Eels and Panthers players on a visit to Kellyville Ridge Public School
Pupils at Kellyville Ridge Public School hosted NRL players from the Parramatta Eels and Penrith Panthers rugby league clubs yesterday.
Eels fan favourites Joseph Paulo and Mitch Allgood joined Panthers pair Anthony Cherrington and Kevin Kingston for the special visit.
Together they answered questions from the pupils and spoke about the importance of the NRL’s 2013 school topic ‘‘tackling bullying.’’
Special guest Mario Fenech spoke about his own bullying experiences and how he struggled with school bullies as a child.
Fenech said it was important to stamp out bullying throughout all schools and for kids to speak up when they see it.
To reinforce the message Eels and Panthers members educated pupils about the ‘‘Tie, Tell and Yell’’ approach.
The anti-bullying slogan encourages pupils to tie a string around their wrist to show support, tell a friend when they see acts of bullying and yell for a teacher.
The visit was a huge success and part of a wider strategy by the NRL to visit 140,000 students across Australia, New Zealand, Tonga and Samoa.