The stories that emerge bring some perspective amid the ongoing off-field scandals that plague our great game. One of the best involves Port Kembla captain-coach Jimmy Storer, who’s on track to feature in his third World Cup at season’s end.

What is not as well known, is that he will soon travel back to Fiji accompanying a shipping container full of old boots, shorts and jerseys that he’s gathered from all around the Illawarra to distribute to league-mad but cash-poor villages

“We’ve had so much support from the Illawarra, it’s been great” Storer said.

 “We’ve got a heap of kids boots and little head gears and shoulder pads. We’ve got a set of Dapto jerseys, Corrimal jerseys and all different footy teams from the Illawarra and they’ll see how far that gear goes.

“When you go to Fiji you see how it really is. You give the kids something as small as a pair of old footy boots, they really cherish it. As soon as you put the boots on these kids they’re running around screaming all the Fiji Bati players names and it’s pretty special to see. I think it’s something we really take for granted over here.”