Why the Dundas Shamrocks and Carlingford Cougars will split their under-10s teams this weekend
Two junior rugby league clubs in Sydney have decided to swap their teams this Sunday. And they are doing it for a good cause.
In a heartfelt tribute to the power of forgiveness, two junior rugby league clubs will swap players and compete against their own teammates as part of the i4Give initiative on Sunday.
Balmain Junior Rugby League clubs Dundas Shamrocks and Carlingford Cougars will split their under-10s teams and in a rare show of sportsmanship will take the field against each other.
It was the brainchild of the Carlingford club, which had seen the i4Give Cup matches between Canterbury and Parramatta at the NRL level and wanted to find a way to get involved.
i4Give Cup founder Danny Abdallah said he was blown away when approached about the plan.
The original concept came about after Abdallah and his family chose forgiveness as their response to the memory of their three children – Antony, 13, Angelina, 12, and Sienna, 8 – and niece Veronique Sakr, 11, after they were killed by a drunk driver in a horrific car crash in Oatlands in 2020.
His son Alex will play in the match while another son Michael also plays for the Shamrocks.
“There is a bit of rivalry between the two clubs so it was a great initiative,” Abdallah said. “The parents will be there on Sunday and everyone can mix together. It’s a great cause for the beauty and spirit of rugby league.
“Forgiveness is a beautiful message that society needs, and this is a great initiative.”
The fact the junior teams do not play for competition points has helped get the concept off the ground. It will also ease the pressure of overzealous parents causing problems on the sidelines when teams aren’t jostling for finals spots.
The teams got together at training on Thursday night and split their sides before training separately ahead of the match.
Abdallah hopes the concept will turn into a statewide initiative with the potential for an i4Give Gala Day to finish the junior rugby league season.
“Next year hopefully we can have all the juniors do it together,” Abdallah said.
“Because they don’t play finals anymore at the younger ages it’s a great initiative for clubs to do it at the end of the season.
“Hopefully players from rival teams can get together and have a day out.”
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