PAST and present St George Illawarra Dragons players visited the Bega Valley this week as part of the NRL’s Tackle Bullying campaign.
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Former Dragons great and current club ambassador Shaun Timmons and new Dragon Matt Groat visited Bega Valley Public School as part of the NRL’s Community Carnival where players from all clubs visit schools across Australia.
This year as part of the Community Carnival, which includes coaching clinics, the NRL was promoting its Tackle Bullying campaign, which aims to spread a powerful anti-bullying and self-esteem message.
The NRL representatives certainly had an attentive audience at BVPS on Wednesday.
Mr Timmons and Mr Groat played a trivia game called The Dragons Hot Seat with the help of several students and a physical challenge involving some tricky ball skills.
The Dragons also played out a skit about the effects of bullying and how to use key strategies to stand up to bullies.
This year the theme of Tackle Bullying is about “giving the victim a hand” and focuses on the ways a child affected by bullying can develop self-esteem and resilience.
Community Carnival representative for the St George Illawarra Dragons Adam Bezzina said he was overwhelmed with the response to the anti-bullying campaign during their roadshow.
As well as BVPS and St Patrick’s in Bega, Dragons players and representatives had been to schools throughout the South East including those in Candelo, Bermagui, Tathra, Wolumla, Eden, Bombala and Wyndham.
“All the school kids have really responded positively to it,” he said.
“Being able to use the NRL and the players is a fun vehicle to get a serious message out to the students.
“We’ve left the schools with a lot of resources about the topic and I think it’s a message that is making a real impact.”
