TULLY BACKS TOWNSVILLE
How CDRL club raised thousands for flood victims
SUPPORTERS and sponsors of Tully Tigers RLFC dug deep at the CDRL club’s annual jersey launch at the weekend, raising more than $2000 for North Queensland farmers that have been left high and dry in the wake of the Townsville floods.
Rugby league fans crammed into Tully Leagues Club on Friday night for the fundraising event, with many taking the opportunity to rub shoulders with special guest and North Queensland Cowboys legendary fullback Matty Bowen.
The Hopevale hero, who played 270 games for the Cowboys and earned 10 State of Origin appearances, shared insights into his 14-year career as a professional rugby league player and was more than happy to autograph a 2019 Tully Tigers jersey for auction on the night.
Tully Tigers president Anthony Emmi said all proceeds from the Bowen-signed jersey would be donated toward flood relief initiatives.
“It sold for $2500 and that will be given straight to the North Queensland flood appeals to help our struggling farmers,” said Emmi.
He said other jersey auctions on the night raised more than $20,000 to go towards the club’s running costs in 2019.
“We bring out the new jerseys one-by-one and the crowd bids on them,” he said. “We did 17 jerseys in total. The highest went for about $2000 and the lowest for about $800.
“We’ve been doing it for six or seven years now and we seem to average about $20,000 each year. A big thanks goes to Matty and of course all our sponsors for coming on the night. It’s just great that the community wants to buy our jerseys and support the club.”
On Saturday, Tully was defeated by Townsville’s Centrals Tigers 46-10 in a pre-season trial at Tully Showgrounds, while their reserves ground out a 26-all draw.
Centrals Tigers won the Townsville District Rugby League A-grade premiership last year – their first since 2002 – with Bowen at the helm as player-coach. The 36-yearold’s standout performance in the drought-breaking grand final earned him man of the match honours.