270 students from remote areas of Central and Western Queensland on the airwaves to teach the game’s Eat Well Play Well Stay Well health message.
“They’re pretty excited. They have some great questions to ask the players,” Amanda Rynne, Acting Head of Campus, Capricornia School of Distance Education, said of the students.
“The opportunity for them to speak with their sporting heroes is a wonderful motivation and a highlight for them in their on-air program.
“It stays with them for a very long time, just the thrill of having someone on air that they normally wouldn’t get access to. They still talk about the Cowboys (who were on-air back in 2007).”
There is similar excitement in Perth as the Dragons and Eels prepare for their trial match on Saturday night.
Dragons stars including Dean Young and Jarrod Saffy today visited Perth Children’s Hospital before a junior coaching clinic, while tomorrow FuiFui MoiMoi and Krisnan Inu will be among the Eels players hosting a coaching clinic at Ken Allen Field.
Knights stars Cameron Ciraldo, Adam MacDougall, Wes Naiqama, Junior Sau, Zeb Taia, Dan Tolar, Akuila Uate, Keith Lulia and Marvin Karawana visited schools and held coaching clinics across Aberdeen and Denman, while tomorrow Scott Dureau, Matt Hilder, Jarrod Mullen, George Ndaira, Steve Simpson, Mark Taufua, Evarn Tuimavave and Cooper Vuna will visit schools across Tamworth before hosting a coaching clinic at Scully Park.
In Atherton, in Queensland, Roosters stars including Braith Anasta, Mitch Aubusson and Lopini Paea visited schools and held coaching clinics ahead of their trial match against the Atherton Roosters – with former ‘local’ Todd Carney sure to be a popular figure in his first hit-out with his new club.
By week’s end, NRL players will have visited 400 schools in 78 communities stretching from Sydney to Perth, into far north Queensland, New Zealand and throughout rural and regional NSW and Queensland, handing out 6500 footballs, 30,000 posters and 500 Eat Well Play Well Stay Well DVDs and classroom resource packs.
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National Rugby League respects and honours the Traditional Custodians of the land and pay our respects to their Elders past, present and future. We acknowledge the stories, traditions and living cultures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples on the lands we meet, gather and play on.
