September 8, 2020 ·
Tim Booth
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Old Colleagues, Weekly news
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Latest Results
The Blue Giants came away from Waverley Oval with 5 victories from 7 grades in what was another successful day for the Blue Giants.
Halligan continued their unbeaten streak and they head into their final round robin match this weekend looking to lock up the minor premiership. The lads are looking strong in their quest for a four-peat.
Sutherland, Whiddon and Burke all claimed hard-fought victories to consolidate their spots in the top 4, with Whiddon edging 5 points clear at the top of the table.
The coaches would have been pleased to see these sides grind out the win in low-scoring matches, after becoming accustomed to some runaway scorelines at times this year.
Judd and Kentwell both went down but the final scores weren’t fully reflective of the effort and endeavour shown.
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Round 6 preview v Blue Mountains
The boys have returned to training with a spring in their step this week (excuse the pun) after enjoying a well-deserved bye weekend last week.
We’re back at Blue Giant Stadium for our second and final home game of the year, with Blue Mountains making their way across town for what is sure to be a physical day out.
It’s 6 v 7 in Kentwell, with the Blue Giants needing a victory to keep our finals hopes alive.
All other grades will be looking to further cement their spots in the top 4 with just two regular season games remaining before finals.
Game times and the Kentwell starting side are below. Head to our Instagram or Facebook for the full team lists.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, unfortunately we have to ask that supporters avoid attending games wherever possible.
We will have a photographer at the ground to catch all the action this week so keep an eye on our socials next week.
Up the Giants!
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August 8, 2020 ·
Tim Booth
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Weekly news
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Round 2 recap
Round 2 produced a similar story to Round 1 for Colleagues, with some strong performances across the grades.
Drummoyne put out typically physical sides across the grades but Colleagues rose to the challenge with wins all grades except Whiddon, who fought out a tough draw, and Kentwell who went down fighting to a strong Drummoyne side who will no doubt feature at the pointy end of the comp.
Colleagues now has 5 out of 6 grade sides inside the top 4, with Burke Cup, Whiddon Cup and Halligan Cup all sitting pretty atop their respective tables.
Our two colts sides are also in the playoff zone, despite Radford’s narrow loss on the weekend.
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Round 3 v Mosman
As this newsletter goes to print, our round 3 fixtures against Mosman are scheduled to go ahead however they will be played at Rawson Oval as BGS has been deemed off limits by Council.
Mosman at home is always a tough day out and they will no doubt seek to use the wet weather to their advantage.
It was only 3 weeks ago that we faced off in a trial match, with Colleagues taking the honours for the day.
This weekend will no doubt present a greater challenge across all grades and it should give us an idea of where we stand as we approach the halfway mark of the regular season.
Kentwell Cup will once again be live-streamed on Cluch.tv so tune in for all the action.
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August 8, 2020 ·
Tim Booth
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Old Colleagues
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It’s been couple of ordinary months for the Old Colleagues (apart from the obvious). In mid June we lost Ross Adair and just this week Mark Bowker passed away suddenly.
Both great Old Colleagues each in their own way.
Ross Adair (Pilt) played in the front row during the 1960’s mostly in the Whiddon and Burke Cups. One of those invaluable clubmen who was happy playing where ever selected.Later in life he was an enthusiastic supporter on the sidelines watching son Adam go round in the Kentwell Cup.Ross was a real gentleman with a welcoming and inquiring smile as one of his best known traits. Ross was also known as a long serving captain of the Colleagues Golf Club (A.K.A. Royal Sydney).
Our thoughts go out to his family at this time.
Mark Bowker (Bowks) joined Colleagues after a season or two over the creek playing Beast’s Rugby being part of their 1971 Colts premiership team. Bowks made an immediate impression at the club with his unique sense of humour combined with the occasional short fuse. It was never a dull moment on the field, but at the end of the day players of the 70’s and 80’s were always proud to run on the field with him. And certainly you would rather play with him than against. So many stories and fond memories make him a man that will never be forgotten by those who knew him. (Club records show Bowks played 100 Club games and won several Burke Cup premierships.
We send our best to his family with thoughts of a big man
R.I.P. in rugby heaven.
Colleagues Kentwell Cup side will wear black armbands for the match this weekend.
Old Colleagues may wish to send a condolence email to Mark’s
brother. Email: paul@oxleymews.com.au
Mark Bowker’s funeral will be held at Tony Holland Funerals, 11:30am, Tuesday 11th August. 969 Fairfield Rd, Yeerongpilly, 4105.
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June 25, 2020 ·
Tim Booth
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Old Colleagues, Weekly news
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Calling all Colleagues
Finally some good news!! Our season is back and we will kick off round 1 on 25th July with a home game against Knox.
Stay tuned on what we have planned for the home games as crowd gathering at sporting grounds is still subject to much conjecture and debate at the moment.
You will find the full season draw on this website but please note our home games are:
- 25th July
- 8th August
- 5th September
There will be a two week finals series, Semi Final on Saturday 19th September and the Grand Final being held Saturday 26th September.
We are still working towards having a long lunch later in the year, so please watch this space.
If you have any comments, concerns or suggestions, please don’t hesitate to contact me at any time.
We will hopefully get to catch up down at Blue Giant Stadium some time in the next few months.
Best Regards,
Cam Ireland
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April 22, 2020 ·
Tim Booth
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Old Colleagues, Weekly news
Fellow Colleagues and Supporters,
The past few weeks have been challenging for everyone and our thoughts are with each and every one of you as you navigate these unchartered waters.
Season Update
An update on the rugby front for you. Like every sporting organisation around the world, Subbies rugby is watching the developments of COVID-19 very closely with the intention of getting us all back on the field as quickly as possible whilst maintaining our health and safety as the primary objective. We have had a phone hook up with Subbies management who outlined a draft plan to play half of the 2020 season, commencing in July, and culminating in one day of Finals in mid September. As you can imagine, this is nothing more than a concept at this stage given the great uncertainty around how long we are going to be restricted to semi-isolation.
As a club, we are drafting plans to carry out a second pre-season which will be conducted remotely/online. Watch this space for more details as this gets finalised. Every week, we will be hosting a discussion forum (drinks) at 6:30pm on Thursdays for anyone who wants to sign into the zoom call. The link will be sent around on the Players Portal. If you are not on that and would like to participate, please contact me.
I will keep you closely updated on the developments for the 2020 season and a new date for the Long Lunch as soon as we get the all clear!!
As always, if you have any questions or comments or just want to chat, please don’t hesitate calling.
Stay safe and keep your distance!!
Best regards,
Cam Ireland
March 25, 2020 ·
Tim Booth
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Old Colleagues, Weekly news
To all Colleagues,
We find ourselves in a really horrible and difficult situation as our society struggles with adapting to working from home, minimal social interaction and no organised sport.
To anyone who finds themselves out of work, our thoughts are with you. I am not sure what we can do to help in the short term but we are open to all ideas. To our sponsors who are suffering as a result, we assure you, we will be there to support you on the other side of this. If there is anything we can do in the meantime, please reach out to me.
We ask all of you to please be sensible and act responsibly with your social interactions, and equally as important, stay in touch with your mates.
Unless you’re in isolation, get outside and go for a run or go for a ride. Macca will be sending through some programs players can do from home and others you can do at different locations close to home.
Whilst I would love to say let’s all catch up for a beer, this isn’t what we need to be doing right now! We will make up for it when the coast clears!
Stay healthy, be sensible and I look forward to having a game of footy and a beer with everyone as soon as possible!!
Regards,
Cam Ireland
March 19, 2020 ·
Tim Booth
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Old Colleagues, Weekly news
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All Colleagues
I would firstly like to take this opportunity to thank all of our returning sponsors and financial supporters for 2020. The support of the Bellevue / Oak Hotels, Qube Logistics, Sharp IT, Fortius Funds Management, Escala Partners, Kemosabe Capital, Belle Property Surry Hills, Ryans Bar, Gordon Brothers, Verandah Bar, Mad Hatters, Jan Logan, SV Partners, QGS, Woodstock Resources and new sponsor Flagon Dry Productions allows our rugby club to function week in week and out provide an opportunity for everyone to have a game of footy.
We had a great trial against Bowral last weekend with over 40 blokes having a hit out, a great result for the first trial with over 4 weeks until the regular season was due to start…With incredible numbers of new players, returning colts and grade players alike turning up to pre-season, 2020 is shaping up to be a cracking year for the Blue Giants!!
With one hiccup…..
As you will all have seen by now, the ARU has postponed the commencement of all community rugby until early May. This includes tournaments, training and scheduled matches. The ARU and their in house health professionals are obviously watching the developing situation closely and will keep all clubs closely advised.
At this stage, we are also planning to postpone our annual Long Lunch which was scheduled to be held on Friday 8th May and Old Colleagues Day, Saturday 9th May. Please watch this space closely as we will lock in a new date as soon as we are 100% confident we can provide a safe environment for everyone to enjoy themselves and shake hands with their mates! With a disrupted season, we strong urge everyone to get behind the lunch, when we know the date, as we will need all your support!!
As Colleagues, we are unfortunately not able to sanction any training events until further notice. Our upcoming charity Bondi Tens tournament and trial games have had to be cancelled. Our fitness coach is currently putting together individual programs for those interested (please contact Matt directly) and will also issue a general club fitness plan that we encourage everyone to partake in, good for players and those retired alike!!
Players, please keep an eye on team group chats and social notices for further updates.
As always, please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any feedback, questions or comments.
Stay safe, stay healthy and we look forward to welcoming you down to Blue Giant Stadium soon!!
All the best,
Cam Ireland
0418 246 460
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February 18, 2020 ·
Tim Booth
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Old Colleagues
Colleagues farewell two Colleagues Greats
As you are aware, the Colleagues family has lost two of its legends in early 2020.
John ‘Wal’ Corlis and Hans ‘Dutchy’ Lamens were both integral members of the Colleagues Rugby Club for many years.
To hear some stories, to pay your respects and get together with some old friends to farewell these two great men, we would like to welcome you down to Colleagues Clubhouse on Sunday 1st
March from 2:30pm.
February 18, 2020 ·
Tim Booth
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Weekly news
Happy 2020 Colleagues and extended Colleagues community.
As the season approaches, I would like to update you on what has been happening down at Blue Giant Stadium in the off season.
Clubhouse
New floors were installed prior to Christmas. The previous floors were extremely damaged around the balcony area and were not able to be sanded back again. We have replaced them with an all purpose / weather floor that will give us much more durability, better acoustics and it looks fantastic!
New joinery will be installed next week at the northern end of the clubhouse to store merchandise and gear as well as wet weather training equipment. This will reduce the clutter sitting on floors and make the clubhouse a lot more functional and tidy.
Grants have been applied for to partially contribute to both of these projects. We have not been advised whether we were successful as yet.
Fields
Woollahra #2 and #3 look amazing. New turf has been laid across most of the fields and they are under constant groundskeeper maintenance in preparation for Cranbrook 1st XI summer cricket season. The new turf pitch will also allow our Colleagues cricket team to play some home ground features on Sundays over the summer. Watch this space for dates and summer events!!
The new digital scoreboard should be installed prior to the season start. This project has been delayed due to a redesign to allow for more than one grade scores appearing. The result will be a fantastic contribution to the grounds and spectator experience.
We have also applied for a grant to install storage cages and a cement pad for the scrum machine, to be located adjacent to the score board. Fingers crossed for this one.
Season Ahead
With a great 2019 campaign behind us we are looking forward to an even more successful 2020!
We are delighted to have a large chunk of our colts returning in 2020 into grade. There are several of these guys who will feel right at home in Kentwell having appeared off the bench on many occasions last year.
Rumour has it that recruitment has been hot and strong in the off season also.
We have a new strength and conditioning coach, Matt Mackay. Matt is a local eastern suburbs boy, playing many years of first grade at Randwick and more latterly having a run with Easts. Matt has been in high demand with invitational 7s teams across Australia and has been a personal trainer for the past 11 years. He has fought in two amateur fights and is a rugby tragic. Matt is running our Tuesday night and Saturday morning sessions and will also run drills prior to training on Thursday nights throughout the season.
If there are any of our old boys or friends of the club wanting to help out coaching or managing teams or in any capacity really, we would only be too grateful for your involvement. Please contact me directly.
Long Lunch
Please lock in Friday 8th May for the annual Colleagues Long Lunch. More details on entertainment etc to follow.
Old Colleagues Day will be held on the day after, Saturday 9th May. We will have a jumping castle for the kids and a food and drinks package for the old boys.
Sponsorship
We were exceptionally blessed with the support received in 2019 (see below sponsors logos) and we hope that we can maintain those relationships into 2020.
The social media committee worked overtime this year to promote these businesses and on ground exposure for our sponsors was fantastic.
As is always the case with an amateur rugby club, we run close to the line with finances. Ground hire fees are constantly increasing as are insurance costs to run such a large club.
If you or your business would like to discuss a partnership with the greatest amateur rugby club in Australia, arguably the world, please contact me directly (0418 246 460 or cameroni@agrow.com.au).
Colleagues Farewell two Colleagues Greats
As you are aware, the Colleagues family has lost two of its legends in early 2020.
John ‘Wal’ Corlis and Hans ‘Dutchy’ Lamens were both integral members of the Colleagues Rugby Club for many years.
To hear some stories, to pay your respects and get together with some old friends to farewell these two great men, we would like to welcome you down to Colleagues Clubhouse on Sunday 1st
March from 2:30pm.
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Keep an eye on the emails for fixtures, come down to the club and support and I look forward to seeing you throughout the season.
Kind regards,
Cam Ireland
0418 246 460
September 7, 2018 ·
Tim Booth
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Weekly news
2018 Season Blue Giant Score Card
2nd in the Club Championship
6th Grade Halligan Cup Premiership Winners,
Judd Cup Premiership Winners,
Burke Cup Minor Premiers,
Kentwell, Burke, Colts, Sutherland Cups teams,
all contesting final series.
(Three season blue rinses with accompanying
celebration)
Two best ever Ladies days (no competition points apply)
And plenty of good rugby enjoyed by all.
Other Stuff 2019 season
Looks like Hunters Hill are relegated to second division and
the Blue Mountains are back in the Kentwell (BUS TRIP !!!!)
Old Colleague Relocating back to Sydney
Old Colleagues from the1980’s may remember Nick Rice,
second rower who played in the Kentwell and Burke during
that period. Well he is back in Syd in September and looking
to catch up with Old Colleagues from that era.
And what a time we had a lot of laughs to be remembered I think !!!
Nick’s email : nemrice57@outloook.com
Old Colleague in Speedo Series
Old Colleague David Oliver looking resplendent in his
Colleague Speedo’s. Dave on tour in the UK is seen
about take a swim in a Scottish Loch !!!
