Panthers star brushes shoulders with Royalty

Rugby League stars Brad Tighe, Greg Inglis, Greg Bird and Willie Tonga joined students from the Learn Earn Legend! School to Work program in a demonstration game at Bondi Beach on Friday, watched by none other than the Prince of Wales.

Panthers Indigenous Program Manager Glen Liddiard was also proud to represent the club at the event.

The kids loved having the players there to play with and against and the mentoring sessions went well. Brad & Greg Inglis spoke to their group about the kids ambitions for the future and what drove them to succeed in Rugby League.

ARLC Chairman, Mr John Grant, NRL Interim Chief Executive, Mr Shane Mattiske, and NRL General Manager of Community, Culture and Diversity, Ms Trish Crews were also among the crowd thrilled to see the Prince and wife Camilla, along with corporate Rugby League representatives from Telstra, Pirtek and St George Bank.

“Rugby League is honoured to have His Royal Highness join us at Bondi to take part in one of our ‘Dream Believe Achieve,’ mentoring sessions,” Mr Mattiske said.

“Our game has demonstrated an enormous commitment to making a positive difference in the community and our Indigenous programs from the Harvey Norman Rugby League All Stars to the Learn Earn Legend! School to Work programs are helping change lives.

“This is a real opportunity to showcase the value of our mentoring and leadership program which is just one of the community activities that saw the NRL honoured at the international Beyond Sport Awards as the Governing Body of the Year.”

Panthers Assistant Coach and Former NSW Origin captain Trent Barrett, and founder of the All Stars concept, Preston Campbell, will facilitate the ‘Dream Believe Achieve’ session which encourages students to build on their self-esteem, resiliency and positive ways to identify and achieve their dreams.

The students were selected from the Learn Earn Legend! School to Work Program which is a combined initiative of the Penrith Panthers, Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, Parramatta Eels, Wests Tigers, NRL and the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR). It was developed to create pathways to successful careers for Aboriginal students in Years 11 and 12 in participating schools across Western Sydney.