SPECIAL and loving efforts were made all around town as the Tea Gardens Hawks’ most avid supporters sent their beloved team off to the Grand Final last week.

The Hawks’ last training session of the 2023 season on Thursday, 7 September morphed into a community event, with an open invitation via social media to come and watch the boys’ last practice before their big game.

An amazing two-day labour of love by Leah Barry, Telika Willis-Monk and Abbey Fenner saw the Myall Park Sports Complex plastered with the names and numbers of all the players and Club supporters.

The ladies also posted an ‘Avenue of Awesomeness’ along the Myall Way, proudly heralding the players as they headed out of town on Sunday.

With the scars of recent vandalism on the Myall Park field completely erased from view, the 2023 Tea Gardens Hawks Men’s team embarked on their final team training session, skirting an awkwardly placed plover’s nest near the try-line.

Any nerves among the team were tempered by their vivid determination, as they ran the grounds and drills that got them to this point, the first Grand Final appearance for the Hawks since 2015, the last such victory being back in 2011.

Each and every players’ jersey is sponsored by different local businesses, and several of the sponsors were present on the Thursday night gathering to proudly present to the finalist players.

These jerseys were officially presented to each player after the main training exercises, along with a few speeches made by many sponsors and Club officials, thanking the players, some of whom have been traveling a long way to make it to games and training all year.

Hawks RLFC Vice President Aaron Neighbour, who is also a sponsor, said, “I love this Club, and treat it as my family, the boys put in week in, week out, and we want to thank the sponsors and supporters of the team throughout the extended season.”

By Thomas O’KEEFE