The Canberra Raiders have been touring the fire-ravaged South East and dropped into Cobargo where they offered locals their support and made a big donation to the area's hay fund.
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The Cobargo Hotel was turned into a sea of green on Friday evening when the NRL team arrived, where they chatted to locals and posed for photos.
"It's good to see all the locals getting around us," second rower Hudson Young said.
"It's been an eye-opener to see how much the region has been affected in the fires.
"You see it in the news, but until you see it with your own eyes you don't really realise how bad it is."
Hudson thanked the Cobargo locals for providing a warm welcome for his team when they arrived in town.
"They've got our support as Canberra Raiders and we'll do everything we can to support the town," he said.
On the evening the team donated $10,000 to the Cobargo District Emergency Hay Fund.
Cobargo Hotel publican Dave Allen said about $105,000 had been donated to the fund overall, which was administered by the Bega Rotary Club and had been used to purchase $50,000 of hay so far.
"There's been so much donated hay which has been absolutely fantastic too, so we haven't had to tap into it too much," he said.
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Canberra Raiders football assistant Brett Dickson said the team had a strong attachment to the area, as a lot of players and staff visited the area for holidays and local football legend David Boyle had played 117 games for them.
"It's about putting money into the community as well," he said.
"We've been donating money to firies on the way down."
He said the impact of the bushfires on the region had "affected the boys".
"Our message is that we're fully behind them [the fire-affected locals] and we're thinking of you guys," Mr Dickson said.
Albert McKnight
Journalist at Bega District News.
Journalist at Bega District News.
