RUGBY LEAGUE
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One Illawarra football club is on the verge of being formally recognised by the NRL as Australia's most community-minded grassroots organisation.
The Woonona Bulli Bushrangers junior rugby league club will head to Sydney on Thursday night as a finalist in the One Community Grassroots Club of the Year.
The Bushrangers have made the cut for the final four and the winner will be announced at a gala presentation in Redfern.
It's the first time the club has nominated for the coveted gong and Bushrangers president Troy Jones has his fingers crossed.
"It would be a just reward for the amount of work that's gone into the club," Jones said.
"It would be great for all the work the committee put in and for the children as well."
The Bushrangers pride themselves on being a club that welcomes everyone.
They regularly host fund-raising events for various organisations including the Cancer Council, and earlier this year supported the Rise For Alex initiative for injured Newcastle forward Alex McKinnon.
Four years ago, Jones personally welcomed Brenton Ashford-Potter into the club and introduced him to coaching a junior team.
Ashford-Potter has Down syndrome and dyspraxia, but wanted to find a football club to join.
He is now a club favourite at the Bushrangers and helps coach the under-11 and under-15 teams.
Ashford-Potter was the first person with his disability to receive a NSW Rugby League coaching accreditation.
The Bushrangers now have an association with Ashford-Potter's league tag team, the Dragons.
The Dragons join in the odd training session with the Bushrangers and the two clubs play an annual game against one another.