Dean Bliss won’t take all the credit for the surge in participation numbers at Dungowan Junior Rugby League (JRL), which has almost doubled from 152 in 2022 to 289 this year.
The 2025 NSWRL Gordon Lowrie Volunteer of the Year instead paid tribute to the other people who have worked tirelessly to grow the game as well as the rise in female participation.
“We had the right people in the right places at the right time and they attract other people,” Bliss told nswrl.com.au.
“We put a lot of focus on the girls’ space – we had a lot of boys come along as well – but we do have good growth and good numbers in the juniors with the girls.
“It’s crazy and rightly so. The girls love it, they love the contact. We weren’t sure how it was going to go but we’re happy that we took a leap and made sure we had an offering for those girls to continue to play Rugby League.”
Bliss said adding to the interest in the region was the progression of Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks NRLW star Jada Taylor, who started her career with the Dungowan Cowboys.
“Being a local, and her involvement with the club and having the girls being able to watch her on TV, has been a great promotion within our area,” Bliss said.
Bliss was extremely humbled to be named as the Gordon Lowrie Volunteer of the Year at the Brad Fittler Medal after being chosen from 12 Regional Volunteer of the Year winners.
“To be honest it was a really big shock,” Bliss said.
“There are some great people in and around Rugby League and the time and the effort and the years of service that they put in it was a big shock to be recognised even in the same sentence as some of those people that I’ve come across in my short time.
“It was very unexpected, but I was so very appreciative of it all the same.”
The father-of-two started his involvement with Rugby League after his youngest son, Brodie, now 14, signed to play with Dungowan JRL.
The journey since then has seen him hold roles as President for Tamworth District Minor League and Dungowan JRL, before moving on to the Group 4 JRL President and a director for Northern Region. He also assists as a trainer for Dungowan JRL and a referee when required.
“It’s been great to be able to put a smile on those kids’ faces,” Bliss said.
“I certainly didn’t start out what I was doing for accolades or awards or anything like that. It was more that I could see a lot of people were doing a lot of hard work and I said, ‘Hey, what can I do to help?’
“I threw myself into it so to speak, got to know about the game a little bit and the inner workings and challenges that the clubs and the grassroots face.
“It’s led me along this path, it certainly wasn’t an orchestrated path, that was just the path that I followed.”
