Number 4 – Reds and Classic Wallabies give back to the Townsville Rugby tragics.
Throughout 2019, Townsville and District Rugby Union were lucky enough to have some past and present stars of Rugby travel around to our districts, with the Classic Wallabies and the Queensland Reds spending time promoting the game we love. This was done through school visits, club rugby clinics and volunteer work around the community. We hope to see more of the Reds and Classic Wallabies / Wallabies in the future.
Classic Wallabies: The Classic Wallabies visited Townsville back in July as a part of their National tour to promote the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan. It was a smash hit with the local Rugby community in the Townsville District with players, students, parents, teachers and coaches turning out in their hundreds to see the legends of the past. Rugby World Cup Wallabies Justin Harrison (2003) and Sam Cordingley (2007) were the main attractions supported by Cairns based contingent Barry Lea (QLD) and Troy Jacques (ACT) as the group covered the Townsville, Charters Towers and the Burdekin regions. Over the course of two days the TDRU Development staff and the ‘Classics’ visited 12 schools across Townsville, Charters Towers and Burdekin, and ran a clinic for the rugby communities at each location. This resulted in the Classic Wallabies and the TDRU Development Staff seeing in excess of 900 local students and players by putting them through their paces and encouraging them on to continue their rugby development. The tour saw them travel throughout the District thanks to the generous help from TDRU Major partner – Mike Carney Toyota supplying vehicles.
Reds To Regions: November and December saw the Queensland Reds send a total of 4 players to Townsville as a part of their state-wide initiative – Reds To Regions, with the aim of the Reds players to give back to regional Rugby communities around Queensland. All players were billeted to families with a heavy involvement in the local rugby community, visited schools/clubs, and did some volunteer/charity work. The first edition of this tour saw up and coming Reds players Angus Scott-Young & Tuaina Tualima visit Townsville over the course of three days. The boys were billeted with two rugby mad families – Angus went with the Watson Family whilst Tuaina was with the Laskey Family. During their time in Townsville, Angus and Tuaina lent a hand with Legacy before joining the TDRU Development staff at several schools to run some kids through some fun rugby-based activities. The second edition of the Reds to Regions tour saw Reds superstars James O’Connor and Lukhan Salakaia-Loto visit Townsville, Charters Towers & Burdekin. James and Lukhan were both billeted in Charters Towers and Burdekin, with the McKellar family hosting them in Charters Towers and they stayed with the Gallego family in Burdekin. During their time up North, James and Lukhan assisted the TDRU staff with running 3 clinics at Charters Towers, Burdekin & Townsville, passing down their knowledge onto the next generation, as well as doing charity work with Legacy.
Stay tuned for Moment Number 3…
