Well the NRL season is over and our congratulations go to the Melbourne Storm on a magnificent victory, and an incredible season. You would have to congratulate the North Queensland Cowboys too, for a fine effort just in getting to the final. So congratulations to both teams. I want to send a message to a man who is never in the limelight, Frank Ponissi, the manager of the Storm, who is a fine bloke and good friend - and who has even managed to get that miserable David Kemeys saying something nice about the Storm. Frank is a top bloke and reminds me a lot of Darren Shand from the All Blacks, always in the background toiling hard to do anything he can to take the load off his team, and almost certainly a big part of the team's success. And on the subject of congratulations, well done to the All Blacks on another win, but the fact a very fine player in Brodie Retallick has returned home to New Zealand to be with his partner after the death of their baby reminds us there is much more to life than sport. Our rowers pulled in a haul of medals at the worlds, and of course the Kiwis are named this week. We are unashamedly focussed on the Rugby League World Cup in our newsletter this week, and from a Kiwis perspective. I know that our newsletter goes out internationally, so my apologies to overseas fans, but we are not going to see the Rugby League World Cup down here in our neck of the woods in a hurry, so we have to get out and support the event. Use it or lose it as they say. This weekend I have the pleasure of attending a Kiwis reunion, something I always enjoy, and that's why I am also looking forward to Kiwis Rugby League Legends lunch on October 27 at the Ellerslie Event Centre. All the details are in the newsletter and I hope as many of you as possible will support the lunch. There are many Kiwis attending, including 2008 Rugby League World Cup Kiwis skipper Nathan Cayless, who is flying in from Australia for the vent. He'll be joined by his cup-winning coach Stephen Kearney and even the manager of the side, Gordon Gibbons, although Gordy will be working on the day! Take care and get your tickets as soon as you can to the games, or better yet, join us at the lunch and get a free ticket ot the Kiwis v Samoa opener on October 28 at Mt Smart. Go the Kiwis! Sir Peter Charles Leitch KNZM QSM Chief NZ Ambassador for Rugby League World Cup 2017