{"id":363195,"date":"2025-07-31T21:56:28","date_gmt":"2025-07-31T11:56:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=363195"},"modified":"2025-08-01T22:02:17","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T12:02:17","slug":"champion-night-for-fundraising","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2025\/07\/31\/champion-night-for-fundraising\/","title":{"rendered":"Champion Night For Fundraising"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Dinner With The Champions committee chair Carl Rackemann OAM interviews retired AFL star Jason Akermanis on stage<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

July 31, 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n

The annual Dinner With The Champions filled Kingaroy Town Hall again with sports fans last Saturday night.<\/p>\n

The event, organised by former Test quick bowler Carl Rackemann and a small committee, always attracts top-tier guest speakers from the sporting world.<\/p>\n

This year’s guests were Brownlow Medallist Jason Akermanis, Olympic swimmer Emily Seebohm and\u00a0 former Maroon Trevor Gillmeister.<\/p>\n

The event is a major fundraiser for the South Burnett’s Relay For Life’s campaign for Cancer Council Queensland, with a large multi-draw raffle, a silent auction and a live auction (see below).<\/p>\n

* * *<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Jason Akermanis shared the story of how he got into Australian Rules football (mainly because “rugby union hurt too much”.)<\/strong><\/p>\n

He was signed up by the Brisbane Bears when he was still in Year 12 at Nudgee College.<\/p>\n

His first game was in Round 4 in 1994.<\/p>\n

Akermanis’ career included 10 years with the Brisbane Lions and three years with the Western Bulldogs.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Emily Seebohm OAM was part of the Australian swimming team at the\u00a0Beijing 2008,\u00a0London 2012,\u00a0Rio 2016 and\u00a0Tokyo 2020 Olympic games.<\/strong><\/p>\n

During her career, Emily won three Olympic gold medals, five World Championship gold medals and seven Commonwealth Games gold medals.<\/p>\n

Seebohm also spoke about her experiences in “I’m A Celebrity – Get Me Out Of Here” (just after she returned from her fourth Olympics in Tokyo) and her exploits in “SAS Australia” this year.<\/span><\/p>\n

* * *<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Trevor “The Axe” Gillmeister talked about his rugby league career, and his introduction to life in Sydney.<\/strong><\/p>\n

He said league had taught him respect “not just about footy, but also about life”.<\/p>\n

Gillmeister said he never played rep football as a young man, going straight from Under 18s to playing in the Brisbane Rugby League competition for Norths Devils.<\/p>\n

In 1986, Arthur Beetson invited him to come to Sydney to play for Eastern Suburbs.<\/p>\n

After football, he took part in a fundraising walk in 2014 from Townsville to Brisbane to raise awareness about asbestos-related diseases after his father died from mesothelioma.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Auction Results<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

LIVE AUCTION<\/strong><\/p>\n