In a state well-known for its AFL fanaticism, the Karratha Kangaroos Junior Rugby League, 1,530km north of Perth, has been named the NRL’s community club of the year, beating out the league-mad states of Queensland and NSW to become the first West Australian club to receive the honour.<\/p>\n
WARNING: This story contains reference to youth suicide and mental illness.<\/p>\n
NRL officials made the surprise announcement at the club in August, and Kangaroos representatives travelled to Sydney for the official presentation at Sunday’s NRL grand final.<\/p>\n
Club president Josh Cruice said he was “over the Moon” at the acknowledgement.<\/p>\n
“It just goes to show what the club’s about \u2014 we’re an inclusive community club.<\/p>\n
“Everyone’s a volunteer and puts hundreds and hundreds of hours into the club.”<\/p>\n
“We couldn’t be prouder.”<\/p>\n
Club president Josh Cruice was surprised with the national award in front of a Pilbara sunset. (ABC News: Charlie Mills)<\/p>\n
The NRL cited the club’s “inclusive culture, innovative spirit, and unwavering commitment to creating opportunities for young players” as reasons for its win.<\/p>\n
For players like 12-year-old JC Pukeke, the importance of a club like the Kangaroos goes a lot further than the action on the field.<\/p>\n
Vital community connection<\/p>\n
Every week during the season, JC and his mum Char make a 10-hour round trip from Tom Price to Karratha, so JC can don the Kangaroos guernsey.<\/p>\n
For both of them, the time commitment and money spent on travel is well worth it, because of the significant benefits for JC.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
JC Pukeke travels more than 10 hours every week to play for the Karratha Kangaroos (ABC News: Charlie Mills)<\/p>\n
At a young age, JC experienced serious mental health concerns, compounded by experiences of bullying and body image issues.<\/p>\n
He began to experience suicidal ideation, so his mum took him back to New Zealand to reconnect with his roots.<\/p>\n
It was there he found rugby league.<\/p>\n
“I didn’t think much about it, but when Mum took me there, it did make me feel like I was connected to home,” JC said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
JC and his mum Char travel to Karratha every week for Kangaroos’ games.\u00a0 (ABC News: Charlie Mills)<\/p>\n
Char said exposing JC to his traditional community and the rugby league atmosphere helped him make significant leaps.<\/p>\n
“He was able to see for his own eyes by looking at other people who are like him and the same size.”<\/p>\n
She said after four months in New Zealand, \u00a0“he ended up saying to his coach and to myself that ‘I love my body'”.<\/p>\n
If you or anyone you know needs help:Suicide Call Back Service<\/a> on 1300 659 467Lifeline<\/a> on 13 11 14Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander crisis support line 13YARN<\/a>\u00a0on 13 92 76Kids Helpline<\/a> on 1800 551 800Beyond Blue<\/a> on 1300 224 636Headspace<\/a> on 1800 650 890ReachOut<\/a> at au.reachout.com<\/a>MensLine Australia<\/a> on 1300 789 978QLife 1800 184 527<\/a><\/p>\n Since returning to WA, JC said he had found that same acceptance at the Karratha Kangaroos.<\/p>\n “It feels like I’m part of a pack, like a wolf pack but it’s rugby,” he said.<\/p>\n “And I get to express how strong I can be on the field.”<\/p>\n The Karratha Kangaroos were honoured for efforts in inclusion and innovation. (ABC News: Charlie Mills)<\/p>\n Char said lessons learned on the field have helped him grow.<\/p>\n “There are times when you’re going to fall and hit the ground \u2014 in rugby league we get back up, grab that ball and go forward,” she said.<\/p>\n “That’s the same thing in life, and that’s what he’s done so far.”<\/p>\n The Karratha Kangaroos are the NRL’s community club of the year for 2025. (ABC News: Charlie Mills)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In a state well-known for its AFL fanaticism, the Karratha Kangaroos Junior Rugby League, 1,530km north of Perth,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":204411,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,127089,127091,15995,127088,514,761,762,158,159,127090,127092,85],"class_list":["post-204410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-community-club-of-the-year","tag-community-organisations","tag-inclusion","tag-karratha-rugby-league-club","tag-mental-health","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-rugby-league","tag-sport-awards","tag-sport-clubs","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204410","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=204410"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204410\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/204411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=204410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=204410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=204410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n
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