Community Wrap: Bulldogs Bring Joy to Finish 2024

The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs have been out and about in the community with a number of visits across schools, charities and shelters to help those in need with the festive season around the corner.

• Bulldogs Make Inspiring Visit to St Charbel’s College
• Bulldogs and Laundy Team Up to Pass It On 
• Academy Bulldogs Support The Rev. Bill Crews Food Drive
• Oz Harvest & Young Academics Cook for a Cause 
• Bulldogs and WSU Sign Landmark Memorandum of Understanding
• Bulldogs Adopt RSPCA NSW as Community Partner
• Bulldogs Help Kick Off Christmas Toy Drives
• Lamb Pays Visit to Vinnies Support Centre
• CBDJRL Registrations for 2025 Open 

Bulldogs Make Inspiring Visit to St Charbel's College

The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs continued their strong commitment to community engagement with a special visit to St Charbel's College on Thursday, November 28th . Deputy Chair John Khoury and Club legend Josh Reynolds attended the high school's sports awards presentation day, sharing valuable insights and connecting with the next generation of sports enthusiasts. 

During their presentation, both Khoury and Reynolds shared their enthusiasm about the Bulldogs' promising trajectory in 2024, offering students an insider's perspective on the Club's achievements throughout the season and provided exciting glimpses into their vision for 2025. The discussion highlighted the Club's commitment to excellence both on and off the field, emphasising the importance of strong community connections in building a successful sporting organisation. 

A highlight of the visit was an engaging question and answer session, where students had the unique opportunity to interact directly with both representatives in an intimate setting, showing particular interest in understanding the different roles within a professional sporting organisation. Khoury provided valuable insights into the administrative and leadership aspects of running a premier Rugby League Club, while Reynolds shared his firsthand experience of what it takes to succeed as a professional athlete. 

The conversation delved into the specific attributes required for a career in professional football, with Reynolds emphasising the importance of dedication, resilience, and maintaining a strong work ethic. Drawing from his own journey from local junior football to NRL stardom, he provided students with authentic and practical advice about pursuing their sporting dreams.

The visit exemplified the Bulldogs' ongoing commitment to educational institutions and young people in their community, demonstrating how sporting organisations can play a vital role in inspiring and mentoring the next generation of athletes and leaders.

Bulldogs and Laundy Team Up to Pass It On 

For the second year in a row, the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and Laundy Hotels have teamed up to help wrap up over 300 Christmas Gifts for the Pass It On XMAS gifting campaign for the homeless.  

The Bulldogs and Laundy were on hand once again to join forces with Pass It On to gift out donations to Sydney’s homeless community, which included 2025 Club apparel for those who would be without during the festive season. 

Members of the Club’s staff and former players came together with the Laundy Family to personally gift wrap presents to be distributed on Christmas Day to those in need.  

As they did last year, Laundy Hotels will host a morning breakfast barbeque at their Woolly Bay Hotel venue, to further support Sydney’s homeless with a Christmas breakfast and much-needed items of clothing.  

Academy Bulldogs Support The Rev. Bill Crews Food Drive

For the second year in a row, on Tuesday December 3, The Canterbury League Club delivered a generous $5000 worth of food to the Bill Crews Foundation in Ashfield in support of the homeless ahead of Christmas.

Joining Club Legend and Ambassador Josh Reynolds, Academy players William Piliu, Damon Humphreys, Azariah Mauatairi and Harlem Fa’alafi helped to unload the truck and assist with donations to support services to vulnerable and disadvantaged community members. 

It proved to be a humbling experience for the young quartet, and one that Rev. Bill Crews himself was grateful for.  

“Times are really tough for a great many Australians today. Many can’t even afford all the basics of life,” he said. 

The Bulldogs’ Donation of tinned and packeted goods will go a long way for much needed hampers for families and individuals.

“For decades, the Bulldogs have been one of our greatest supporters. It’s amazing how football and football crowds will respond to the call out of people in need.” 

For almost 40 years The Rev. Bill Crews Foundation has been providing assistance to address the cause and effect of homelessness, poverty and unemployment. The Foundation succeeds in achieving this through a combination of caring services like food provision, social welfare and education support. 

To find out more about The Rev. Bill Crews Foundation, click here.

Oz Harvest & Young Academics Cook for a Cause  

Highlighting the importance of healthy eating during the festive season, Club Sponsor Young Academics in collaboration with the Bulldogs and OzHarvest launched “Cook for a Cause” on Friday, December 13.  

Focusing on spreading holiday cheer while bringing awareness of nutritious eating habits, Bulldogs NRL squad members Tom Amone, Jacob Kiraz and Harry Hayes spent the afternoon at one of the many Young Academics Childcare and Early Learning Centres. 

The trio engaged with children in hands-on, holiday-themed cooking activities whilst also packing food donations in what was a rewarding afternoon for all parties involved. 

"It was really exciting to have the Bulldogs players with Young Academics to participate with the collection for the food drive," said OzHarvest NSW/ACT Engagement Manager Emily Milton-Smith. 

"For OzHarvest, we're a food rescue organisation and so our focus is always collecting for that would otherwise go into landfill and getting into people's bellies.

"We support more than 1500 other charities right around Australia who then feed diverse communities, people experiencing homelessness, domestic violence and all sorts of people who are experiencing challenges. 

We've got such a focus in Western Sydney and to be able to do this work with a community organisation and have Bulldogs players to come together to showcase the opportunity to give a little joy to people is what it's all about.

"The collaboration between the three organisations has been quite dynamic," added Jenni Gaffney, Director of Operations of Young Academics.

"Whilst we have 38 locations, it's really beneficial to have the showmanship of the Bulldogs to help us extend that message out to the wider community.

"OzHarvest have such a wide impact across Australia and it was a no-brainer to collaborate with them to help across the Christmas period.

"Jacob Kiraz was a standout, but that's maybe because he had the cheekiest child participating with him, so that gave us all a couple of good laughs." 

To find out more about Young Academics, click here.

To find out more about OzHarvest Australia, click here.

Bulldogs and Western Sydney University Sign Landmark Memorandum of Understanding 

The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and Western Sydney University have come together to sign a landmark Memorandum of Understanding that is set to have a widespread impact across Western Sydney.   

The Memorandum of Understanding will establish a foundation for a cooperative and productive relationship between the Bulldogs and Western Sydney University, one that will see both parties commit to the growth and development of community and junior sports across the Western Sydney region, in particular the Canterbury-Bankstown LGA.  

A core part of the agreement comes in supporting the Club’s elite players by promoting the benefits of higher education, including access to bespoke educational pathways, microcredentials as well as the Western Sydney University LaunchPad program.    

This also includes a formalised volunteer and internship program for Western Sydney University students which will provide engagement opportunities with the Club through game days, events and social impact programs, as well as applied projects and tours. The Bulldogs will also feature in future select Western Sydney University activations.   

To read the full announcement, click the card below: