The Rogues Rant

Welcome to The Rogues Rant, an occasional look at all things Rugby.

Digger Day 2017 is on Saturday 22nd July at Rugby Park South Nowra. Digger Day is proving to be one of the highlights of the Illawarra Rugby Year and all for a worthy cause supporting our returned servicemen and women. The day will get underway with pre game entertainment from 11.00 AM with the 1st Grade match between Shoalhaven and Kiama to be played at 1.00PM. Part of the festivities will include a display by the Army Red Berets Parachute team and also several Navy Helicopters will go through their paces for the crowd. There will be Australian VC recipients and also New Zealand Cross of Valour hero’s present as well. An RSL Last Post ceremony will be conducted and there will be an auction of the special commemorative Digger Day jerseys to be worn on the day to add to the days fundraising. Should be a great day out so get along and support a very worthy cause and see some great rugby as well.

Former IDRU Rugby Chairman Peter Leiner has been keeping himself busy since stepping down from the IDRU Board last year after some eight seasons in the role. As President of the Rotary Club of Corrimal for the last two years, Peter has been very active leading a very hardworking group of members of the club raising money for many worthy causes. The local club has performed so well this year that they were recently awarded the Best Club in Rotary District 9675. The district covers an area ranging from Sydney Heads south to Kiama, west to Parramatta, the lower Blue Mountains and Picton comprising a total of 64 clubs. Rotary is a wonderful community organization raising funds for many local and overseas programs to help improve the lives of needy people and communities. Well done Peter and all your team.

The Dexter Porter Blood Cup is in full swing for 2107 with Shamrocks and Vikings once again leading the charge in the early stages of the program. Camden, University, Kiama and Tech Waratahs have also made contributions so far with the Blood Bank very happy with the response so far from the Illawarra Clubs. There is still plenty of time to get your club involved with the drive continuing through to the end of August again this year. For further details and to find out how your club can be more involved contact your local Blood Bank or co-ordinater Kieran Smith on 0429 728879.