A revamped club logo, extra transport, free registration, boots for some players and a groundswell of goodwill has led to a new era for the Moree Junior Rugby League.
The changes, while not overly radical, have been an unbridled success helping to mend a few cracks at Moree JRL – so much so the club has won NSWRL’s Community Club of the Year for 2023 sponsored by Steeden.
Stephen Cory has been President for the past three years and was well aware of the angst between the two senior teams at Moree – the Boomerangs and the Boars.
“Before I came along there were a few problems incorporating the Indigenous symbols into the jerseys,” Cory told nswrl.com.au.
“I thought we should come up with a better logo – to bring the Senior teams together a bit more, stop the bickering – and with the Juniors we decided against an animal mascot.
“We are our own club, so we wanted our own identity. We’ve also gone just with one strong colour – navy blue – as we’ve got such a mix of heritages within our club.
“We have a large and proud Indigenous element, we have some Fijian kids, some New Zealanders, some from the Philippines and other parts of the Pacific and Asia.”
Moree JRL has boys teams from Under 6s through to Under 16s and three girls teams.
Reflecting on the challenges through the pandemic, Cory and his committee are incredibly proud of its thriving participation.
“In the first year of COVID we struggled to keep a committee together.” Cory said.
“But we got through all that, fought our way back. We’ve been slowly building ever since – in 2020 we might have had around 100 players and this year it’s 200-plus.”
Cory said showing parents and players the club was committed to the game and to the town resonated with those involved.
“Everyone has been pulling in the right direction,” he said.
“We have volunteers still with us even though their kids have grown up and not with the club anymore.
“We’ve given the kids what they signed up for – a hat, a training shirt, and good coaching.
“This year to attract the older teenage kids, we made registrations free for the Under 16s to entice them to come back and play. I also got them free boots.
“In our 16s we’ve had a few boys, who’ve run into trouble with the law in the past, but they’ve come to us and doing really well.”
A 12-seater bus has been provided by the Moree SHAE (Sports, Health, Arts, Education) Academy.
“They let us use it to pick up players for training and for games and get them home again,” Cory said.
Additionally Moree JRL has been supportive of creating localised structures in younger age groups in Group 19 to improve access to participation.
