PASSING OF CLUB MEMBERS

Thursday, 11 September

The Waratahs Rugby Union Club reminds members and supporters that the funeral service for Brent Tilse will be held tomorrow (Fri, 12 Sept).`

Brent, a strong, no-nonsense front rower, played for both The Waratahs and University and recently had been suffering from throat cancer.

Aged 64, Brent had a sparkling representative career having been a member of the Australian Under 17 team with Paul Burke and Dom Vaughan in 1977 and a member of the Australian Under 21 team w`ith Dom in 1980.

His funeral service will be held at St Peter’s Anglican Church in William Street East Maitland at 11am tomorrow.

Club members are also advised of the sad passings of two other long term supporters in John Perrin and Bruce Stevenson.

John, who was 73, was a centre in First Grade in the early-mid 1970s before moving to Gloucester. He passed away on 8 September after a long battle with lung cancer.

John’s funeral will be a graveside service at 11am at Dawson River Cemetery in Cundletown on Thursday, 18 September. Further details are available by logging onto Becker Family Funerals.

Bruce, who was 90, was a long time supporter of The Tahs and was brother of former well-known club official John Stevenson (Snr) and uncle to John Stevenson (Jnr) who is a member of the Old Boys’ committee.

Bruce’s funeral service will be held at 11am on Wednesday, 1st October at Mayfield Uniting Church, Cnr Highfield and Kerr Streets. The date is to allow family members to complete commitments overseas to attend the funeral.

________________________

GRAND FINAL RUGBY

Thursday, 11 September

Hunter Rugby Union will play its Grand Finals at No.2 Sportsground on Saturday (13 Sept). Fixtures are:

Premier 1: Maitland v Merewether Carlton - 5.05pm
Premier 2: Maitland v Merewether Carlton - 3.20pm
Premier 3: Southern Beaches v University - 1.50pm
Women’s: Wanderers v Hamilton - 12.25pm
Suburban: Singleton Red v Scone Brumbies - 10.50am

Internationals:

The Rugby Championship - Australia Wallabies v Argentina Pumas in Sydney - Saturday 2pm at Allianz Stadium.

2025 Women’s World Rugby Cup in England - Australian v Canada in Quarterfinal - Sunday at 1am (Australian time) - Bristol, England.

____________________

GREAT SPORTS LUNCHEON!

Saturday, 9 August

The Waratahs Old Boys’ Association thank everyone who attended a very social 2025 Sports Luncheon yesterday (8 August).

The ‘full house’ sign went up early last week and former Wallabies international, Matt Burke, was a great Guest Speaker.

Matt presented a terrific overview of his rugby experiences and took questions from the floor before receiving a standing ovation from many who enjoyed the luncheon.

The Waratahs appreciate luncheon sponsors in Churchills Carpet Court, Thomas Allen Wines and Tooheys and also support from Rugby Australia, NSW Waratahs, Hellyers Road Distillery and the venue, Hamilton North Bowling Club.

A great club function as The Waratahs celebrate 85 years of rugby - 1940 to 2025!

_______________________

OUR 85th ANNIVERSARY!

July, 2025

As part of our 85th anniversary in 2025 we are publishing some historical facts about the club. We have previously published the names of players who played more than 300, 200 or 100 matches for The Tahs. We now move on to our list of Life Members ….

The five original Life Members - Cyril Burke* BEM, Richard (Pop) Dann*, Arthur Elvin*, Ray Frost* and Ern Howarth* - were inducted in 1955. Subsequent inductees have been:

1950s - Bert McGregor* 1956; 1960s - Dr Gordon Kerridge* 1965, Enid Quirk* 1968, Audrey Howarth* 1968, Jim Gladys* 1969; 1970s - Jess Symes* 1970, Jane McGregor* 1970, Ian (John) Symes* 1970, George Bear* 1970, Ron Howell* 1974, Ken Chambers* 1974, John Innes* 1974, John Hipwell OAM* 1974, Bill Chidgey* 1974, Larry Short* 1975, Melva Masters* 1976, Jim Nickerson* 1976, Marie Dick* 1979, Marge Burke* 1979.

1980s - Roger Bryan* 1982, Peter Giles* 1984; 1990s - Paul Murphy OAM 1995, Bryan Tolhurst* 1996; 2000s - John Brown 2009; 2010s - Denis Hurst 2011, David Bowtell 2012*, Matthew Chidgey 2014, Mark Queenan 2014, Ken Grieve 2017, Keith Powell 2018; 2020s - Gregory Taylor 2021.

_________________________