CHASING GRAND FINAL PLAYERS

Thursday, 15 May

Organisation is well underway for our 2025 Sports Luncheon to be held at Hamilton North Bowling Club in early August.

The Old Boys’ Association is making the arrangements, including contacting players from three past Grand Final teams that are celebrating an ‘anniversary’ of their game this year.

Committee member John Gibson has taken on the role of ‘Team Co-ordinator’ in trying to contact as many players as possible to invite them to the function.

John is reaching out to players from the following teams:

2005 First Grade - Grand Finalists (20th year anniversary)
1995 First Grade - Grand Finalists (30th year anniversary)
1975 Second Division - Minor & Major Premiers (50th year anniversary)

Click on the list of players’ names in the column to the right. John is well on the way to contacting most of the players but if you know of any of the names make sure you spread the word or contact John on (m) 0408 722 430.

For your information, details about the Sports Luncheon are printed further down this column.

POWERFUL BLACK FERNS

Saturday, 10 May

The New Zealand Black Ferns produced an overall powerful performance to defeat the Wallaroos 38-12 at McDonald Jones Stadium today.

The Black Ferns led 19-0 at half-time in the Pacific Four Championship match and survived a strong Australian challenge in the second half.

Newcastle product, Layne Morgan, provided good service in playing half-back until replaced in the 70th minute while another Newcastle player, Ashley Masters, performed strongly in the pack when brought on in the second half to be one of the Wallaroos tryscorers.

In other news, England’s Maro Itoje has been named captain of the British & Irish Lions tour of Australia which starts in late June and includes three Tests.

The 30-year-old lock succeeds Wales legend Alun Wyn Jones in captaining the Lions.

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2025 SPORTS LUNCHEON

May, 2025

We are also taking the opportunity of providing details of our 2025 Sports Luncheon which will be held in early August.

In a great thrill for The Tahs, our Guest Speaker for the 2025 Sports Luncheon in early August is former Wallabies fullback and current President of the Board of NSW Rugby, Matt Burke.

Brief details of the luncheon are:

Function: 2025 Sports Luncheon
Date: Friday, 8 August
Time: Midday until late afternoon
Venue: Hamilton North Bowling Club
Cost: $50 for Old Boys members (subsidised part of the club’s 85th Anniversary Year); $100 for non-members
Bookings: Please make payment to Old Boys Account at Greater Bank - BSB 637000 Acc 715493713 (mark payment with your name and ‘Luncheon’ – payment becomes a booking)

The function, organised by the Old Boys’ Association, will acknowledge four Grand Final teams that are celebrating a special ‘anniversary’ this year. They are:

2005 First grade - Grand Finalists (20th year anniversary)
1995 First Grade - Grand Finalists (30th year anniversary)
1975 Second Division - Minor & Major Premiers (50th year anniversary)
1945 Third Grade - undefeated Minor and Major Premiers (80th year anniversary)

Full details about the luncheon can be found by clicking on the article in the right side column.

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OUR 85th ANNIVERSARY!

May, 2025

As part of our 85th anniversary in 2025 we are publishing some historical facts about the club. We have publicised members who played more than 300 matches for the club - now we move onto the ‘200 Club’ …

200 FIRST GRADE GAMES – year order

Col Pirie 1965*, Lindsay Dumbrill 1988, Ian Johnson 1991, David Hawthorne 1993 256 (274 all grades), Tyrone Hayden 2002.

200 CLUB GAMES – alphabetical order – all totals not known

Bill Adam 266 (150+ in First Grade).
Ken Beveridge 212, Kevin Burns 223, Ron Burns*, John Brown 255.
Steve Christie 236, Matthew Chidgey 245.
Timothy Date 249, Phil Donnan 202, Keith Dumbrill 200.
David Evans 201.
Joel Ford 227, Ray Frost 243 (183 First Grade).
David Garry (109 First Grade).
Garry Harrison 256 (112 First Grade).
Shane Hines 201
Pat Ingall 204
Todd McDean 207 (185 First Grade), Daniel McGavern 221 (196 First Grade), Col Minter, Lolo Mohu 204 (175 First Grade), Greg Mowbray 218, Paul Mowbray 230 (100+ First Grade)
Col Pirie*, Geoff Power 212.
Phil Rochow, Keith Roddom 290, Murray Rose 205.
Michael Sager 201.
Jason Thoroughgood 207, Greg Twomey 204.
Eric Vollmerhause 202.
Ian Whitehead 233.

* Players known to have appeared in 200 games but no records available before 1956 - Ron Burns played 156 games 1956-72 and Col Pirie played 147 games between 1956-65.

In coming weeks we’ll have a look at the ‘100 Club’.

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NEWCASTLE HOSTS RUGBY SHIELD

4 April, 2025

Newcastle has been selected as host city for the 2025 Australian Rugby Shield (ARS) to be contested in October.

A total of 14 state and regional teams will converge on No.2 Sportsground between October 1 and 5 where Queensland Country will be defending the men’s title and ACT & Southern NSW defending the women’s trophy.

Men’s and women’s teams from NSW Country, NSW Suburban, Queensland Country, Queensland Suburban, South Australia and Defence Forces will be competing. ACT and Southern NSW will be sending a women’s team whilst Tasmania will be represented in the men’s competition.

The ARS announcement follows previous news that the Wallaroos play New Zealand at McDonald Jones Stadium on Saturday, 10 May and the Wallabies take on Fiji at the same venue on Sunday, 6 July.

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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 as part of the club’s 85th anniversay)
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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BIG HUNTER RUGBY YEAR IN 2025

The 2025 Hunter Rugby season 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
Wallaroos v New Zealand - McDonald Jones Stadium - Saturday, 10 May
NSW Country Championships - 17 May; Junior Country Championships - 6 June.
Wallabies v Fiji - McDonald Jones Stadium - Sunday, 6 July
Hunter Rugby Finals - start Saturday, 23 August
Hunter Rugby Union Grand Final - Saturday, 6 September
Australian Rugby Shield - October 1 to 5 - 14 teams from around Australia will play in the tournament centred on No.2 Sportsground.

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2024 GRAND FINALS RESULTS

Hunter Rugby Union held its 2024 Grand Finals at No.2 Sportsground in late August, 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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