Courtesy of The Courier-Mail - By Paul Malone
CENTRAL Queensland’s western regions are well used to fly-in, fly-out workers, but a new, one-man flying “doctor’’ will help administer rugby league there.
The Central Division of the QRL last Saturday approved the purchase of an RV vehicle to be based in Roma and driven by a staffer to assist clubs and competition administrators in centres including Emerald, Longreach and Winton.
An administrator, to be appointed, will fly in from Brisbane and drive the maroon painted, special decked-out vehicle to be procured by the QRL as a mobile help to run the game in challenging times.
“We are talking from the NSW border all the way up to as far as Winton and across to the Central Highlands, Emerald,’’ said QRL managing director Rob Moore.
“Mt Isa is a possibility in other years as it’s not too much further than Winton but initially it’s a Central Division thing and we’ll see if we can support Mt Isa (in the QRL’s Northern Division) with this idea.
“We see it as a bit of a fly-in, fly-out worker scenario.
“I see it as a mobile service delivery because it’s about getting around the various places. We will plan the 10 or 11 months the RV is on the road and we will look at the competitions and carnivals that we would need to have someone there. If there’s a primary schools carnival at Longreach, the bus will be in Longreach at that time.
“We think it will be a cost effective way of doing business and a great promotion for the game in the western areas.
“We had part-time positions in some of those areas who are administrative support or operational managers, as we call them. They support the clubs and the management of the competitions, with governance and other support.’’
Moore said the vehicle would not primarily be for junior development but could be made available for staff to do clinics and school visits.
“You have to have the right person for the job, someone who wants to be travelling for three weeks of every four, visiting the leagues in that rotation, and then come back and have a week off.
“We found over the time we’ve had part-time positions. They are reasonably hard to recruit. It’s expensive to live in some of those centres and the travel and accommodation costs are quite high.’’
