Country-born True Blues legends have delivered important road safety messages to more than 2,600 students at 18 high schools in 14 regional NSW towns in October and November as part of the NSWRL and Transport For NSW Regional Roadshow program.
The NSWRL ambassadors and Origin players Kylie Hilder, Andrew Ryan, Trent Hodkinson, Brett Kimmorley, Luke Bailey and Ruan Sims also held four after-school football clinics with local junior Rugby League players, in addition to the road safety program at local high schools in three areas of the state.
The first leg (10-12 October) of the 2023 Regional Roadshow went to the Northern Tablelands around Armidale, Glen Innes, Inverell and Guyra.
The second leg (14-16 November) was in central-western NSW including Dubbo, Gilgandra, Coonamble, Gulargambone, Warren and Narromine.
The third and final leg (21-22 November) visited the NSW Sapphire Coast towns of Eden, Pambula, Narooma, and Ulladulla.
The NSWRL ambassadors shared personal stories that underlined how a road crash can affect an entire community.
Ryan, the current NSW Under 19s coach, visited his former high school, St Johns College in Dubbo, and told the story of a car crash on a property which killed two fellow students and injured two others, when he was in Year 9.
Statistics from Transport for NSW show:
- Every 41 minutes there is a crash on a NSW road
- Crashes are four times more likely on a country road with 41 per cent caused by speeding.
“That’s why we wanted to get out into regional areas and drive home this message,” said Hilder.
“The other players and I are all country-born so it was a positive way we could reach out and have the conversations around being safer on our roads.”
The NSWRL, in partnership with Transport For NSW, have delivered Regional Roadshows since 2017 reaching more than 6,500 students.
