{"id":109060,"date":"2025-08-07T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-07T03:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/?p=109060"},"modified":"2025-08-07T13:09:41","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T03:09:41","slug":"long-lunch-raises-vital-funds-for-rugby-league-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/news\/long-lunch-raises-vital-funds-for-rugby-league-community\/","title":{"rendered":"Long lunch raises vital funds for rugby league community"},"content":{"rendered":"

THE Tweed Seagulls hosted their annual Lion\u2019s Long Lunch<\/a> in front of a sold\u2011out crowd, with former NRL stars providing entertainment and the event raising crucial funds for the club\u2019s community programs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Corey Norman and Nathan Peats, who played in the State of Origin during their careers, were joined by former Gold Coast Titans and Parramatta Eels forward Keegan Hipgrave.<\/p>\n

Hipgrave\u2019s career was cut short due to ongoing concussions, and he has transitioned into mental health work over the last three years. He works with the Rugby League Players Association as a players transition manager and hosts a podcast to address mental health issues in sports.<\/p>\n

Other former players Malcolm Clift, Billy Johnstone, Frank Stanton and Adrian Vowles were special guests at the event. Johnstone was the inaugural captain of the Gold Coast\u2011Tweed Giants in 1988 and is a highly regarded strength and conditioning coach in the NRL.<\/p>\n

Champion runner Ellie Beer was also on the main panel, with NRL legend Preston Campbell presenting the main scholarship.<\/p>\n

The lunch is named in memory of club legend Tom Searle, who died in 2020, and has become a vital fundraiser for an array of award and scholarship recipients.<\/p>\n

\u201cA big congratulations to our Tom Searle Scholarship<\/a> and Andrew Stubbs Scholarship recipients Kobi Hauraki and Viliami Fifita,\u201d a Tweed Seagulls spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t wait to see what you achieve on and off the field in the coming years.\u201d<\/p>\n

The scholarship winners are selected from the Cyril Connell Cup and Mal Meninga Cup junior representative teams. They are identified for showing ability as rugby league players as well as character and conduct away from the game.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THE Tweed Seagulls hosted their annual Lion\u2019s Long Lunch in front of a sold\u2011out crowd, with former NRL stars providing entertainment and the event raising crucial funds for the club\u2019s community programs. Corey Norman and Nathan Peats, who played in the State of Origin during their careers, were joined by former Gold Coast Titans and […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":234,"featured_media":109061,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-109060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLong lunch raises vital funds for rugby league community - Lismore Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Tweed Seagulls Lion's Long Lunch, featuring NRL legends, raised funds for community programs and player scholarships.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/news\/long-lunch-raises-vital-funds-for-rugby-league-community\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Long lunch raises vital funds for rugby league community - Lismore Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Tweed Seagulls Lion's Long Lunch, featuring NRL legends, raised funds for community programs and player scholarships.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/news\/long-lunch-raises-vital-funds-for-rugby-league-community\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lismore Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-08-07T03:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-08-07T03:09:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/32\/2025\/08\/NW-2.jpg?_t=1754536182\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mitchell Craig\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mitchell Craig\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/lismoretimes\\\/news\\\/long-lunch-raises-vital-funds-for-rugby-league-community\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/lismoretimes\\\/news\\\/long-lunch-raises-vital-funds-for-rugby-league-community\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Mitchell Craig\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/lismoretimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9846d5675d51069bb38b76da2cd6a7dc\"},\"headline\":\"Long lunch raises vital funds for rugby league community\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-08-07T03:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-07T03:09:41+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/lismoretimes\\\/news\\\/long-lunch-raises-vital-funds-for-rugby-league-community\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":286,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/lismoretimes\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/lismoretimes\\\/news\\\/long-lunch-raises-vital-funds-for-rugby-league-community\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/32\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/NW-2.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/lismoretimes\\\/news\\\/long-lunch-raises-vital-funds-for-rugby-league-community\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/lismoretimes\\\/news\\\/long-lunch-raises-vital-funds-for-rugby-league-community\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/lismoretimes\\\/news\\\/long-lunch-raises-vital-funds-for-rugby-league-community\\\/\",\"name\":\"Long lunch raises vital funds for rugby league community - Lismore Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/lismoretimes\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/lismoretimes\\\/news\\\/long-lunch-raises-vital-funds-for-rugby-league-community\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/lismoretimes\\\/news\\\/long-lunch-raises-vital-funds-for-rugby-league-community\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/32\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/NW-2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-08-07T03:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-07T03:09:41+00:00\",\"description\":\"The Tweed Seagulls Lion's Long Lunch, featuring NRL legends, raised funds for community programs and player scholarships.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/lismoretimes\\\/news\\\/long-lunch-raises-vital-funds-for-rugby-league-community\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/lismoretimes\\\/news\\\/long-lunch-raises-vital-funds-for-rugby-league-community\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/32\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/NW-2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/32\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/NW-2.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630,\"caption\":\"NRL stars and other sportspeople gathered for the Tweed Seagulls Lion's Long Lunch. Photo: SUPPLIED\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/lismoretimes\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/lismoretimes\\\/\",\"name\":\"Lismore Times\",\"description\":\"Free local news\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/lismoretimes\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/lismoretimes\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/lismoretimes\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Lismore Times\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/lismoretimes\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/lismoretimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/32\\\/2024\\\/08\\\/logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/32\\\/2024\\\/08\\\/logo.png\",\"width\":770,\"height\":96,\"caption\":\"Lismore Times\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/lismoretimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/lismoretimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9846d5675d51069bb38b76da2cd6a7dc\",\"name\":\"Mitchell Craig\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/aeba839aff7142104a01c06e7a41f739bbe676da41a80aa4b2ad5f466caab0db?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/aeba839aff7142104a01c06e7a41f739bbe676da41a80aa4b2ad5f466caab0db?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/aeba839aff7142104a01c06e7a41f739bbe676da41a80aa4b2ad5f466caab0db?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Mitchell Craig\"},\"description\":\"Times News Group journalist who covers a range of news and sport. For story ideas and news tips contact me on mitchell.craig@timesnewsgroup.com.au\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/lismoretimes\\\/author\\\/mitchell\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Long lunch raises vital funds for rugby league community - Lismore Times","description":"The Tweed Seagulls Lion's Long Lunch, featuring NRL legends, raised funds for community programs and player scholarships.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/news\/long-lunch-raises-vital-funds-for-rugby-league-community\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Long lunch raises vital funds for rugby league community - Lismore Times","og_description":"The Tweed Seagulls Lion's Long Lunch, featuring NRL legends, raised funds for community programs and player scholarships.","og_url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/news\/long-lunch-raises-vital-funds-for-rugby-league-community\/","og_site_name":"Lismore Times","article_published_time":"2025-08-07T03:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-08-07T03:09:41+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/32\/2025\/08\/NW-2.jpg?_t=1754536182","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Mitchell Craig","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mitchell Craig","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/news\/long-lunch-raises-vital-funds-for-rugby-league-community\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/news\/long-lunch-raises-vital-funds-for-rugby-league-community\/"},"author":{"name":"Mitchell Craig","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/#\/schema\/person\/9846d5675d51069bb38b76da2cd6a7dc"},"headline":"Long lunch raises vital funds for rugby league community","datePublished":"2025-08-07T03:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-07T03:09:41+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/news\/long-lunch-raises-vital-funds-for-rugby-league-community\/"},"wordCount":286,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/news\/long-lunch-raises-vital-funds-for-rugby-league-community\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/32\/2025\/08\/NW-2.jpg","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/news\/long-lunch-raises-vital-funds-for-rugby-league-community\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/news\/long-lunch-raises-vital-funds-for-rugby-league-community\/","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/news\/long-lunch-raises-vital-funds-for-rugby-league-community\/","name":"Long lunch raises vital funds for rugby league community - Lismore Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/news\/long-lunch-raises-vital-funds-for-rugby-league-community\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/news\/long-lunch-raises-vital-funds-for-rugby-league-community\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/32\/2025\/08\/NW-2.jpg","datePublished":"2025-08-07T03:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-07T03:09:41+00:00","description":"The Tweed Seagulls Lion's Long Lunch, featuring NRL legends, raised funds for community programs and player scholarships.","inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/news\/long-lunch-raises-vital-funds-for-rugby-league-community\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/news\/long-lunch-raises-vital-funds-for-rugby-league-community\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/32\/2025\/08\/NW-2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/32\/2025\/08\/NW-2.jpg","width":1200,"height":630,"caption":"NRL stars and other sportspeople gathered for the Tweed Seagulls Lion's Long Lunch. Photo: SUPPLIED"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/#website","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/","name":"Lismore Times","description":"Free local news","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/#organization","name":"Lismore Times","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/32\/2024\/08\/logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/32\/2024\/08\/logo.png","width":770,"height":96,"caption":"Lismore Times"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/#\/schema\/person\/9846d5675d51069bb38b76da2cd6a7dc","name":"Mitchell Craig","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/aeba839aff7142104a01c06e7a41f739bbe676da41a80aa4b2ad5f466caab0db?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/aeba839aff7142104a01c06e7a41f739bbe676da41a80aa4b2ad5f466caab0db?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/aeba839aff7142104a01c06e7a41f739bbe676da41a80aa4b2ad5f466caab0db?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Mitchell Craig"},"description":"Times News Group journalist who covers a range of news and sport. For story ideas and news tips contact me on mitchell.craig@timesnewsgroup.com.au","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/author\/mitchell\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/234"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109060"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109060\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109060"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/lismoretimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=109060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}