They devote their time to nurturing the next generation
On Australia Day 2026, the rugby league community paused to honour those whose contributions rarely make headlines but quietly sustain the sport and the lives around it. From Mark Hughes, who transformed a brain cancer diagnosis into a foundation that has channelled millions into research, to the coaches and groundskeepers who have given decades to junior clubs in small towns across Australia, these honours speak to a deeper truth: that the most enduring legacies are often built not from glory, but from choosing to serve. The Order of Australia, in this moment, belongs as much to the grassroots as to the grand.
- Mark Hughes faced a brain cancer diagnosis in 2013 and responded not with retreat but with the founding of a charity that has since become Australia's national hub for brain cancer research.
- Geoffrey Bellew's decade-long stewardship of the NRL Judiciary — and his recent elevation to lead the International Rugby League Judiciary Committee — earned him an Order of Australia for quietly holding the sport's disciplinary integrity together.
- Eleven rugby league community members received OAM recognition, most of them volunteers who have spent decades coaching children, tending grounds, and staffing committees in regional and suburban clubs.
- NRL CEO Andrew Abdo publicly named these grassroots figures as essential infrastructure, warning that without them the sport itself cannot survive — a rare institutional acknowledgment of what usually goes unseen.
- The honours land as a collective statement: that rugby league's identity is inseparable from the people who show up in small towns and ask for nothing in return.
In 2013, Mark Hughes was a rugby league player when he received a brain cancer diagnosis. Rather than withdraw, he and his wife Kirralee founded the Mark Hughes Foundation in 2014 — a vehicle to fund research and support those facing the same illness. The foundation's Beanie for Brain Cancer Round, conceived with the late Channel 9 producer Matt Callander, became an annual NRL fixture that has raised millions. In 2022, the couple opened the MHF Centre for Brain Cancer Research at the University of Newcastle, now the national hub for the disease. On Australia Day 2026, Hughes received an OAM — recognition not merely for surviving, but for what he chose to build from that moment.
Also honoured was Geoffrey Bellew, NRL Judiciary Chair since 2015, who received an AM for his service to law, the legal profession, and rugby league. A former Justice of the New South Wales Supreme Court, Bellew has overseen disciplinary matters across the NRL, NRLW, State of Origin, and Pacific Championships, and in 2024 was appointed to lead the International Rugby League Judiciary Committee. He has also served on the NRL Board and chaired the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles.
Beyond these two, nine further OAMs were awarded to rugby league community members — among them Phil Jenkinson of Souths Juniors, a 33-year junior coach; Francis Ahmat of Darwin Brothers for services to the Indigenous community; and volunteers from clubs in Gunnedah, Mareeba, Ballina, Caloundra, and the Orara Valley. Most have given decades to junior rugby league: coaching children, managing committees, tending grounds, and staffing sidelines in towns most Australians would struggle to find on a map.
NRL CEO Andrew Abdo acknowledged that these individuals are the sport's true infrastructure — the people who nurture the next generation and without whom rugby league cannot thrive. What the 2026 Australia Day honours ultimately affirm is that the game is not only what happens in stadiums, but what is held together, year after year, by people who simply keep showing up.
Mark Hughes was playing rugby league when his life changed. In 2013, he was diagnosed with brain cancer. Rather than retreat, he and his wife Kirralee built something. They founded the Mark Hughes Foundation in 2014 with a single purpose: to fight the disease that had found him, to fund research, to support others walking the same path. Twelve years later, on Australia Day 2026, Hughes received an OAM—an Order of Australia Medal—for services to the community through charitable work. It was recognition not just of survival, but of what he chose to do with it.
The foundation's signature initiative is the Beanie for Brain Cancer Round, a concept Hughes developed with Matt Callander, a Channel 9 producer who has since died. Every year, the NRL stages this round. Beanies are sold. Millions of dollars flow into research. In 2022, Hughes and his wife opened the MHF Centre for Brain Cancer Research at the University of Newcastle—now the national hub for brain cancer investigation in Australia. The work continues, year after year, driven by a man who turned his diagnosis into a mission.
Hughes was not alone in being honoured this Australia Day. Geoffrey Bellew, the long-serving chair of the NRL Judiciary, received an AM—an Order of Australia—for his service to the judiciary, the law, the legal profession, and rugby league itself. Bellew has held the judiciary chair since 2015, overseeing disciplinary matters across the NRL and NRLW premierships, State of Origin, and the Pacific Championships. In 2024, he was appointed chair of the International Rugby League Judiciary Committee. Before that, he served as a Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales from 2012 to 2023. He has also chaired the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles and served on the NRL Board.
But the honours extended far beyond these two names. Phil Jenkinson of Maroubra, a lifelong South Sydney devotee, received an OAM for his work in sailing and junior rugby league. He is a life member of Souths Juniors and the South Sydney Mustangs, having worked at the club in roles ranging from groundsman to committee positions. He has coached at junior level for 33 years. Nine others received OAM recognition: Francis Ahmat of Darwin Brothers for services to the Indigenous community; Colleen Fuller, patron of Gunnedah Rugby League Club; Dennis Howe, benefactor of Mareeba Rugby League Club; Richard Willis, former Ballina Junior Rugby League coach and committee member; Kevin Stroud, Caloundra Junior Rugby League life member; David Millett, former East Mount Pritchard Junior Rugby League coach; Shane Wicks, medical officer for Gerringong Lions; Reginald Young, former Western Suburbs Magpies Board director; and Barry Nicholls, long-term trainer at Orara Valley Axemen Rugby League Club in Western Australia.
The pattern is unmistakable. Most of these people have given decades to junior rugby league—the grassroots level where children first learn the game, where volunteers are the infrastructure that holds everything together. They are groundskeepers and coaches, committee members and medical officers, life members who show up year after year in small towns and suburbs across the country. NRL CEO Andrew Abdo acknowledged this in his statement, noting that the league is "incredibly fortunate and proud" to have these individuals as part of the community. He singled out the junior rugby league volunteers, saying they "devote their time to nurturing the next generation of Rugby League players." Without them, he said, the sport cannot thrive.
What these honours represent is a particular kind of recognition—not for fame or wealth, but for showing up. For staying. For turning a personal crisis into a foundation that saves lives. For spending three decades coaching children in a town most people have never heard of. For being the person who opens the gates and marks the field and tends to the injured player on the sideline. The NRL is saying, on this day, that these people matter. That their work is seen. That rugby league is not just a professional sport played in stadiums, but a community held together by people who ask for nothing in return.
Citas Notables
We are incredibly fortunate and proud to have these remarkable individuals as part of the Rugby League community.— NRL CEO Andrew Abdo
These individuals devote their time to nurturing the next generation of Rugby League players.— NRL CEO Andrew Abdo
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Mark Hughes turned his own diagnosis into a foundation that's now a national research hub. What made him choose that path instead of just surviving?
I think there's something about facing mortality that clarifies what matters. He didn't just get treatment and move on. He and his wife built something that could help the next person. The Beanie Round isn't charity as obligation—it's become part of the calendar, part of how the game marks itself.
And Geoffrey Bellew—he's been in the judiciary chair for over a decade. That's not a glamorous role.
No, it's not. But it's essential. He's the one making the hard calls about player conduct, about fairness. And he did it while also being a Supreme Court Justice. That's the kind of person the NRL needed in that position—someone with real legal weight.
The list of OAM recipients is mostly junior league volunteers. Why does that matter so much?
Because junior league is where the game lives at the grassroots. These people—the coaches, the groundskeepers, the committee members—they're not paid. They're not famous. But without them, there's no pipeline, no community, no reason for kids to fall in love with the sport. Recognizing them says the NRL understands that.
Phil Jenkinson coached for 33 years. That's a lifetime.
That's the thing. These aren't people who did something once and moved on. They showed up, year after year, in small towns and suburbs. That kind of consistency is what builds culture. It's invisible until you stop and actually look at it.
Does this kind of recognition change anything materially for these volunteers?
Probably not their day-to-day work. But it validates them. It says their work is seen, that it matters at the highest levels of the sport. For people who've given decades without fanfare, that acknowledgment is real.