Charles Darwin University students at Santa Teresa took an unscheduled break from their studies this morning when two AFL stars popped into their classroom to say “g’day”.
Lecturer Roz Russelhuber was leading a session on health and safety when the university’s transportable classroom caught the eye of Richmond players Shane Edwards and David Astbury.
“It’s not often that we get visitors out bush and even rarer to have someone with the gravitas of an AFL footballer,” Ms Russelhuber said.
“They’re pretty passionate about their footy in Santa Teresa and were particularly impressed that Shane took time to meet them.”
Edwards claims a distant connection to the Arrente people of Santa Teresa on his mother’s side of the family.
Ms Russelhuber is delivering Certificate I in Business from one of CDU’s Mobile Adult Learning Units, which this month was relocated to Santa Teresa, 82 km southeast of Alice Springs.
“We had a full house of 20 enrolments from day one, which indicates the interest and relevancy of the program,” Ms Russelhuber said.
“The course is designed so individuals can develop basic skills and knowledge in order to prepare themselves for work.”
Ms Russelhuber said it was fitting that the Richmond players spoke about the high value they placed on getting a good education.
“CDU takes its vocational education and training programs to as many Territorians as possible regardless of their locations,” she said.
Richmond has been running The Outback Tigers program in Central Australia for the past five years, promoting the importance of school attendance, healthy living and hygiene.
They are also in Central Australia for the highly anticipated exhibition match against the AFL’s Indigenous All Stars in Alice Springs tomorrow (8 Feb).
“Every one of my students said they were going to attend the big match,” Ms Russelhuber said.