State of Origin debutant Francis Molo speaks about James Ackerman

Tuesday marked six years since Ackerman, who had ties to both Wellington and Dubbo, died after suffering traumatic haemorrhage while playing for the Sunshine Coast Falcons following a tackle from Francis Molo.

Molo was contracted to the Brisbane Broncos at the time but is now a North Queensland Cowboys player and has been selected to make his State of Origin debut for the Maroons this weekend.

Molo was suspended for eight weeks for the tackle which resulted in the death of Ackerman, and while he's yet to speak to the family of the former St John's junior he said it's something he plans to do when he feels up to it.

"I will do it. When the time is right for myself I will do it," Molo told NRL.com.

"But that's a personal thing for me and I feel like when the time is right for me I will do it."

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Ackerman was from Wellington but played junior footy with St John's and helped the Dubbo club to three successive titles before moving to Caloundra at the age of 11.

He continued playing, linking with the Redcliffe Dolphins, before being signed to the Brisbane Broncos under 20s squad in 2008.

He was 25 years old when he died in 2015 and in the time since his family has started the James Ackerman Legacy, raising awareness for organ and tissue donation and player welfare.

Clubs from around the country honoured his memory last weekend, and players from the Wellington Cowboys and the Macquarie Raiders both took part in the #KneeForAckers prior to Sunday's Group 11 match at Kennard Park.

For Molo, he said there was times when he came close to quitting the game.

He was released from the Broncos in 2017 to link up with the Townsville Blackhawks, before making his Cowboys debut in 2018 under current Queensland coach Paul Green.

"It was good to get out of my comfort zone and I'm just grateful for getting a couple of games under Greeny, he gave me my debut and I've been going ever since so I'm grateful for that," Molo said.

"I'm not going to lie I did [think about quitting] but I had a really good support network back then.

"Back then sometimes I didn't want to do it for myself but I know I had the support network, I had my little girl, I had my family and I did it for them and they helped me back on my feet to get me going and I've just been going since then."

More information on the Ackerman Legacy can be found at www.jamesackermanlegacy.org.

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