The Cronulla Sharks and Canterbury Bulldogs have reached out to sick children in a heartwarming last-minute gesture.

Last week, Ray Hadley received a note from Australian heart surgeon Dr Ian Nicholson who was hoping two NRL teams, playing a trial match in Papua New Guinea, could visit sick children in hospital before they went home.

Within hours, players from Canterbury Bulldogs and Cronulla Sharks both paid a visit to the children in Port Moresby General Hospital.

Cronulla Sharks coach John Morris tells Ray Hadley seeing smiling children after open-heart surgery was a heart-warming experience.

“We dropped everything we were doing.

“The experience of just walking in there… mate, it was actually life-changing.”

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Bulldogs coach Dean Pay says the experience was an “eye-opener”.

“One nurse was from WA, she actually takes her holidays, pays for her own flight to go over there and does it for nothing.”

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