Our Pink Stumps Legacy
The Merrivale Cricket Club (MCC) takes great pride in its efforts of using our platform to push a cause that is greater than ourselves to inflict real change.
The McGrath Foundation and its efforts to raise funds for Nurses to support Cancer patients and their families is a cause that runs deep in our club. Unfortunately many members of our club have been touched at some point by someone with the disease. A mother, a father, a brother, a sister, a friend, no matter whom; it is one person too many.
The MCC chooses to align itself with the McGrath Foundation's goal and ideals each season. We run our own form of Pink Stumps to demonstrate our connection with the disease, its patients, its survivors, those who it has taken and their families.
Fundraiser details
Date: 02/01/2026 - 09/02/2026
Saturday January 10th Championship v Mortlake @ Merrivale Rec. Res.
Monday January 12th: Captain's Shoot
Thursday January 15th : The Pink Tea (W/ Guest speaker Jessika Tobin-Salzman)
Saturday January 17th Premier v Russell's Creek @ Merrivale Rec. Res, Pink Arvo Tea
Saturday January 31st Division 3 v Allansford Panmure @ Harris Street
My Post
Pink Tea a Big Success!
A captivating story of her cancer journey ??
From being diagnosed at 19, to going through chemo in the heart of COVID lockdowns, returning to work & study and dealing with the side effects of her treatment. Now coming out the other side of treatment, her first house, engagement and now a career in real estate ?
Jessika’s story really is one of hope for the future ?
Giving hope: netballer to share her story as club turns pink for cancer
She's an accomplished netballer, university graduate, home-owner and real estate employee, all well before the age of 30.
But adulthood hasn't always been smooth-sailing for Warrnambool's Jessika Tobin-Salzman.
The 25-year-old Port Fairy goal-shooter was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma about six years ago and hopes sharing her story could help others.
She is a guest speaker at Merrivale Cricket Club's Pink Tea dinner on Thursday, January 15.
The event is part of the club's Pink Stumps Day series which raises money for the McGrath Foundation in its work supporting those with cancer.
Tobin-Salzman's story is one full of hope after she was diagnosed with the disease near her 19th birthday in 2019 before undergoing six months of chemotherapy.
She recently "got the five-year all-clear from the disease", which is a significant milestone in a person's recovery.
"(I was) clear after my initial chemo plan and then every year you stay free of it, your likelihood of getting it back goes down," Tobin-Salzman told The Standard.
"And that five-year mark is usually that point where if it hasn't shown any signs, you're in the 95 per cent of being right for the rest of your life."
Looking back, Tobin-Salzman only now appreciates how hard that period of her life was, especially for someone so young.
"The actual chemotherapy was about six months, which was also right in the middle of the really tough COVID lockdowns as well," she said.
"I don't really have many memories of it other than just being crook and inside and just getting through it. And obviously, everyone knows it's a very, very tough time on the body. (You) lost all sense of your normal self in terms of your physical and mental health.
"It was more so probably that two, three years afterwards, trying to get back to 'yes, I'm sort of normal for me'. Nearly the toughest part for me was after the treatment, obviously not having any hair, being a young girl, the vanity issues.
"That was quite tough trying to get back to work, trying to do uni with the brain fog and all the side-effects of chemo.
Fortunately, Tobin-Salzman had a strong support network to get her through the tough times.
"I am just very lucky to have a beautiful family and friends," she said.
"Three sisters, my mum and dad, my partner Harry and all my friends who just let me do what I needed to do, essentially, whether that was a 'crappy day' or a 'feeling sorry for myself day' or 'let's get out and get into the gym day'.
"They just gave me the time to figure it out and none of us knew what to do or what was right, so just giving me the time and space to do what I needed to do really."
The opportunity to speak to the Merrivale Cricket Club came about through Tobin-Salzman's connection to Tigers cricketer Nick Sinnott, the driving force behind the club's continued involvement with the McGrath Foundation's Pink Stumps Day initiative.
The club is turning pink for three games during January to raise money for the foundation, which previously provided free care and support to breast cancer patients through specialist nurses but has now turned its focus to those with all types of cancers.
Sinnott's late nan fought kidney cancer, while his aunty (breast) and mother Leonie (kidney) are survivors of the disease.
"I'm actually good mates with Nick, we worked together at Bunnings and he's actually engaged to one of my very good friends from high school, Tatiana (Haas)," Tobin-Salzman said.
"I didn't really know much behind the Pink Stumps or that he has been running it for so long. He just reached out with the message, wondering if it was something I would want to do.
"I haven't done much of this stuff before, so I just thought I'll try something new and come have a chat and hopefully say something that will have a positive impact on someone."
Sinnott was thrilled to see the McGrath Foundation now raising money for all cancers and said this year's theme for the club's Pink Stumps event was "hope".
"Hope for a life post-diagnosis," he said.
"Hope that this disease isn't what defines us and that we can be more than that.
"Going through it with my nana, mother and watching other loved ones like friends and my aunty; I know it all felt a bit dark and uncertain.
"The hope that the McGrath Nurses could have given, based on others' stories, would have been huge.
"I push this cause more now because, based on the latest statistics, one-in-two Aussies will receive a cancer diagnosis in their lifetime. There's a good chance more loved ones we know will have to go through it.
"It's just trying to give hope. That was the idea of trying to bring Jess into it a bit. That was probably my big thing. That hope can extend beyond just cancer treatments and diagnoses, it can extend to others actually, just going through a tough time in general."
The first match of Merrivale's Pink Stumps series was a championship (second tier) fixture held on January 10 against Mortlake.
The premier side (first XI) gets its chance next, hosting Russells Creek on Saturday, January 17, which is followed by a Pink Arvo Tea and a Pink iPod Shuffle night with live music.
The finale of the series will take place between the Tigers and Spring Creek's third division teams a week later.
All Tigers teams will be decked out in specially made pink uniforms for the matches, with other pink pieces of equipment to be featured.
Leonie, Sinnott's mum, will toss the coin for Merrivale's premier-grade match on Saturday.
"She's doing pretty well, actually now, considering we got given three separate timelines when we were in the early days," Sinnott said.
"When we first found out it was about maybe a couple of years and the second time was about 12 months and I remember she got told one night she was going to go.
"Considering that, now she's kicking goals. She can't walk really well now because they had to operate on her vertebrae to remove where they couldn't really hit with radiation.
"But she gets around on those walking frames and she can use a walking stick, so she's doing pretty well for someone who went through what she went through."
THE PINK TEA w/ Jessika Tobin-Salzman
Pink Stumps kit launch
PINK STUMPS KIT My Gallery
Thank you for your support
$195.18
Anonymous
$106.12
Aylish
Well done Nick on organising a great night for a wonderful cause. And great job Jess for sharing you story.
$106.12
Antonia Balmer
$75.14
Anonymous
Shirt Hat
$54.12
Jon Darcy
$54.12
Anonymous
$54.12
Julie
Well done for getting behind this great cause
$54.12
Anonymous
$54.12
Jessika Tobin-salzman
$27.81
Nick Sinnot
$27.81
Darcy Bourke
$23.50
Rhodesy
Well done on organising a great fundraiser. Full credit to all involved. Well done.
$22.58
Anonymous
$22.58
Ryan Fleming
$17.16
Melanie Mcdonald
$17.16
Melanie Mcdonald
$17.16
Paul Sheen
$17.16
Anonymous
$17.16
Noah Best
$6.13
