‘Rampaging’ Ron Gibbs was a key part of Manly’s 1987 premiership campaign. A tough as teak second row forward from Brewarrina in north-western New South Wales, Gibbs played over 180 career games for Eastern Suburbs, Manly, Gold Coast, Western Suburbs and Castleford between 1983 and 1991.

In a recent interview with NRL.com, Gibbs talked about the importance of education and giving something back to the game and his community.

“I didn’t have a trade and I didn’t have much education,” Gibbs said. He ended up finding work in Dubbo as a Teacher’s Aide and worked towards gaining qualifications in refereeing, sports coaching, and sports training. Gibbs wanted to use rugby league as a vehicle to “turn people’s lives around”.

For 25 years, junior teams from north-western New South Wales have travelled to Bourke to compete in the Ronny Gibbs Sevens, which hosts rugby league and netball competitions. Gibbs hit on the sevens idea so that “each school has the opportunity to fill a side”.

Apart from working in his local community, Ron Gibbs has assisted Indigenous footballers across the state, and has represented at education and employment expos across the state.

In 2022, Nyngan High School defeated Cobar High in the final of the rugby league Ronny Gibbs Sevens.