St George Illawarra trio Tariq Sims, Kezie Apps and Sam Bremner have been named asNRL Community Advocates, helping support two of the biggest NRL community programs – State of Mind and Voice Against Violence.
Sims, Apps and Bremner are amongst a list of 34 current players that have self-nominated to promote the programs and help shed more awareness of the positive work being undertaken game-wide.
NRL Head of Government and Community Relations, Jaymes Boland-Rudder congratulated the players on their commitment and said there were many players and officials that regularly promoted and took part in the Game’s community programs.
"Our State of Mind and Voice against Violence programs are two of the most important in our game, dealing with issues that impact many communities," Mr Boland-Rudder said.
"We will continue to use our collective voice across Australia and abroad to promote our work within communities and I want to thank the player advocates that have committed to amplifying awareness of mental wellbeing and violence prevention.
"I also want to thank our expert partners who lead our training and provide guidance to player advocates and our community team.
"With topics such as mental health and domestic violence, it’s crucial that we work closely to ensure our education, training and prevention is correct as we reach out to those that are part of our game – from fans to players; grassroots to our elite athletes.”
NRL community advocates will support the State of Mind and Voice against Violence programs throughout 2019, with 13 of the 34 players nominating as first-time advocates for the programs.
To learn more about the NRL’s State of Mind and Voice Against Violence programs, including a list of partners, visit www.nrl.com/community
A full list of players is below.
NRL State of Mind player advocates
- Darius Boyd (Broncos)
- Jayden Okunbor (Bulldogs)
- Siliva Havili (Raiders)
- Josh Dugan (Sharks)
- Dale Copley and Michael Gordon (Titans)
- Joel Thompson (Sea Eagles)
- Christian Welch and Dale Finucane (Storm)
- Hymel Hunt (Knights)
- Michael Morgan (Cowboys)
- Daniel Alvaro and David Gower (Eels)
- Frank Winterstein and Wayde Egan (Panthers)
- Dane Gagai (Rabbitohs)
- Tariq Sims (Dragons)
- Angus Crichton and Simaima Taufa (Roosters)
- Paul Momirovski (Tigers)
- Ruan Sims, Maddie Studdon and Sam Bremner (NRLW players)
NRL Voice against Violence player advocates
- Alex Glenn (Broncos)
- Aiden Tolman (Bulldogs)
- Joseph Tapine (Raiders)
- Kyle Flanagan (Sharks)
- Maxwell King and Michael Gordon (Titans)
- Christian Welch (Storm)
- David Klemmer (Knights)
- Jake Granville (Cowboys)
- Daniel Alvaro and David Gower (Eels)
- Frank Winterstein (Panthers)
- Braidon Burns (Rabbitohs)
- Kezie Apps (Dragons)
- Simaima Taufa (Roosters)
- Ryan Matterson and Josh Aloiai (Tigers)
* New advocates in italics
