Storm prop Christian Welch has revealed ahead of Sunday’s grand final how a trip to Uganda and charity work to help impoverished Australian school children inspired him to overcome a horror run with injuries.
Welch, who is aiming for his second premiership with the Storm, will start from the interchange bench against the Panthers after returning in Round 25 from a back injury that sidelined him for seven weeks.
The former Queensland Origin forward has spent a significant stints on the sideline after suffering three ACLs and a ruptured Achilles but he said his involvement with The Smith Family had helped put the injuries into perspective.
“I’ve had some injuries over the years and people go, ‘oh, you’ve been unlucky’,” Welch said. “I played in the 2016 grand final but I did my ACL in 2017 and I was in the grandstand watching the boys win a premiership.
“Then in 2018 we lost another grand final against Cooper Cronk and in 2019 I did another ACL.
“I’ve been very lucky to have a good perspective on my issues compared to what other Australians are going through.”
While recovering from his 2019 knee injury, Welch and team-mate Ryan Papenhuyzen joined former Eels captain Tim Mannah and the Jon Mannah Foundation on a trip to Uganda.
“In 2019 I went over to Uganda with the Jon Mannah Foundation and I saw the amazing work that the organisation does to give kids an opportunity in Africa, with the poverty and the really tough situations there,” Welch said.
“We went out of the communities and saw the schools where the Jon Mannah Foundation sponsors kids who wouldn’t be able to attend school if they didn’t have that support.
“They’re just wonderful people. I remember going to some really tough, impoverished communities there, and the smiles of the kids when they are running around, they’re making skipping ropes with literally grass leaves clippings and they tied them together.
“We bought over some Storm gear, so we ended up having Storm versus Parramatta football match in one of the school yards.”
Upon returning home, Welch decided to get involved with addressing educational inequality in Australia and signed up as a Learning for Life sponsor with The Smith Family in 2019.
Earlier this season he hosted 25 Learning for Life scholarship recipients at the Storm’s match against the Dragons.
“I’d done my ACL in Round 20 and just going over there gave me an understanding of how privileged a life I have in Australia and that inspired me to try and do my bit to help some people who are doing it pretty tough or might be a bit disadvantaged,” he said.
“The Smith Family is a great organisation that basically helps kids and tries to break that poverty cycle by giving them an opportunity of having learning resources, like books, and school uniforms and basically it gives them the best chance of a good education.
“I think it’s crucial, if you’re trying to break that poverty cycle, to have a good education.”
Welch has completed a commerce degree and is about to graduate with a Masters of Business Administration.
“It’s been a great outlet for me to jump into and do parallel to my rugby league career,” he said. “I honestly believe you play better football if you have something outside in your life you are building towards.
“It helps your performance on the field because you have a much more balanced life.”
As he looks to win a second premiership ring in his fourth grand final appearance, Welch said the work ethic at the Storm would hold them in good stead and praised the team’s unsung forwards, such as Josh King and Trent Loiero.
“I know the Storm get a bit of criticism about all these dark arts but we literally train on a park [Gosch’s Paddock] right in the middle of the public eye.
“If you come down in November and December and have a look, you will see that these guys work their arses off and Josh King and Trent were leading the charge all pre-season.
“They barely missed a session, applied themselves and worked hard. That’s what the Storm pre-season is all about – basically teaching good habits under duress.
“It’s about executing under fatigue and being able to do it longer, and you can see that in the way they are playing.”
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