The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs has thrilled over 200 junior rugby league participants, joining forces with the Bulldogs' Harold Matthews side to run a very special clinic at Greenacre Tigers Junior Rugby League Club yesterday.
Visiting the local football club after a full day of training, Head Coach Cameron Ciraldo and his Top 30 side and development players joined forces with Greenacre Tigers Management and Junior League Coaches, as well as Canterbury Harold Matt's players, to host the junior footballers through a series of stations to practice and develop their skills.
The special visit was well received by both the junior league participants and the first-grade players, alike.
General Manager of Football, Phil 'Gus' Gould said it all starts at grassroots levels and helping the volunteers who provide their time, free of charge, because of their passion.
"We need to support them and make life easier for them," said Gould.
"The kids get a big kick out of this, they'll remember it forever and so to our Top 30 players. They'll remember where they came from as well."
Gould credited the volunteers who help make junior league competitions a possibility.
"We all played junior league," he said.
"Someone drove us to games, took us to training, coached our teams, managed our teams, ran the canteens, marked the fields, put the gear out, and ran clinics like this. They did it all for us and we got the opportunity to play this game at a professional level, now it's time to put it back into the community."
Head Coach Cameron Ciraldo added: "We're a development club so our junior league is really important to us.
"It's afternoons like this where hopefully, we can inspire the next generation and we can see some future Bulldogs here."
As part of the Club's commitment to support the local community and encourage more participation at a grassroots level, the Bulldogs intend to deliver several more Junior League clinics throughout the 2023 season.
