BIG DAY ON FRIDAY!

Tuesday, 4 August

It’s going to be a big day on Friday for The Waratahs when the club holds its 2026 Sports Luncheon at Hamilton North Bowling Club.

The ‘full house’ sign has gone up for the event with 115 members and supporters attending.

A special thanks goes to our sponsors in Churchills Carpet Court, Thomas Allen Wines an Tooheys while we welcome one of our former players in Allan Dodd from The Icon Depot who has supplied a superb range of raffle prizes.

Other supporters included Hellyers Road Distillery, Rugby Australia, NSW Waratahs, Hunter Wildfires and the venue in Hamilton North Bowling Club.

Guest Speaker for the luncheon is former Wallabies Captain Nick Farr-Jones AM.

The luncheon will acknowledge the ‘anniversary’ of five Grand Final teams, these being:

1946 – First Grade Major Premiers
1956 – First Grade Grand Final Runner Up
1956 - Third Grade Grand Final Runners Up
1996 – Third Grade Grand Final Runner Up
2006 – First Grade Minor & Major Premiers

The club’s 1976 Under 18s will celebrate their 50 year reunion at the luncheon - the team was undefeated Minor and Major Premiers.

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SATURDAY’S RUGBY RESULTS

Saturday, 1 August

Results of Round 14 fixtures for Hunter Rugby on Saturday are:

Men:

University d Southern Beaches 55-29 at Bernie Curran Oval
Maitland d Hamilton 43-35 at PassmoreOval
Wanderers d Merewether Carlton 24-15 at Townson Oval

Women:

Hamilton d Singleton 83-0 at Passmore Oval
University d Maitland 12-0 at Bernie Curran Oval
Wanderers d Scone 64-7 at Scone Rugby Park
Merewether Carlton d Cooks Hill 45-0 at Townson Oval

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Round 16 of the Shute Shield resulted in Hunter Wildfires being beaten 44-12 by Northern Suburbs at No.2 Sportsground.

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END OF AN ERA

Thursday, 25 June

The Waratahs Juniors are taking formal steps to wind up operations after no nominations were received to form a new committee at the 2026 Annual General Meeting on Monday (22 June).

A small gathering of officials and club members attended the meeting and were informed that no junior teams were formed by The Waratahs Juniors in 2025 nor for the 2026 rugby season.

The meeting was told that the Juniors had not been successful with initiatives and mergers and have been steering young players to the Newcastle West ‘Wildcats’. Developing a new junior rugby union club in the growing western suburbs of Newcastle such as Fletcher, Cameron Park and Minmi would provide a legacy for The Waratahs Juniors.

A subsequent Special General Meeting after the AGM to discuss the future of the Juniors decided to take formal steps to wind up operations.

The Special General Meeting voted that funds held by the Juniors be transferred to The Waratahs Old Boys’ Association to be lodged in a special ’Juniors’ account. The aim of the transfer is to allow The Waratahs club to seek, assess and potentially assist any junior rugby developments or initiatives in the Hunter Region.

The meeting agreed to continue to honour a three-year foundation sponsorship by the Juniors of the Newcastle West club which expires in 2027.

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RESULTS FROM 2026 AGMs

Monday, 9 March

The 2026 Annual General Meetings of both the Interim Seniors Committee and the Old Boys’ Association have returned largely intact their existing committees

The AGMs were held before a small crowd of members and supporters at Hamilton North Bowling Club yesterday (8 March).

The Interim Seniors Committee returned Ken Beveridge, Matt Dumbrill, John Gibson and Greg Taylor as committee members while Mark Queenan was also elected to the committee.

The Old Boys’ Association returned Paul Paisley as President, Keith Powell as Secretary, John Gibson as newly established Membership Officer, and Julie and Lindsay Dumbrill and Mark Queenan as committee members.

Ken Beveridge stepped down after 10 years as Treasurer while Gary Rawle did not see re-election as a committee member. The Old Boys’ committee will now seek a new Treasurer and three committee members.

Greg Taylor, on behalf of the Interim Seniors Committee, said the committee continued to operate in ‘caretaker’ mode as it continues to gradually wind-up the club.

He said the committee was in a strong financial position. A motion to distribute about 40% of club funds will be further investigated after suggestions from the meeting.

The Old Boys’ Association’s President’s Report and Secretary’s Report are printed on the website under ‘About Our Club/Old Boys’ Association’.

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OLD BOYS MEMBERSHIP 2026

Wednesday, 25 February

The Old Boys’ Committee has voted to maintain existing membership fees for 2026 which means the 50% reduction introduced last year will remain.

Treasurer, Ken Beveridge, said there was a positive reaction to the reduction last year and that membership numbers increased as a result of the initiative. He was hopeful that maintaining the low fee would attract more players and supporters of The Waratahs to become an Old Boys’ member in 2026.

The membership fee structure for 2026 is:

Full Membership - $50 (will include subsidy for Sports Luncheon)

Social Membership - $20 (for former players and supporters who live outside the Newcastle area and cannot attend most functions and activities)

Membership for 2026 is now open and payment can be made via the Greater Bank – BSB637000 A/c 715493713 – marking your payment ‘Membership’ with your name.

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