Our History

The Waratahs Rugby Union Club is a sporting club serving its members and the local community. The club was originally established in 1940 when a junior team took to the field.

Over the decades it has grown to be one of the major rugby union clubs in the Newcastle and Hunter Region and has produced 33 international players across all forms of rugby.

The name of the club - The Waratahs - was created by founding member, Ern Howarth, in order to include suburbs from outside Waratah. He was also responsible for the club’s original colours of scarlet jersey, navy shorts (changed to black in past decades) and red & white socks.

The club’s first senior team entered Third Grade in 1945 and was undefeated in scoring 444 points and only 35 against. In 1946, the club was promoted to First Grade which meant fielding three teams in First, Reserves and Third Grades. First Grade won the premiership when it inflicted Merewether Carlton’s only defeat of the season with a 6-3 win in the Grand Final.

The Waratahs won 15 First Grade premierships when it played in the premier division between 1946 and 2017.

In 2018 the club made the difficult decision to drop to Divisional Rugby after not being able to meet the Newcastle Hunter Rugby Union’s criteria of fielding three teams. On the brighter side, a Women’s XV was reformed to play in the NHRU Women’s competition.

The Men’s Divisional team were Minor Premiers and defeated Grand Finalists to Muswellbrook in both 2018 and 2019, and to Medowie in 2020. The Tahs were running in second place in 2021 when the competition was abandoned because of the impact of COVID-19. The club has not fielded a Men’s team since 2022.

The Women’s team performed well in the initial years after being reformed in 2018. The team was undefeated Minor and Major Premiers in 2018 and 2019, and Minor Premiers in both 2020 and 2021 before the competitions were cancelled because of COVID. The team reached the semifinals in 2022 and finished fifth on 2023 but is not fielding a side in the 2024 competition.

The Social 4ths reached the semi-finals of their competition in both 2018 and 2019 but have not played since the 2019 season.

In 2020, The Waratahs celebrated their 80th anniversary, a delayed gala function (because of COVID restrictions) being held in 2021 to mark the occasion.

The Tahs also have a very active Old Boys’ Association and an energetic Junior club which in 2023 fielded Teeny Tiny Tahs, Tiny Tahs, Under 8s, Under 11s, and Under 14s (girls). The Juniors also fielded four teams in the Spring 7s - Under 13 and Under 15 Boys and Girls teams.

The Juniors have produced 11 Australian representatives, 28 NSW representatives and 86 NSW Country players since 1940.

The club’s Juniors continue to enter teams in competitions run by Hunter Junior Rugby Union. 

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