Hiya cobbers.
Beyond the imposing shadows of grey concrete stadiums with their over-priced tickets and cold pies, past the lines of debussing, coiffured hair, rugby professionals in matching tracksuits and hyper expensive headphones and somewhere yonder the ramblings of talking heads on TV, we all know that the real heartbeat of rugby lies local. It’s our clubs that drive this game. So welcome to Club Corner.
What’s this about? We want to promote clubs. Whose clubs? YOUR club. Why? Because you love your club. And we at G&GR know it’s folk like you and YOUR club that makes OUR game and so make THIS site possible. And we want to give a little something back to reflect that.
So send me YOUR club’s promotional clip. You see them on Facebook and on YouTube all the time. Send them to me and I’ll put them on HERE. It doesn’t have to be George Lucasesque. Someone’s kid with semi-decent TikTok skills can do it. Or maybe now’s the time YOU go make one for your club. Or send it to your club’s President and Committee so they can pin it to the right person.
But whatever way you choose, get a blurb and send a YouTube link to NuttaRugby@hotmail.com and (provided it passes the most basic of public decency assessment) we will give it its own space on the site as part of Club Corner. And share this on your Facebook page to spread the love.
Today we bring you a look at Briars Rugby (https://briarsrugbyunion.com) of Concord in Sydney.
THE BRIARS SPORTING CLUB, a remarkable club, had a remarkable birth. Fourteen boys, aged from 9 to 13 years, met on the disused fowlyard at Bob Clark’s place on 7 August 1918. They were there to inaugurate the Club, which had been the idea of Jack Stone. The first major decision of this distinguished gathering was to name the club. After much debate, someone suggested the name of Jack’s place. For Jack, being the President, thus a person of dignity, the suggestion had to be considered seriously. The name of the property was “The Briars“, thus the brand new club was named “The Briars Sporting Club”.
The next important decision to make was on the club’s colours. Mrs Rudd, an aunt of Geoff Whiddon, embroidered a piece of red cloth “T.B.S.C” THE BRIARS SPORTING CLUB in gold letters. It is reported that bashfulness on the part of some members caused the red to be changed to maroon. Thus maroon and gold have been the colours since. With a name and colours, the club was born.
Fast forward and it’s Briars Rugby’s 100th season in 2023 and they’re planning a big one with recruitment, events, some targeted recruiting and even bringing in coaches from the Randwick nursery to help us achieve our goals.
Briars is part of the Briars Sports network that includes highly successful cricket, hockey, netball, bowls and squash clubs that include over 2,000 members. Our rugby team has won 5 Kentwell Cups in our history and our newly developed women’s team came 5th at the Dubai Sevens this past December and our Juniors are growing year on year.
With arguably the best off-field facilities in the Sydney Suburban Rugby landscape with our licensed club at Briars Sports in Concord and a fantastic home ground of Rothwell Park, what’s not to like?
So get in contact with the lads at info@briarsrugbyunion.com and come on down!
Thoughts? Who has played them? Who has played for them? Like, comment, link, share and spread the club-luv over the interwebs socials people.
