Why Cam's getting out of his comfort zone, Bears gain national recognition

Last year it was seven loops of Lake Macquarie over seven weeks.

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This year, Cameron Lodge is getting even more uncomfortable for another good cause.

A look at what's been happening around the grounds and courts this week.

The Teralba 28-year-old is planning back-to-back challenges in October to raise funds and awareness for homelessness.

Both are part of Nedd's Uncomfortable Challenge (NUC), inspired by ultra-marathon runner and 2026 Young Australian of the Year Nedd Brockmann.

NUC is a 10-day challenge between October 19 and 28, inviting people around Australia to do something tough to support thousands of others living rough.

NUC raised $1.6 million for homeless charity We Are Mobilise last year. This year, the goal is $2 million.

Lodge, who raised $8500 last year for mental health charity Talk2MeBro, is aiming to contribute $10,000 in funds.

The local footballer's first challenge is cycling 700 kilometres from Gold Coast to Newcastle in the quickest time possible.

The young father will leave Surfers Paradise on October 19 and hopes to reach Newcastle in three days.

Lodge planned to run-walk 80-kilometre loops of Lake Macquarie last year each week for seven weeks.

He ended up using his bike on some parts, which inspired this year's challenge.

"The disappointment of taking my bike for a couple of laps, because my body let me down, I saw as a negative," Lodge said.

"But turning a negative into a positive took me to my next challenge."

Lodge was going through a period of burnout in 2022 when he was inspired by Brockmann, who ran from Cottesloe in Western Australia to Bondi, NSW to raise money for charity.

"That gave me the idea of doing the seven laps, so this challenge for NUC is my way of saying thank you to Nedd for inspiring me to do my challenge last year," Lodge, who is now a NUC ambassador, said.

There will be little time for rest after the bike challenge before Lodge, who played Zone Football League for Warners Bay this year, takes on another.

He will run-walk 122 laps around Merewether's Empire Park on October 24. The significance is to "represent 122,000 people homeless in Australia".

"Doing the challenges is about being uncomfortable for a certain amount of time, putting yourself in someone else's shoes and in a lot worse circumstances," Lodge said.

We hear Weston Football Club are still celebrating their NPL Men's grand final victory over Maitland last Sunday.

It was the first time the Bears had won a first-grade championship since 1995 and the whole town is cheering.

The championship trophy has done the rounds of Bears sponsors' workplaces this week, and the club even got a shout-out in Federal Parliament.

Hunter MP Dan Repacholi spoke about Weston's achievement on the floor of Parliament, citing the club's great history and the Hunter region as a "football heartland".

Wearing a Bears cap, Repacholi said: "What a day for the Weston Bears and for the best football region in Australia, the Hunter.

"After 31 years, the Weston Bears are Northern NSW NPL champions again. This win belongs to the players, to the coaches, and to every single volunteer, sponsor, former player, and supporter who never gave up on the club."

Repacholi concluded by "taking my Weston Bears hat off to you all".

He was promptly told to leave it off by the Speaker.

Weston Bears' grand final win in NPLM Northern NSW earned a shoutout in Federal Parliament this week. Picture by Marina Neil

Tara Andrews may have stolen the show with a piece of individual brilliance to produce the winner in New Lambton's 2-1 win over premiers Maitland in the NPLW Northern NSW grand final on Saturday.

But there was another huge talking point before a ball had even been kicked at Darling Street Oval.

In a novel concept, and kudos to Northern NSW Football for looking outside the square, the match ball for both the first-grade and reserve-grade grand finals was delivered to the referee in a Cardiff Motor Group-branded remote control jeep.

Cardiff Motor Group are the first naming rights sponsor of NPLW.

The Newcastle Herald went searching for other novel match ball arrivals and discovered a similar scenario at Euro 2020. In that instance it was a Volkswagen-branded remote control car.

The NPLW Northern NSW match ball was delivered by a Cardiff Motor Group-branded remote control jeep at Darling Street Oval last weekend. Picture by Marina Neil

Grand final coaches Craig Atkins (New Lambton) and Ben Horgan (Maitland) confirmed they will be staying on at their respective clubs next NPLW season, but there will be some new faces in charge of their opponents.

Ethan Evans has already been announced as Newcastle Olympic's head coach for next year and premiership-winning mentor Heath Whyte, who coached Charlestown Azzurri to the 2024 and 2025 championships, is back to lead NPLW newcomers Kahibah in 2027 after having a season off.

Azzurri have announced the departure of their NPLW coach Alicia Ferguson, who has taken up a role at Sutherland Sharks Football Club.

Lake Macquarie Football Club has also thanked Gabrielle Blanch for heading up their NPLW program in their first two years.

Neither club has yet named a replacement.

The list of imports who played in NPL NNSW has been arguably the best in 25 years.

Broadmeadow Magic striker Luis Lara Delgado (Mexico) won the Golden Boot from German-born marksman Marco Gueli (Belswans).

Weston attacker Luke McCormick collected the DJ Williams Medal for player of the grand final.

Belmont-Swansea midfielder Andy McGee earned a trial with the Jets.

Semi Wara (Fiji), Cameron Jessup (England) and Mana Iwasaki (Japan) were among the best centre-backs. Carson Wood (Canada) was great on the wing for Weston.

The quality of the overseas players did not go unnoticed by other NPL clubs.

Gueli is the first to be headhunted and has signed with Victorian club Preston for the Australian Championship and next NPL season.

Preston are a big club in Melbourne and of course beat the Jets 3-2 in the Australia Cup round of 32.

It begs the question: who will be next?

It took eight attempts, and Nova Netball Club were the ones to finally do it.

West Leagues Balance have been an absolute powerhouse in Newcastle Netball Association's premier competition, winning seven straight grand finals between 2017 and 2025. There were no finals in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID.

There were some high-profile Nova supporters in the crowd in Knights legend Bill Peden and current hooker Phoenix Crossland.

Peden's daughter Zoe was part of Nova's grand final-winning side. His other daughter Mia is Crossland's partner.

The Peden family will hoping the finals form can continue across the ditch on Sunday, when Crossland and the Knights face the Warriors in an NRL elimination final.

Proud dad Bill Peden with daughter Zoe, who was part of Nova's grand final-winning team in the premier Newcastle netball competition last weekend. Picture Facebook

Hunter Sports High School upstaged a number of prestigious Sydney private schools to finish runners-up at the NSW High Schools Tennis Championships at Broadmeadow's District Park last weekend.

Eight boys' and eight girls' teams contested the championships.

The Hunter Sports High boys' team of Jack Smith, Veljko Maksimovic, Kelly Taguchi-Ryan and Liam Robards proved a strong combination, winning all three of their pool matches and beating Newington College in the semi-finals.

They put up a strong fight before going down to the fancied McDonald College in the final.

From left, Hunter Sports High silver medallists, Liam Robards, Kelly Taguchi-Ryan, Jack Smith and Veljko Maksimovic. Picture supplied

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