The nib Newcastle Knights were sent the following email earlier this week.

The sender was happy for us to share it with you.

It reads:

My six-year-old son, Max, and his best mate, Sanden, we’re heading out Avoca Beach for a surf on Sunday morning when they spotted Connor Watson and Kalyn Ponga on the beach.

Being absolute footy nuts, they ran up to them and shook their hands and introduced themselves.

Connor and Kalyn were absolute legends! They took the time to chat to Max and Sanden about their favourite teams and their local footy club, The Kincumber Colts.

Needless to say, the boys ran out for their surf stoked to have met and chatted to their footy idols.

Connor and Kalyn stuck around, watching the boys surf and hooting them on. They even returned after breaky for a swim with the boys.

Max and Sanden haven’t stopped talking about their amazing morning hanging with Connor and Kalyn and we, as parents and fanatical footy fans, are extremely grateful for the compassion, enthusiasm and respect that Connor and Kalyn demonstrates towards our kids.

I’m sure Connor and Kalyn didn’t think much of this, however I’m also aware that our sport and players are often riddled with negative stories and very rarely hear of the positive impact they have on our youth in their day-to-day interactions.

We just wanted to say thanks to the boys and show our appreciation towards the club for your ongoing efforts to raise, support and foster such positive role models for our kids to look up to.

Dave Rattray