TWELVE months of planning came to fruition yesterday when the inaugural Disability Information Group (DIG) and NRL League Tag Knockout was played at No.2 Oval.
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The event brought together players from various disability service providers and their employees, as well as school teams, and combined with NAIDOC celebrations to create a carnival atmosphere.
A total of 14 teams of 12 were involved in the competition, which despite its infancy is already expected to expand thanks to the support of the NRL.
"We had a great day. It was a bit warm but the response that we had was terrific," organiser Ray Peckham said.
"A lot of the Dubbo service providers were involved but we also had two teams from Delroy College, a team from St John's and a team from Mt Druitt travelled out as well.
"The really enjoyable thing about the day was that the mainstream players that we had really treated the players with disabilities with respect, and the smiles on their faces from running around and playing football and kicking the ball around was terrific.
"It's also good because we encourage the parents to come along and watch their children running around and having a great time, and it just boosts the whole family."
Yesterday was the first time such an event had been held in Dubbo, but it is already providing a pathway for the players to potentially go on and play at a higher level.
Local league legend Ron Gibbs was on hand and he is working on putting together a possibles v probables fixture, with players to then meet in a disability Country v City match prior to the NRL representative fixture in Tamworth next year.
"Ronny and some of his team were watching the day and they will try and find some players that can go to the Possibles v Probables and then maybe to the Country v City game," Peckham said.
"Hopefully through that we can encourage more service providers to become involved and we think this event is a great starting point for the future."
Jaanimili won the day, beating Dubbo DIG 4-2 in the final after DIG had beaten Mission Magic in a thrilling golden point semi-final.
Peckham also thanked the sponsors of the day for their support, those being the Dubbo Neighbourhood Centre, ICan, Westhaven, Breakthru People Solutions, Challenge Community Services, the Red Cross, Orana Support, CareWest, Northcott, Athlete's Foot, Whitney's Jewellers and Sportspower.
