“Laurie has had a fantastic year, being the first NSW coach in eight years to claim the State of Origin title,” director UNE Life Dave Schmude, said.

“To achieve this he had a number of challenges to overcome and it will be great to hear his story. I know our students and clubs are very excited about having the opportunity to listen to him speak.” Schmude said, “The awards night is an opportunity to recognise our athletes and celebrate all of those who have achieved outstanding results in their chosen sport or have been involved in sport, either by coaching or contributing in other ways.” 

“At UNE we are very fortunate to have exceptional sporting facilities, with superb playing fields, state-of-the-art training facilities and a range of academic programs associated with sport.”

As well as attending the sports awards, Daley will be speaking at the New England Mutual (NEM) Business Breakfast, to be held at the Armidale City Bowling Club on Thursday September 25. 

 “We have partnered with organisations such as UNE on more than one occasion to ensure experiences like this are made accessible to the wider Armidale Community,” NEM chief marketing officer Darren Schaefer said.

o Meanwhile, a rare Monday training run for Justin Hodges has the Broncos preparing to welcome back their star centre for Thursday night’s big NRL clash with South Sydney.

Hodges sweated it out for about 25 minutes by himself at Red Hill as he ran sprints, shuttles and also dummy-half drills in a bid to prove he’d quickly overcome his hamstring injury to play at ANZ Stadium.

The 31-year-old hardly missed a beat in his fitness test and gave the thumbs-up as he returned to the sheds before for his side’s closed training session.

“He’ll make the right decision for himself and the team,” said fellow co-captain Corey Parker.

But with just two field sessions to prepare for the in-form Rabbitohs, it was crucial Hodges, who normally rests up at the start of the week, took part on Monday.

Centre partner Dale Copley revealed Hodges, who had an injection last week as he missed Friday night’s 41-10 thumping of Canterbury, returned to training on Saturday.