Footy captains don zero for road safety

AFL Goldfields has announced an upcoming Towards Zero round in partnership with the Transport Accident Commission.

All team captains throughout the region will wear jumpers with a zero on the back during the round from 2 to 4 August, raising awareness of the TAC and state government’s goal to eliminate Victoria’s road toll.

Rokewood Corindhap Football and Netball Club’s Co-Coach, Shaune Moloney is looking forward to the round. Many people travel to be involved with his sporting community, as the town is roughly an equal distance from Ballarat, Geelong and Camperdown.

He said his Captain, Mitch McLaughlin will be wearing the zero, not only on behalf of Rokewood, but on behalf of all country footy clubs.

“We’re not unique from other country clubs in that we’re rural, but Rokewood’s a very small town. A few of the club members live in the immediate community but the rest of us travel, so most of our members, supporters and players travel on training nights and games,” he said.

“We’re 100 per cent behind the Towards Zero round. The message is so relevant to us, we all spend so much time in our cars, relying on our roads to get to our footy club and spend time together as a community.

“We all want to arrive safely and get home safely after a club function,” Mr Moloney said.

Minister for Road Safety and the TAC, Jaala Pulford is pleased by the opportunity to marry the state’s love of sport with the passion for making roads safer.

“Footy clubs are like families, and when footy clubs are impacted by road trauma, the impact flows through that community,” she said.

“This is a way for us to be talking to loads of people about the importance of road safety and how it’s everyone’s responsibility to do their bit.”