Sportsbet has confirmed that the National Rugby League’s (NRL) Try July initiative is returning for the 2024 season.
During July Sportsbet will pledge AU$5,000 (£2,600) to charity every time an NRL or NRLW player does a celebration after scoring a try.
This is the fifth year that Sportsbet has run the scheme and across the first four years, Try July has raised over AU$1 million (£525,800) for different charities and people in need.
In a one-minute-long video announcing its return, Sportsbet confirmed that this year the money raised would be split between NRLW player Toni Hunt, who is currently battling bile duct cancer, and the Australian Skin Cancer Foundation.
In the past funds have been raised for the Family of League Foundation, the Red Cross, and several ex-NRL players who experienced life-changing injuries playing rugby league.
The video also features some of the best celebrations from last year’s event, including Brisbane Broncos star Reece Walsh doing his signature backflip and the Parramatta Eels NRLW side creating a human limbo pole out of one of their players.
The most infamous celebration performed in 2023 was the Canberra Raiders‘ recreation of Jonny Bairstow’s controversial dismissal during the 2023 Ashes series, which saw Englishman Elliot Whitehead play the role of Bairstow.
How about this @sportsbetcomau #TryJuly celebration 🏏 pic.twitter.com/RQMshuviyG
— NRL (@NRL) July 7, 2023
The viral clip caught the attention of Piers Morgan who questioned whether Whitehead was a closet Australian and branded the celebration as a “shameful spirit-of-the-game mocking stunt”.
34 games will be included in this year’s Try July across rounds 18-21 of the NRL season, the opening round of the NRLW season and the State of Origin decider on July 17.
