The Queensland Rugby Union (QRU) has today announced the St.George Queensland Reds will embark on a historic three-day ‘Reds to Regions’ visit across Queensland later this month.
Players and staff will be split-up and visit a total of 22 regional hubs including the country communities of Mount Isa, Longrech and Roma, to coastal cities like Cairns, Townsville and Mackay.
Queensland’s coaches will also hit the road with head coach Brad Thorn and assistants Jim McKay, Peter Ryan and Cameron Lillicrap all travelling to Goondiwindi.
The visits will take place in the first week of the Reds 2019/20 pre-season training between Monday 18 November and Wednesday 20 November.
The key focus for the regional tour is for the players to connect with the Queensland community through visits to local Rugby clubs, schools, hospitals, local Government, council and sponsor activations.
In addition, the visits will provide an opportunity for the players to meet and interact with the everyday people across the state who the Reds represent when they pull on the maroon jersey.
Further to this, each player will be billeted and will stay with a host family during their time in that region.
Reds head coach Brad Thorn said: “As a group we’re looking forward to travelling around Queensland and connecting with the hard-working people of this great state.
“As part of the visit they will be helping spread the word about Rugby in the local community and hopefully help attract some new people to the game.
“It is also very important the players spend some time with clubs and schools who are already carrying the flag for the sport.
“Our players will be billeted, rather than staying in a hotel. They’ll also spend half a day working with people in the surrounding community, preferably with anyone doing it tough at the moment with the drought and other difficulties.
“At the heart of everything we’re trying to do is to help these men grow in character and overall, we’re there to connect and contribute to the local community,” said Thorn.
The QRU will also partner with Rural Aid to raise much-needed funds for Queensland communities affected by the drought.
Rural Aid provides vital assistance and support to farmers and communities in regional areas who are facing some of the worst droughts in the country’s history.
For more information, or to donate via the ‘Reds to Regions’ Rural Aid fundraising page, please CLICK HERE
