Huge thanks to all of you who came to the Dock on Wednesday.
Despite the cold, it went great and we raised over $20,000 for community rugby!
It started slow (was definitely a stretch to kick off an outdoor fanzone at midday on a winter workday), but it ended up great and the feedback's been fantastic.
Even heard from the ACT government about possibly making it easier for us to use the space next to the Dock more regularly. Which would be huge, especially for when the weather warms up or the Raiders make the GF (touch wood).
The day was a massive team effort and huge thanks to:
Pembie and the entire crew at the Rugby Unity Podcast
Pyney from Pyney’s Pie Reviews
Queanbeyan and Easts Rugby Clubs
The Australian Rugby Choir
And all our speakers: from my old teammates Kimmo, Patty Mac and Pup, to Rossy and Doylie from the ‘89 ACT team, and Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham, who dropped in alongside World Rugby Chairman Dr Brett Robinson on their way to the game
Also a big shoutout to Dock co-owners Shooter and Jane, who took some convincing to give it a crack (had never heard of the Lions before this year lol).
As for the match itself, we always knew it’d be a tough ask for the Brumbies to back up the 2013 heroics, especially once the Lions named their best side.
But it was the best game of the tour so far.
And despite the loss and the stress in the lead-up, I couldn’t be prouder of what we pulled off.
That said, I’m pretty happy we don’t have to run another event like that for at least 12 years! Never thought event planning could be so stressful!
Now it’s time to defrost in Singapore and introduce the girls to a bit of their Peranakan (Singaporean Chinese) heritage. Then it’s back to focusing on my talks and R4R!
Epic effort Ben. Sorry we couldn’t stay longer. It’s was awesome! There’s something about when the Lions visit…. It certainly always seems to be the coldest day of the year!
Wow! Well done everyone!