Our Hunter mining communities will again be in the spotlight in August as we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the partnership between NSW Mining and the Newcastle Knights at the Voice for Mining Family Day on 21 August at McDonald Jones Stadium.

Since 2013 the partnership between our miners and the Knights has highlighted the important work of tens of thousands of NSW mining families, including through our annual Voice for Mining Family Day.

This year, the Newcastle Knights men’s team will wear a special anniversary edition of the now famous hi-vis mining jersey in Round 21 action against the Canberra Raiders.

It’s been a tough season for Knights supporters. We are all hoping for some good results in the weeks ahead, and a win against the Raiders would be particularly pleasing.

The connection between the club and our industry is strong, and continues to grow.

Many current and former players have worked in mining, and Billy Peden, Steve Simpson, Adam Muir, Tony Butterfield, Josh King, Nathan Ross and more in the NRL. It’s one of the reasons why our decade of support for the Knights has worked so well.

And over the last decade we’ve expanded our partnership to include an investment in the development of an introduction of an NRLW team into the competition too. Current players Phoebe Desmond and Rangimarie Edwards-Bruce also have a close connection with our industry.

We look forward to seeing as many of our mining families as possible wearing hi vis to the game on 21 August, and we thank @theCoalface magazine for their support with a terrific ticket giveaway competition in this issue.

Go Knights! Go Miners!

Stephen Galilee, CEO, NSW Minerals Council