THE Men of League Foundation raised over $15k at their annual fundraiser luncheon last Saturday supported by over 280 members of the community.

Guest speakers Les and Noel ‘Crusher’ Cleal entertained the crowd with colourful behind the scenes stories from their illustrious playing careers in Australia and England.

Noel and Les Cleal played for the Sawtell Panthers in 1978 where they took the club from bottom of the ladder to the Clayton Cup before embarking on NRL careers at the Sydney Roosters.

Noel Cleal went on to join the Manly Sea Eagles in 1983 where he played for NSW in 13 State of Origin matches and won ten international caps for Australia.

6’7 prop forward Matt Parsons joined Men Of League club president Peter Barrett on the couch for a Q & A session where he shared the feeling of winning a grand final and took questions from the audience.

The Men of League Foundation was formed 15 years ago to help footballers and retired footballers who need help as Peter Barrett explained.

“It was a fantastic day and a huge thank you to the community for supporting this event, we have raised over $15k so far and are still counting.

“We founded the charity in 2006 because we all believed it was a great cause to help people who needed it.

“We support the football community from Macksville to Grafton helping with anything from mowing lawns to hospital visits.

“It was great to see Coffs Harbour out enjoying themselves and it wasn’t just footballers, it was everyone enjoying the event and the racecourse is a fantastic venue.

“I would like to thank everyone who supports the foundation and encourage anyone to come and help us and join us,” said Peter.

 

By David WIGLEY