START TO 2025 SEASON

Saturday, 29 March

Hunter Rugby Union and the Wildfires held their official launch for the 2025 season before a large crowd at NEX in Newcastle yesterday.

The Wildfires play their first match of the season against Warringah at No.2 Sportsground next Saturday (5 April).

The Hunter Rugby Union plays its first round of the local competition on Saturday week (12 April).

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OLD BOYS - 2025 MEMBERSHIP

March 2025

The Old Boys’ Association has opened its 2025 membership and the benefits are immediately going to to the members.

The Old Boys committee has voted for a reduction in membership fees for 2025 - a big 50% reduction.

The committee has taken into account the strong financial position of the associated and voted for members to be the benficiaries. Fees for 2025 are:

Full Membership - $50 (reduced from $100)

Social Membership - $20 (reduced from $40)

It’s a great offer that we hope many of our past players and members will take advantage.

Membership for 2025 is now open and payment can be made via the Greater Bank – BSB637000 A/c 715493713 – marking your payment ‘Membership’ with your name.

More benefits for members will be announced in the near future. Come and join the Old Boys and continue being part of The Tahs!

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AGMs RETURN COMMITTEES

Wednesday, 5 March

The 2025 AGMs of The Waratahs Rugby Union Club’s Senior Interim Committee and the Old Boys’ Association today returned the bulk of their management committees.

The two AGMs were held at Hamilton North Bowling Club on Sunday - Matt Dumbrill, Greg Taylor and Ken Beveridge were returned to the Seniors committee along with new member in John Gibson. The committee has the power to invite further members as it heads into the 2025 Rugby season.

The Old Boys’ Association returned: President - Paul Paisley, Treasurer - Ken Beveridge, Secretary - Keith Powell and committee members John Gibson, John Stephenson and Gary Rawle.

A Seniors Interim report is printed under the ‘Seniors’ heading on the website while the Old Boys’ Association has printed its President’s Report and Secretary’s Report under ‘About Our Club/Old Boys’ Association’.

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BEACH 5 WINNERS!

Sunday, 26 January

The Waratahs Women’s team have had a great Australia Day weekend by winning the Newcastle Beach 5s at Nobbys Beach.

The Tahs were the defending champions and after securing a 2-1 win/loss record in the preliminary rounds yesterday they faced Merewether Carlton in the final of the Women’s Open Division.

The match was tight throughout but Morgan Freeman led the way as captain and was well supported by Reanna Taylor.

In the end, our girls flew through the Nobbys Beach sand to register a great 6-5 victory

The Beach 5s are being played on both Saturday and Sunday with junior age teams playing on Sunday.

Beach 5s is a contact sport of tackle, modified rules of Rugby League / Rugby Union, no scrums / no line outs, on a pitch that measures 31m x 25m – five players are in the field of play – up to seven reserves with unlimited interchange.

Congratulations to all members of The Tahs team for once again bringing home the trophy! Photo in right column.

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BIG HUNTER RUGBY YEAR IN 2025

December 2024

The 2025 Hunter Rugby season is set to be an interesting year with a number of ‘big ticket’ events.

Here is a brief run down of the regional rugby calendar:

Newcastle Beach 5s - Nobbys Beach - part of Australia Day celebrations on Saturday, 25 January and Sunday, 26 January
Summer 7s - Friday, 25 February to Friday, 28 March
2025 Season Launch - NEX - Friday, 28 March
Start of Wildfires season - Saturday, 5 April
Start of Hunter Rugby Union - Saturday, 12 April
Easter - NSW Country Championships - 17 May; Junior Country Championships - 6 June.
Wallaroos v New Zealand - McDonald Jones Stadium - Saturday, 10 May
Wallabies v Fiji - McDonald Jones Stadium - Sunday, 6 July
Hunter Rugby Finals - start Saturday, 23 August
Hunter Rugby Union Grand Final - Saturday, 6 September

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2024 JUNIOR AWARDS

Tuesday, 5 November

The Juniors have announced their major award winners for the 2024 rugby season.

The awards were presented at the recent LIT Alliance (Lake Macquarie, Ironbark, Tahs) 2024 awards ceremony and the recipients were:

Brian Tolhurst Junior Player of the Year Award - Christopher Kroon
Scott McDonald Junior Club Person of the Year Award - De-Anne Johnston and Chris Grieve (shared).

Congratulations to Christopher, Dee and Chris on their awards which were presented by members of the Tolhurst and McDonald families.

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2024 GRAND FINALS RESULTS

Saturday, 24 August

Hunter Rugby Union held its 2024 Grand Finals at No.2 Sportsground today, results being:

Premier 1: Merewether Carlton 41 d Maitland 25
Premier 2: Wanderers 29 d University 24
Premier 3: Southern Beaches 17 d Maitland 16
Women: Wanderers 17 d Hamilton 0
Suburban: Singleton Red 27 d Cooks Hill 5

The John Hipwell Medal for ‘Man of the Match’ was won by Merewether Carlton No.10, Sam Bright. In a popular decision, the medal was presented before a large crowd of supporters and onlookers by John’s nephew, Nathan Hipwell.

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