03/09/2026
We were visited at our Manly office by Geoffrey Johnson, a proud Wiradjuri man and former rugby league football player who now mentors younger generations at the Narrandera Wiradjuri Warriors Rugby League Football Club.
Our sponsorship of the team and relationship with the wider Narrandera community began in 2023. Since then, it has grown into something our team values deeply, shaped by time spent together, listening, learning and supporting an organisation that gives young people access to role models, mentorship and a strong platform to represent their community.
That relationship also carries a very special connection to our much-missed colleague, Shaurntae Lyons.
Shaurntae played an important part in bringing our organisations and communities together. Following her passing in February 2025, the Warriors established the Shaurntae Memorial Team, including her sons, to compete at the annual NSW Aboriginal Rugby League Knockout Carnival. Last week, Geoffrey presented Spark Renewables with a commemorative jersey in her honour on behalf of the team. It is a gesture that means an enormous amount to us. Shaurntae’s legacy lives on in our work every day.
During her time with Spark Renewables, Shaurntae helped establish many of the principles, guidelines and engagement plans that continue to shape how we work with First Nations communities where our projects are located. She left us more than plans on paper. She left footprints for us to follow: to listen, to build relationships before they are needed, to understand community on its own terms and to approach engagement with genuine respect.
We feel incredibly privileged that the relationships Shaurntae helped begin continue to grow, and deeply grateful to the Narrandera community and the Wiradjuri Warriors for allowing us to remain part of that journey.
Her absence has left a big hole, as the video so simply puts it. But her influence is still very much with us, in the relationships she formed, the work she shaped and the path she set for those of us following behind.
❗️Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised that this video contains images of people who have passed away.
