The South Sydney Rabbitohs will head back to Mudgee for the second year running to take on the St George Illawarra Dragons in the Charity Shield on Saturday, March 2nd at 7:30 pm.
After the great success of the last Charity Shield back in February this year, the two clubs will give back to the regional community once again, when they battle it out at Glen Willow Regional Sports Stadium.
The Charity Shield will play its part in the NRL's regional initiatives for 2019, who confirmed today that regional areas of NSW will host NRL Telstra Premiership fixtures with support from the NSW Government.
Rabbitohs Ticketed Members will be able to claim a ticket for the match as part of their 2019 Membership package on sale now. Members should keep an eye out for more information in the coming weeks.
The NRL has announced that as part of the package:
- Penrith Panthers will play in Bathurst in Round 3 (Saturday, March 30);
- Canberra Raiders are to host a game in Wagga Wagga, in Round 8 (Saturday, May 4);
- St George Illawarra are to host a match in Mudgee in Round 10 (Sunday, May 19).
The NSW State Government, through its tourism and major events agency Destination NSW, has pledged support to the regional event package, with a focus on marketing and driving tourism to the regional centres.
NSW Minister for Tourism and Major Events Adam Marshall joined Member for Dubbo Troy Grant, Mid-Western Regional Council Mayor Des Kennedy and St George Illawarra Dragons Chairman Brian Johnston in Mudgee today to formalise the announcement.
The match-ups will be confirmed as part of the NRL Telstra Premiership draw announcement, which will be held later this month.
NRL CEO Todd Greenberg said the NRL was proud to once again make scheduling matches in regional areas a priority.
Mr Greenberg added more regional fixtures would also be confirmed when the NRL Telstra Premiership draw is announced.
"Our commitment to playing matches in regional locations will continue in the 2019 schedule," Mr Greenberg said.
"But more than that, importantly we will have the backing of the NSW Government and Destination NSW.
"We saw some amazing scenes in some of our regional matches in 2018 and I see no reason why we won't see many more highlights in 2019."
