Fa’amanu Brown will be one of many male and female rugby league players hitting the road this week to visit more than 60 regional towns across Queensland and New South Wales.
Brown will be joined by Anthony Don (Titans) and Isabelle Kelly (NRLW) to visit Grafton and Yamba from February 6th to the 8th.
The visits are part of the NRL’s annual ‘Road to Regions’ tour, providing an opportunity for players to meet some of their biggest fans throughout regional and rural parts of the country before the Premiership season commences.
NRL Road to Regions was launched in February 2018, replacing the long-running Community Carnival initiative. Road to Regions targets regional and remote areas of Australia with the specific objective to empower rugby league communities to ensure their success and to grow the game.
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Through the support of NRL Clubs, this week-long (4-10 February 2018) initiative sees both NRL and NRLW players, as well as former stars, take part in a broad range of community visits across New South Wales and Queensland. These visits include educational programs at schools, visits to junior rugby league clubs, and participation in fundraising events.
As part of the NRL’s commitment to the heartlands of our game, these activities are geared toward improving the wellbeing of regional rugby league communities, especially those that are doing it tough, with three-quarters of these regions currently classed as drought-affected.
The players, both past and present, will encourage physical wellbeing through participation in sport and mental wellbeing through the delivery of cyber-safety messages and the NRL’s State of Mind program.
The State of Mind program aims to increase mental health literacy, reduce the stigma around mental illness, start positive conversations and enable connections regarding this important social issue. Last year, almost 100 rugby league clubs throughout Australia took part in the program.
The Road to Regions visits in New South Wales are proudly supported by the NSW Government.
For more information on the 2019 NRL Road to Regions tour, visit www.nrl.com/community
