Where Are They Now

[Whale berry]

With the discussion on the main subbies thread discussing comp structure I thought this might be appropriate.
I found an old program (1982) that has the subbies tables of the day listed.
Interesting to see who is still around and who is not.

I will start with the old 2nd and 3rd Divisions as they were largely incorporated into subbies

2nd Division - 4 grades with 2 Colts (not all clubs had 2 colts)

Port Hacking - merged with St George to form Southern Districts, now Shute Shield
Hornsby - subbies Div 3 - barely
Norths - Shute Shield
Drummoyne - subbies Div1
Smithfield - gone
UNSW - subbies Div2
Canterbury - subbies Div 4, 2 teams
Mosman - subbies Div1
Dundas Valley subbies Div6 - 1 team
Campbelltown subbies Div1 - 3 teams

3rd Division - 4 grades no colts

Liverpool - gone
Hawkesbury Ag (now UWS- Hawkesbury) - subbies Div3
Nomads (was an amalgamation of Teachers and South Sydney) - gone
Penrith - Shute Shield
Blacktown - subbies Div2
Macquarie Uni - subbies Div 4
Kellyville - gone
Sydney Kiwis - gone

Subbies Div1 - 4 grades no colts

Hunters Hill - Div2
Colleagues - no change
Chatswood - Div 6
Bondi-Bronte - gone
CBOBS (now brothers) - Div2
Old Waverlians (kinda now Waverly) - Div3
Briars - Div3
St Pats - no change
Lindfield - Div2
St Ives - Div2

Subbies Div2 - 4 grades no colts

SHOBS - gone
Blue Mts - no change
StLeos OB - gone
Barker OB - no change
Kings OB - Div3
Newington OB - gone
Newport - no change
Bank of NSW - gone

Subbies Div3 - 3 grades no colts

Knox OB - Div1
Martaville-Chevallier - gone
Willoughby - gone
Cammeray - Northbridge - gone
Killara - West Pymble - gone
Forrest - Div 2
Epping - no change
Sydney Welsh - gone
AMP - gone
Manly Silver Ferns - gone

plus there were 18 two team clubs (across two groups) in Div4
plus there were 34 one team clubs (across three groups) in Div5, of which 8 are extras from higher divisions and shute shield)
I will post those names a bit later.


Also bear in mind at this time the Shute Shield clubs had 5th grade (which they don't have now) as well as 3 colts grades

 

[Pfitzy]

Penrith - Shute Shield - barely
Blacktown - subbies Div4

Corrections

If you look at cup winners from First Grade you see a lot of unknowns:

http://rugby.net.au/page/Jeffrey-Cup-Premiers-x-686-132-634.html
http://rugby.net.au/page/Noice-Cup-Premiers-x-687-132-635.html

 

[Whale berry]

I will get around to posting the Lower divs from 1982, there were certainly a lot of unusual clubs around.
Just about every bank (including the Reserve Bank) had a team as well there were a lot more single team old boy clubs.

 

[Pfitzy]

Mostly this is down to massive social change in the last 30 years - more immigration, weekend trading hours extended, rapid spread of population despite high growth, longer working hours for pretty much everyone in the corporate sector.

But mainly its money.

 

[Ozzie Bob]

With the discussion on the main subbies thread discussing comp structure I thought this might be appropriate.
I found an old program (1982) that has the subbies tables of the day listed.
Interesting to see who is still around and who is not.

I will start with the old 2nd and 3rd Divisions as they were largely incorporated into subbies

2nd Division - 4 grades with 2 Colts (not all clubs had 2 colts)

Port Hacking - merged with St George to form Southern Districts, now Shute Shield
Hornsby - subbies Div 3 - barely
Norths - Shute Shield
Drummoyne - subbies Div1
Smithfield - gone
UNSW - subbies Div2
Canterbury - subbies Div 4, 2 teams
Mosman - subbies Div1
Dundas Valley subbies Div6 - 1 team
Campbelltown subbies Div1 - 3 teams

3rd Division - 4 grades no colts

Liverpool - gone
Hawkesbury Ag (now UWS- Hawkesbury) - subbies Div3
Nomads (was an amalgamation of Teachers and South Sydney) - gone
Penrith - Shute Shield
Blacktown - subbies Div2
Macquarie Uni - subbies Div 4
Kellyville - gone
Sydney Kiwis - gone

Subbies Div1 - 4 grades no colts

Hunters Hill - Div2
Colleagues - no change
Chatswood - Div 6
Bondi-Bronte - gone
CBOBS (now brothers) - Div2
Old Waverlians (kinda now Waverly) - Div3
Briars - Div3
St Pats - no change
Lindfield - Div2
St Ives - Div2

Subbies Div2 - 4 grades no colts

SHOBS - gone
Blue Mts - no change
StLeos OB - gone
Barker OB - no change
Kings OB - Div3
Newington OB - gone
Newport - no change
Bank of NSW - gone

Subbies Div3 - 3 grades no colts

Knox OB - Div1
Martaville-Chevallier - gone
Willoughby - gone
Cammeray - Northbridge - gone
Killara - West Pymble - gone
Forrest - Div 2
Epping - no change
Sydney Welsh - gone
AMP - gone
Manly Silver Ferns - gone

plus there were 18 two team clubs (across two groups) in Div4
plus there were 34 one team clubs (across three groups) in Div5, of which 8 are extras from higher divisions and shute shield)
I will post those names a bit later.


Also bear in mind at this time the Shute Shield clubs had 5th grade (which they don't have now) as well as 3 colts grades

St Leos Old boys merged with Kur-rin-gai to form Beecroft seniors club which is currently in div 1

 

[Heavyd]

Interesting stuff. Bring back Matraville! There was nothing scarier than playing at Matto high opposite Long Bay jail.

 

[mous]

Interesting stuff. Bring back Matraville! There was nothing scarier than playing at Matto high opposite Long Bay jail.

Long Bay wasn't what scared everyone. It was the concrete slab that sat beside the dead ball line. lol

 

[Whale berry]

Long Bay wasn't what scared everyone. It was the concrete slab that sat beside the dead ball line. lol

It was also the piles of dog crap that littered the field, particularly if you were playing in an earlier game

 

[Ozzie Bob]

whatever happened to Bankstown Rugby club and Oakhill Old Boys rugby club?

 

[Pfitzy]

Oakhill disappeared after a few years of barely having one grade in fifth division. They won a second grade premiership in 2008 despite a disciplinary record that should have seem them thrown out of the finals, not to mention insufficient qualified players to take the field.

I believe the school wasn't keen on having them play there but can't confirm. Like a lot of small clubs, they were suffering from lack of volunteers and I think a few of their guys went to Chatswood

 

[Ozzie Bob]

South Sydney of NZ are they now Harlequins?

 

[Pfitzy]

No. Harlequins have set themselves as a catch-all for anyone from anywhere who doesn't necessarily have an existing club affiliation. So they've got a few overseas blokes and quite a lot of guys who work and /or live around the CBD and inner suburbs. Easy to get to training straight after work as they're a stroll from Redfern station

 

[Ozzie Bob]

I do find it surprising that Shore and Newington Old Boys teams have folded. I was imagine with Shore its a case of the number of clubs in the local area.

I wonder if we will ever see clubs like Killara-West Pymble reform????

Apart from Dundas and Merrylands i am surprised there is not really a Parramatta based club

 

[Pfitzy]

Well this thread deserves a resurrection, given my club might be on it!

I wonder if we will ever see clubs like Killara-West Pymble reform????

Given that Knox OB are now playing on Lofberg it would be a stretch.

KWP have juniors through to U12 (http://www.kwprugby.com/teams/) but senior rugby looks fairly comatose. No surprise in that area. Good club house, great blokes. Damn shame.

Apart from Dundas and Merrylands i am surprised there is not really a Parramatta based club

So at this point, Dundas are The Travelling Wilburys of Subbies, and Merrylands are just back from their club suspension.

Two Blues at the moment are getting most of the talent in the area to finally build something like a regular (if not competitive) Premier Club.

Other than that, its loig loig loig in the area. Why pay good money to play Subbies when you can pick up a hundred bucks a week playing shitty grade league for a local club with thousands in sponsorship and no long-term plan?

If I ever find out how to target the fringe league player market who only wants to train one night a week, I'll be able to fill my club with relatively fit, young blokes who don't know how to roll away from a tackle.

Otherwise, I'm pretty much dead in the water. Average age of my side playing two games on the weekend was somewhere north of 30.

Other clubs who are not in the picture right now:

Oakhill OB
Norwest Bulls Seniors
Rockdale
Bankstown
Notre Dame
St George

Wollondilly went back to Southern Highlands I think. And Fairvale/Lansvale aka "The Vales" are under suspension.

 

[Whale berry]

I do remember reading somewhere that Parra target the Oakhill Boys for their colts, so probably why no Oakhill OB.

Notre Dame only a very small uni, they probably only had a team because a few blokes wanted a run and it was easier to organise through the uni.

 

[Pfitzy]

I do remember reading somewhere that Parra target the Oakhill Boys for their colts, so probably why no Oakhill OB.

I'm going to need to start doing that. Hills have 4 Grades and Colts just up the road, and often a Halligans game.

Just checked the average age of my starting lineup against Harlequins on the weekend:

Third Grade was 31 overall (~35 forwards, ~27 backs).
Second Grade was 32 overall (~38 forwards, ~25 backs).

Not good.

 

[Mangoman]

Other clubs to add to the list - ICMS (couple of seasons in Div 6), MacArthur (1 year in Halligans then 1 in Div 6), Seaforth (as far as I know only spent a few years in Div 6), Sydney Grammar (gone soon after winning a premiership, not sure how many years they were around), Clovelly (died off after about 10-12 years in Div 6), Liverpool (gone after 1 year in Div 6, from memory due to a shocking discipline record). And that's just in my time around Div 5/6 since 2011.

 

[Pfitzy]

Liverpool (gone after 1 year in Div 6, from memory due to a shocking discipline record).

They used to be a Division 2 club. Guy I played with at Rouse Hill played for them - had their own ground, big scoreboard, the lot.

Ran out of volunteers. Change in demographics. That contributed to bad elements re: discipline.

 

[Bernie]

If we go back ten years to the heady days of 2007, when Kevin Rudd became Dear Leader, the cool kids were yet to learn about snapping one off on chatface or whatever it is they do today and Division 5 was played over 18 rounds (come to think of it so was 2008).
Of the 8 sides in the Division that year, 5 are now gone, KWP, Rockdale, Oakhill, Bankstown and Norwest.

We, Lane Cove with an old fashioned cast steel and wire fence, made the semi's and knocked out the higher placed Oakhill in the minor semi then went onto the final to be defeated by Bankstown.

My two overriding memories of the season were the length-20 games(and again in 2008) and the sheer dislike that we had for Oakhill caused by a few bad eggs, which made our win in the semi one of the sweetest.

Pfitzy, for Lane Cove in 2006 we didn't win a game in either grade (after dropping down from Division 4 in 2005) but there was still a great spirit. That spirit, plus a couple of decent players nearly took us to the GF a year later.

 

[Inside Shoulder]

Sydney Grammar (gone soon after winning a premiership, not sure how many years they were around)

There was one more year after the premiership made the grand final, lost and I think it all fell apart in preparation for the next year. That was 3 full years I think.
I think the club has been revived way down the divisions though.