The award is presented annually by country rugby league advocates Battlers For Bush Footy, which has been aiding in the attempts to get the Deniliquin Blue Heelers formed.
Tallon Smith from Battlers For Bush Footy made the trip to Deniliquin from the Wollongong area to make the presentation last Thursday.
It was held at the Railway Hotel, in recognition of their sponsorship of the Blue Heelers.
Longford was recognised for his work in re-forming the town’s rugby league club 48 years after the Blue Heelers exited the Group 17 Rugby League competition and subsequently folded.
After initially being formed in 1964, and going on to win three consecutive premierships between 1969 and 1971, the club folded in 1977.
A subsequent attempt was made to re-establish the game in the region via the Deniliquin Raiders, who competed in the Victorian Rugby League’s Goulburn Murray competition in the early 1990s, but that ultimately proved futile.
Enter Longford, with a list of previous clubs longer than NRL legends Tyran Smith or Blake Green, and a passion for the game that would rival that of people such as famous broadcasters Rex Mossop, Ray Warren or Andrew Voss.
After playing for the Darlington Point-Coleambally Roosters reserves in the Group 20 competition last year, a chance phone call with Battlers For Bush Footy founder Tallon Smith spawned the idea for restarting a league club in Deniliquin, where Longford happened to be moving.
Longford then grabbed onto the unlikely suggestion, taking the idea and turning it into reality against all odds.
He has organised sponsorship, started recruiting players, designed jerseys and settled on the Blue Heelers identity for the new club.
He then held a formative meeting, followed by a formal AGM, and was elected to the post of president by those in attendance at the latter gathering.
Because of all of this work, the game of rugby league and the Group 17 competition (in its current form of the ProTen Community Cup), was able to officially welcome the Blue Heelers back into the fold last month ahead of the 2025 season.
“Against all odds, he had revived a club in recess for the best part of five decades,” Smith said.
“He has expanded the game of rugby league back to what was at the time the largest town in New South Wales with no active club in what is, across most of the state, the most popular sport.
“The Battler of the Year award is the most prestigious award given by Battlers For Bush Footy, to the player or volunteer that does the most for a club or the game across regional Australia.
“The award is in line with the mission statement of Battlers For Bush Footy, which is to ‘positively promote and share the spirit of the game of rugby league in regional New South Wales and beyond’.”
For the Blue Heelers’ invite to the ProTen Community Cup to stand in 2025, the club must have a full team of players for one men’s and one women's side registered by February 28.
Conditions also stipulate no forfeits in this first season.
Registrations are $100 per player which includes insurance, shorts, socks and jersey.
Prospective players are encouraged to register at profile.mysideline.com.au/register?source=rugby-league.
Another meeting on the club’s progress will be held Sunday, January 19.
21°C