NSW: PM turns down invitation to be rugby winger

AAP General News (Australia)
04-16-2008
NSW: PM turns down invitation to be rugby winger

SYDNEY, April 16 AAP - Prime Minister Kevin Rudd today declined an invitation to join
a charity football competition, saying the public should be protected from the sight of
him in rugby shorts.

In Sydney today to launch a homelessness fundraising program - Touch Life - for the
Wesley Mission, Mr Rudd was invited to take to the field.

Touch Life aims to raise money from the corporate sector through a touch football competition
in the NSW Hunter Valley over the Anzac Day long weekend.

Wesley Mission board member and former Wallabies captain Nick Farr-Jones thanked the
prime minister for supporting the program and invited him to play a physical role as a
"quick, blond winger".

The invitation drew a smile from Mr Rudd.

"I'm still struggling with the challenge of donning the rugby shorts and being somewhat
fast on the wing," he said.

"There are certain things from which the Australian public should be protected, and
me in rugby shorts is one of them."

Mr Rudd, who drew hearty laughter from the audience for his comments, said he played
two seasons of "E-grade" rugby as a teenager, during which his coach told him he had a
future as a linesman.

On his arrival at the Mission's Edward Edgar Lodge in Sydney this morning, the prime
minister mingled with homeless clients, shaking hands with a casual "G'day, I'm Kevin".

His visit included a tour of the lodge, which sleeps about 80 people each night.

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