Innovative footy tipping comp boosts Can Assist Griffith during ‘horrific’ year

A footy-tipping comp in which the weekly winner has to pay out money might not sound much fun.

But a clever idea by AFL tragic Robyn Meehan has seen local cancer charity Griffith Can Assist reap the rewards. She’s challenging other workplaces to follow her lead.

“For a long time, I’ve run the comp at [agricultural supplier] Collier & Miller,” said 67-year-old Ms Meehan, who has worked there for 35 years.

“Everyone puts in their tips each week, and if you get the highest number of wins each round, you pay $2. Some weeks, you might have several people with equal top scores, and they all give $2.

“At the end of the comp, the overall winner takes all the money in the kitty we’ve raised over the season and donates to a charity of their choice.

“This year, we raised a couple of hundred dollars for Can Assist.”

Roberto Mazzarolo took out the top prize in the Collier & Miller comp this year, with Vince Pulitano coming second and Zarek Jasnos tying for third place with Luke Demamiel.

“Robert only beat Vince one by one point. This is the first time in three years that Vince hasn’t won it. I don’t know where Vince gets his information,” Ms Meehan said.

“I think it’s a great idea that others should take up.”

Griffith Can Assist president Olga Forner says she’s delighted with Robyn’s initiative.

“I think it’s a fabulous idea. If a lot of other workplaces would do that too, it would be great,” Ms Forner said.

“We have had a horrific year. The cases of cancer that have been coming in have been sad and tragic, but it’s been a really heavy workload.

“We are really in need of support. We’ve had a lot of great events this year, with our City to Lake fun run coming up we’d encourage everyone in Griffith to get behind us.”

Ms Forner says she appreciates people helping in different ways.

“We have a lady, Dianne Richards, who has been donating $5 each week. It’s released from her bank. It’s a simple way of doing things and is valuable to us. I’d like it if other people did that,” she said.

“We’re always grateful to people like Dianne and Robyn Meehan.”

Ms Meehan’s Collier & Miller has also been the talk of the town for fixing Griffith Tennis Club’s ride-on court roller, which has been out of action for several months.

“The company actually built the roller more than 20 years ago. Mark Quarisa organised for it to be fixed, and Mark Aloisi worked on it. They replaced the motor, replaced the seat and painted it, and wired it up so you can start it with a key,” Ms Meehan said.

“It goes really well; I reckon people will be fighting over who gets to roll the courts now.”