Bourke, Sydney and Spain all part of Toole's path to his newest role

A well known athlete who previously played rugby league for Dubbo CYMS, Toole spent time living in Europe and playing rugby union more than a decade ago.

The Yuwalaraay, Gomeroi and Wailwan man came up with a great idea that led to the creation of BlackFit Fitness in 2015.

The fitness and lifestyle brand aims "to foster social equality and cultural understanding by promoting the educational and wellness aspects of Aboriginal culture, physical health, and overall well-being", according to its website.

The company started as a Facebook page that was created by Toole and a friend while they were playing rugby in Spain. Toole has health science and secondary teaching (physical education) degrees from Western Sydney University.

"We were going to the gym all the time, and we had mob back home asking us to put up workouts, or things along the lines of that healthy lifestyle," he said in a 2020 interview with the National Indigenous Times, adding that there were no social media accounts focusing on the health and fitness of Indigenous Australians.

"We thought it would be cool for us to have a page for our mob that could appeal to them."

Living in Spain for just over a year was "crazy", said Toole, who teed up the stint through friends from Joeys.

"I'd love to go back ... I've got some unreal mates over in Spain through that footy connection."

On top of his work with BlackFit, Toole is now based in Armidale and heading up the Newara Aboriginal Corporation. The non-profit Aboriginal community organisation said it was committed to the "reclamation and revival" of the Anaiwan people's language, culture, history and traditional practices through research and education.

Toole's move to Armidale has been Barbarians rugby club's gain, with the chief executive joining the club for the current season. He quickly made an impact and was selected to be part of the New England representative side that lost the Richardson Shield final to Central West at last month's Country Championships.

Armidale is just the latest stop for Toole.

Having grown up in Bourke, he made the move to Sydney roughly two decades ago to complete Years 10-12 at St Jospeh's College, Hunters Hill.

After school, he spent time playing rugby with the Western Harbour Pirates before he returned to rugby league and was part of the under-20s squad at the Canterbury Bulldogs.

He also trained with the Bulldogs' NSW Cup squad but didn't play a game, before logging first-grade rugby league minutes at the St Marys Saints in Western Sydney.

During the COVID pandemic he returned out west and played for Dubbo CYMS in the Presidents Cup, before playing in Newcastle's premier competition with the Northern Hawks in 2023.

After dealing with a serious Achilles injury, Toole had signed with CYMS during the 2024 Peter McDonald Premiership, but he never made an appearance for the Fishies.

She might've been out of cycling for over a year, but that hasn't stopped Ebony Robinson from coming back in a big way.

In May 2023, she suffered an injury while competing in Malaysia, which kept her off the bike until September last year.

Despite not even being back racing for a year, Robinson has excelled on the bike since coming back.

She set a national record in the under 19s 1000 metre time trial at the AusCycling NSW State Championship back in December, however, that record has since been beaten.

Back in February, Robinson won gold in both the under 19s sprint and keirin events, at the Oceania Track Championships at Brisbane, before backing up to win the same events at the AusCycling Track National Championships at the same city.

Now her achievements at those two major tournaments has secured herself a ticket to Europe to compete at the UCI Junior Track World Championships in the Netherlands in August.

"Going to Junior Worlds has been my goal in cycling for a while and to finally be getting the opportunity to compete against riders from around the world is incredible," she said.

"It will definitely be a new experience because I will have no prior knowledge of the other riders abilities and tactics. I won't be able to rely on my knowledge of other riders to predict how the racing will go.

"I am extremely grateful for my family and coaches who have helped me get to where I am today."

The 17-year-old, who turns 18 later this year, will be one of 15 riders selected in the Australian team.

And while she'll compete in her individual events, there will be a strong focus on the team sprint event.

She will be joined by two Queenslanders - Ella Liang and Olivia Wright - where they hope to be a medal shot at the world titles.

In preparation Robinson will attend camps in both Brisbane and Adelaide in the lead up to the championships.

Robinson coach Marian Renshaw said the 17-year-old's achievements are all the better considering the circumstances.

"It is a huge achievement for Ebony to be where she is," she said.

"She is also the only sprinter in the squad that doesn't train in the controlled environment of an indoor velodrome. She trains in all kinds of weather on our slower bitumen surface which has helped make her a more resilient athlete.

"She is mentally tough and can dig very deep when it matters. That also puts her in good stead as she trains through winter here in isolation in what is a summer sport."

He might not have driven a winner, but Nathan Turnbull still had a night out at Dubbo Harness Racing Club on Friday, May 30.

The Dubbo Show meeting is one of the highlights of the year for the club and the 2025 edition was another success.

This year also marked the first time the Little Red Jug feature heats and final were contested on the same night.

The challenge mattered little to Bathurst-based Turnbull and driver Jye Coney, as they combined with Shell Shock to win both their heat and the $12,240 final.

Shell Shock started a $7 chance in the second heat of the night, and despite being stuck wide early, soon found the front and stayed there for the 1720m journey before ultimately winning by a strong 8.9m.

The final proved a little more dramatic.

Coney and Shell Shock ($3.60 equal favourite) pushed forward early from gate nine and was stuck three wide early before settling on behind the early leaders.

Coney made his move down the back straight on the bell lap. There was plenty of pressure from Rocknroll Raider ($3.60 equal fav.) and then a late surge from Limbo Lilly ($5.50) but Coney got the job done.

There were some nervy moments after a protest, but the final result stood to take Shell Shock's record to seven wins from 51 starts.

It was another memorable win for Turnbull, who also had two drives of his own on the night but missed out on a win.

Trainer-driver Michael Day Jnr won the night's other main event, the Dubbo Show President's Trophy Pace (1720m), with Fathersdaysurprise ($2.10 favourite).

Dubbo driver Tom Pay scored victories with Irk McGlurk and Limbo Lottie for Bathurst-based brothers and trainer Jake and Jed Betts respectively.

There was plenty of love for Isaah Yeo after it was announced he was the NSW Origin captain, and the praise has continued in the time since.

Last week, in the lead-up to the first game of this year's Origin series, the Dubbo junior was lavished with compliments from some of the game's best.

Former Penrith and NSW player Mark Geyer described him as "an immortal in waiting", while former Blues captain and fellow lock Paul Gallen was among those to label him an all-time great.

"He will be remembered as one of the greats and he deserves it," Gallen told AAP.

"He is brilliant. The thing about Yeoy is he is known as a ball-playing lock, but he is more than that.

"He has the ability to play front row. He can play that hard role. If you're 10 metres out from your own line and you need someone to have a hit up, he will do it.

"But when you're in the 20-metre zone attacking the tryline, he comes alive. He is alive all over the field.

"He's got every part of the game you need to be remembered as a great forward."

Teammate Liam Martin echoed Gallen.

"Absolutely he'll be up there, if not the best lock of all time," Martin told NRL.com.

"What he's done the last five, six years is nothing short of amazing. He's getting older now but he's just getting better with age. He's ageing like a fine wine and doesn't look like slowing down.

"It's pretty incredible to play alongside him and he will be a player that I'll tell my kids and grandkids that I got to play with so it's pretty special."