PORT ADELAIDE has used its trip to Tasmania to engage with the community and support one of its major partners.
A day before the AFL side arrived in Hobart for Saturday’s win over North Melbourne, a group of past and current players headed to the north of the island to visit the George Town Football Club.
After acquiring the local LIBERTY Bell Bay smelter, which employs more than 250 people in the region, Port Adelaide major partner GFG has also teamed with George Town, upgrading its scoreboard and supplying training footballs.
On Thursday night, one of the first players to commit to Port Adelaide’s AFLW side Justine Mules ran a junior clinic at George Town followed by senior training, ably supported by past AFL players Gavin Wanganeen, Tom Rockliff and Brett Ebert with about 120 junior and senior players involved.
Port Adelaide General Manager - Commercial and Partnerships Brett Mathers said the quartet then stuck around for a question-and-answer session, having a lot of fun in the process.
“With our AFL side in Tasmania this week, we thought it was a great opportunity to spend some time supporting our major partner GFG and the local community,” he said.
“We know how important George Town Football Club is to GFG and we are proud to support that partnership by bringing Justine, Gavin, Tom and Brett out to training on Thursday.
“Hopefully the teams will have taken something from the experience and it’ll translate into some great results this season.”
It was a sentiment echoed by the Managing Director of LIBERTY Bell Bay Richard Curtis.
“Through its ownership of LIBERTY Bell Bay, GFG has supplied the ‘LIBERTY Scoreboard’ for the George Town Football Club. It has also supplied training footballs to the club,” he said.
“Having past Port Adelaide players Gavin Wanganeen, Tom Rockliff and Brett Ebert, along with new AFLW recruit Justine Mules visit the club and spend some time I’m sure will provide both motivation and inspiration to the local players and supporters.”
The president of the George Town Football Club, Lynette Burt said it was pleasing to see Port Adelaide continuing to support communities and initiatives where GFG has operations.
“GFG Liberty are supporting ongoing improvements to our facilities, supporting the upgrade of our scoreboard, contributing to the environment for spectators and supporting the growth and promotion of Women in Football, through leadership growth and player and coach connections and development,” she explained.
“We were very excited to have those past Port Adelaide players, along with new AFLW recruit Justine Mules visit the club and spend some time connecting and supporting training and being part of our football community.
“This contribution is significant for the ongoing sustainability of our club and its future.”
For the record, the George Town Saints senior side beat the Bridgenorth Parrots by 16 points on Saturday, to make it three wins on the trot and move into the top six in the Northern Tasmanian Football Association Premier Division.