Mid-year, Bribie Island’s Robyn Tozer was announced as the winner of the AFL Queensland Volunteer of the Year Award and as such was rewarded with a trip to the 2011 Toyota AFL Grand Final.
Robyn has been an outstanding worker for the Bulldogs over a number of years and has played a major role in the development of first class facilities at the club.
One of the highlights of the trip for Robyn was having the opportunity to be part of the Grand Final parade through the streets of Melbourne, soaking up the atmosphere as the crowd of over 100,000 cheered on the teams.
State winners from around Australia were invited to be part of the parade and then had front row seats as the captains from both clubs went up on stage to pose with the Premiership Cup.
As an added bonus to the experience, Robyn and her family of rabid Geelong supporters found themselves staying in the same motel as Cats captain Cameron Ling and got to have a chat to the man himself out the front to the motel on Grand Final eve.
Their Grand Final breakfast was shared with special guests Nic Natanui and Israel Folau and in keeping with his public profile, Robyn stated that Folau is a quiet man, and to her surprise, not as ‘bulky’ as she expected.
After the excitement of the breakfast, it was then off to the MCG to the corporate hospitality tents to chat with James Hird and other AFL dignitaries.
Prime seats at the ‘G’ gave Robyn a great view of the game and as we know now, the result went her way as the Cats came home over the top of Collingwood.
While there were many great memories made one of the most lasting for Robyn was the Monday morning breakfast with all the other state winners, sharing some tales and secrets, but most of all just seeing how ordinary people make such a huge contribution to what makes this game so great.
Further to the AFL’s recognition of Robyn’s work, she has also been invited to attend the 17th annual Queensland Sports Awards at the Brisbane Convention Centre on Monday 21st November.
Congratulations Robyn!
Last Modified on 02/02/2012 13:04