TAHS ENTER BEACH 5s

Thursday, 18 January

The Waratahs are entering a team to play in the Women’s division of the Newcastle Beach 5s at Nobbys Beach during the Australia Day weekend.

The Tahs are the defending champions in the Women’s competition and will be keen to retain the title.

The Beach 5s are played on both Saturday, January 25 and Sunday, January 26. Open Men and Open Women divisions will be played on Saturday 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.

Good luck girls - hope you bring home the trophy!

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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 season - Saturday, 5 April
Byes - Easter - 12 April; NSW Country Championships - 17 May; Junior Country Championships - 6 June; wet weather round - 19 September.
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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THANKS FOR COMING!

Saturday, 7 December

The Old Boys’ Association passes on its thanks to all members and supporters who attended the 2024 Christmas Luncheon yesterday (6 Dec).

A good crowd spent a friendly afternoon at Babbington’s Restaurant and it was good to see a lot of Old Boys and their wives enjoy the festivities.

It was the Old Boy last function for the year and they take the opportunity of wishing everyone a Merry Christmas.

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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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ACCOLADE FOR MAYA

31 October

Former member of The Waratahs Women’s team, Maya Stewart, has been named Rugby Australia’s ‘Wallaroos Player of the Year’.

The awards were announced last night at the 2024 Rugby Australia Awards in Sydney with the John Eales Award for Men’s Player of the Year going to Rob Valetini.

Maya had an incredible international season by claiming most tries in Wallaroos history by scoring in seven straight games to finish the year.

Maya, 24, missed the opening internationals against Fijiana and New Zealand but scored a total of nine tries in eight games. She made 18 line breaks and 37 tackle busts.

The flying winger said she was surprised but honoured to receive the award in beating Ash Marsters and Tabua Tuinakauvadra for the prize.

Maya played a number of seasons for The Waratahs before moving to Sydney at the end of the 2019 season to further her rugby career.

The Waratahs club has sent Maya a congratulatory message about her achievement.

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IN MEMORY OF PAUL

Wednesday 23 October

Many thanks to members and supporters of The Waratahs who attended the opening of a memorial yesterday in honour of Paul Burke at St Paul’s Catholic College at Booragul.

Paul was a foundational staff member of St Paul’s in 1984 and taught at the college for 37 years before his passing in late 2021 at the age of 60.

Paul also was a First Grade Captain-Coach at The Waratahs and a former Australian rugby union junior international. An all-round sportsman, he had distinguished playing career with Waratah Mayfield District Cricket Club.

St Paul’s kindly invited representatives of both The Tahs and the cricket club to the well-attended opening of the outdoor learning area beside the college oval which honours Paul’s dedication to the teaching profession and to St Paul’s.

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INTERIM SENIOR COMMITTEE - REPORT

September 2024

The club’s Interim Seniors Committee has decided to continue in ‘caretaker mode’ at its most recent meeting.

The meeting discussed a number of agenda items and decided to consolidate a number of banking accounts into one account, review and dispose the rugby gear and other assets kept in store under the Waratah Oval Grandstand with discussion to be held with The Waratahs Juniors about future use of assets etc.

The committee also decided to financially support the Juniors plus provide the Juniors the opportunity to request a grant of up to $2,000 per annum from the Senior club for a specific purpose(s).

The meeting further decided to maintain The Waratahs website but close the club’s Facebook account.

In relation to senior rugby operations, the committee heard about the interest of some former women players possibly forming a team under The Waratahs banner to play in the Hunter Rugby Union’s Summer 7s competition early next year.

The committee decided to support any formation of a women’s team if the initiative succeeds.

The committee also agreed that the membership for the club be set at $10 payable from 1st August and for the Senior club’s AGM to be held on the same day with the Old Boys’ AGM on a date to be decided.

NOTE: The Interim Seniors Committee was established earlier this year after no nominations were received at the 2023 AGM for the club’s general rugby committee and the failure to field a team in any local major senior competition.

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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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