Tom Cutcliffe has described the support for the tournament named in son Jack’s honour as “very overwhelming” after a big crowd turned out for the second Jack Cutcliffe Memorial Tournament.
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Players from Pirates, Calrossy, Eastwood and McCarthy took to Ken Chillingworth Oval on Saturday in memory of the former Pirates junior and to raise funds for the Heart Foundation.
“It was a good day.
“The crowd was bigger than last year, which was excellent,” Cutcliffe said.
He estimated the attendance at around 500.
“It was very overwhelming to see so many people there,” he said.
“It’s a real credit to the character he (Jack) was.”
Pirates were unable to defend their title with Eastwood and Calrossy battling it out for the silverware.
The Sydney side went on to take the honours and also claimed the “old boys” spoils.
The old boys games were introduced this year so to allow the players that played last year and were too old for the under-17s to still be involved.
This year’s tournament also saw the addition of some girls games.
Thrown together at the last minute from players from Pirates, McCarthy and Calrossy, Cutcliffe hopes to build on their involvement next year.
He also spoke about bringing a couple of other under-17s sides in.
Eastwood have already indicated they are keen to come back.
Cutcliffe said they are still counting up the money raised but it is looking like being in the thousands.
“Eastwood presented us with a cheque for $1500 with the fundraising they did,” he said.
David Campese’s Wallabies jersey commemorating his 100th test match also fetched $1000.
Cutcliffe wished to thank the club (Pirates) for all the work they did behind the scenes, especially Ali Faulkner and Andrew Verrell and his crew with the grounds, and “all the people of Tamworth that came out supported”.
