The NSW Blues will use their annual pre-season State of Origin camp to stage a rugby league clinic for children on the state’s bushfire-ravaged south coast.
The NSW Rugby League on Tuesday announced that last year’s successful State of Origin squad would host 300 children in Batemans Bay on Saturday.
The Blues traditionally get together in late January to begin preparations in earnest for the upcoming Origin series.
It was in Armidale last year that NSW hatched their plan to defend the Origin shield for the first time in 15 years.
However, this time, Blues coach Brad Fittler approached skipper Boyd Cordner about spending their time visiting the south coast instead.
The proposal was unanimously supported by the squad.
It is not the first time the NSWRL have reached out to communities devastated by the recent fires this summer.
In November, Fittler, Cordner, Cameron Murray, Damien Cook, James Roberts and Angus Crichton all visited Taree.
Batemans Bay is two hours north of Bega, hometown of NSW forward Dale Finucane.