FORMER Kangaroo and Origin great Petero Civoniceva touched down in Mount Isa on Wednesday night on his way up to Doomadgee to launch the Catch Me If You Can football program.
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Partnering with the Police Citizens Youth Club, the program is an initiative of the state government’s Indigenous Community Sport and Recreation Program using rugby league to develop better relationships between youths and local police.
Having visited Mount Isa previously, Civoniceva was excited about the launch and what would hopefully be another successful program since his retirement three years ago.
“We’ve had some successful launches so far. It’s going to be really exciting to get an opportunity to head out there [to Doomadgee] and meet the young and old fans of rugby league,” Civoniceva said.
The former Brisbane Broncos prop is working full time with the National Rugby League as a community engagement officer.
“For me, working for the NRL now in community engagement ties in really perfectly to what my role is all about. I’ve been virtually all over this country.
‘‘It’s an awesome opportunity as an ex-player now to really engage with our supporters.
“When you’re playing professionally as a player you’re so ingrained into your career when you hear about all these wonderful places, but never get an opportunity to go to them.”
Civoniceva has taken his program over plenty of distance in Australia including regional Queensland, outer Western Queensland, North Queensland and as far as Perth and Adelaide.
The 38-year-old has collected around 20 other ambassadors since the program started, including Danny Buderus, Matt Cooper, Nathan Merritt and Nathan Hindmarsh.
“There’s a great cross-section of retired players that have an opportunity to stay in the game,” Civoniceva said.