Isaah Yeo and Matt Burton will be playing for the man that created this pathway for them to help them achieve their NRL dreams. The Late Mick Wilson was the reason that Yeo and Burton started out rugby when they were kids. Wilson played an important role in the founding of St. John’s junior rugby league.
Mick himself was quite the rugby star. He played three first grade games for Cronulla, two in the Sharks’ inaugural season of 1967 and one the following year. He played 44 games in total for Cronulla. Wilson was an outstanding contributor to the Dubbo CYMS club, where he was a life member and part of CYMS’ inaugural premiership team in 1969.
Other than this Wilson was family man. He had 7 children and 34 grandchildren. Wilson also happens to be Yeo’s uncle.
Yeo quoted that “Mick has played a massive part for rugby league in Dubbo, whether it be coaching or cooking the BBQ, he was in it all, It is never nice when you see someone so close to you pass away, but we are lucky in a sense that we are such a big family that we can all rally around one another, and that definitely happened. It would have been a lot nicer if he were there to watch, I’m sure he would have been there for sure. But to go out there and play in front of the family, especially after something like that has happened, it will be nice to see them all and have them there. I’m looking forward to it.”
Wilson was credited for all the work he had put in for the junior league and for giving countless youngsters a space to achieve their rugby dreams and a start to their rugby journey.
Burton commented that “It makes you feel very proud – Mick was a loved one around the community and he has done so much for Dubbo, I know a few of his family and friends, and everyone just loves him. His passing is devastating, so it means a lot to go back out there and play, especially given what he has done for Dubbo. There are a lot of kids out in Dubbo that strive to be an NRL player, and that was something that I was doing when I was a kid. So, it is going to be great to go back out there on Sunday and see all the community out there – I just can’t wait”
