RESULTS OF OLD BOYS’ 2026 AGM
President of the Old Boys’ Association, Paul Paisley, was elected for his sixth consecutive year at the 2026 AGM held on 8 March.
Paul is being supported by the following committee members for the 2026 season -
Treasurer - To be appointed
Secretary - Keith Powell
Membership Officer - John Gibson
Committee Members - Julie Dumbrill, Lindsay Dumbrill and Mark Queenan (three vacant positions).
The AGM recognised the services of Ken Beveridge who did not seek re-election after 10 years as Treasurer and also Gary Rawle as committee member who stepped down.
The President’s Report and the Secretary’s Report presented at the AGM follow:
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
The Waratahs Rugby Union Club and the Old Boys’ Association celebrated the club’s 85th anniversary in 2025 following the first junior team running onto the rugby field in 1940.
Our celebrations for 2025 however were focussed ‘off field’ as compared to ‘on field’ as The Tahs, after being unable to form senior teams for the past few years, also saw the Juniors suffer the same fate with the Junior Committee advising Hunter Junior Rugby Union it would have no teams for the 2025 season – this being the first year in the club’s history that it could not field either a senior team nor a junior team to represent The Waratahs.
I’m sure I write on behalf of all Old Boys’ members and supporters in being disappointed in the spiralling downward trend despite the best efforts of many people in the club to keep it afloat.
On a positive footing, the Old Boys’ Association has supported both the Seniors and Juniors during the very tough past few years and will continue to do so despite what the future may bring.
The Old Boys’ committee, realising the continuing situation, made a number of important decisions in 2025 which focussed on benefit for members and plans to be an active part of The Waratahs for those who had supported the club either as a player or supporter.
Among the initiatives was a 50% reduction in annual membership fees, subsidies for members attending the 2025 Sports Luncheon and Christmas Luncheon, and a social program spread across the year.
I’m pleased to advise that the reduction in membership fees contributed to a big increase in our membership numbers while the low-cost social functions also proved attractive with a full house at the Sports Luncheon and a good attendance at the Christmas function.
Unfortunately, some activities were not successful – the Hunter Wildfires ‘home match’ program drew a small response while an 85th anniversary ‘Test match viewing’ at Hamilton North Bowling Club was cancelled because of low numbers (probably a lesson for the committee in not to arrange evening activities for members).
The committee has attempted to overcome some of these problems by conducting a survey of members to see what social activities they would like to see arranged for 2026. The results of the survey should be known soon and we’ll incorporate any good ideas into the social program.
Highlights of 2025
In highlights for the year, the Old Boys reminded members of the past 85 years with a series of ‘historical’ articles in our newsletter and on the club’s website that reflected the proud tradition of the club and showcased many of the players and supporters of The Waratahs.
The 2025 Sports Luncheon was a big success with former Wallabies fullback and President of NSW Rugby Union, Matt Burke, being an exceptional speaker and a big drawcard.
The Old Boys’ committee on behalf of its members also approved a $2,000 sponsorship to continue the Association’s involvement in the development of junior rugby in the Hunter Wildfires Colts program (an area which the Association will further investigate in 2026).
In our 85th year it was pleasing to see The Newcastle Herald name six of the club’s former players in Hunter Rugby’s ‘ultimate modern-day team’ from the past 25 years - the players being Dan McGavern (winger), Carl Manu (five-eighth), Alain Miriallakis (prop), Hayden Pedersen (centre), Ben Petersen (fullback) and Mark Taufua (prop/second row).
The Old Boys’ also took on the responsibility of updating the club’s Honour Board for Life Members. Some missing names were added and the club’s 36 Life Members are now all included on the board.
In conclusion
The Old Boys’ Association ended the year on a solid footing and our finances continue to be in a good position thanks to some astute fundraising and financial management.
We paid our annual fees to the senior club which is an important part of the running of The Tahs as all full financial members of the Old Boys’ Association are eligible to vote on any recommendations at the Seniors Annual General Meeting.
I am again thankful to the Old Boys committee for being a strong support group and assessing opportunities and making decisions that continued to keep the Old Boys’ Association a viable part of The Waratahs Rugby Union Club.
Many thanks to members of the committee for their time and effort during the past 12 months. Treasurer, Ken Beveridge, continued his work in producing comprehensive financial reports while John Gibson, Keith Powell, Mark Queenan, Gary Rawle and John Stevenson worked extremely well together as an ‘Old Boys team’. A special thanks to Julie and Lindsay Dumbrill who expressed interest in the work of the Old Boys’ Association and became committee members in late 2025.
The new committee will have its challenges in 2026 but has a good foundation from which to work and to provide benefits for our members. The retiring committee has already left some plans, one of which is to appoint a Membership Officer with the aim of increasing our number of members and to gain their input to our operations.
I hope you join us as a member in 2026. The support of all past players and supporters is important as we move into a new operational year and continue a vital component of The Waratahs Rugby Union Club.
Yours in Rugby
Paul Paisley
President
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SECRETARY’S REPORT
The Old Boys’ Association had a relatively successful year in 2025 through adapting its ‘program’, examining and making changes to its finances and being aware of the altering structure of The Waratahs Rugby Union Club.
The disappointment in The Tahs not entering any teams in the local senior or junior competitions certainly resulted in the Old Boys’ Association making changes to its yearly plan to ensure the membership received value for being part of the organisation.
The Old Boys’ Association held its 2025 Annual General Meeting in March. Paul Paisley was returned as President for a fifth consecutive year with the full committee being:
President: Paul Paisley
Treasurer: Ken Beveridge
Secretary: Keith Powell
Committee: John Gibson, Mark Queenan, John Stevenson and Gary Rawle (Julie and Lindsay Dumbrill became committee members in late 2025)
The committee met formally in February, March (AGM), April, May, June, July, August, October, November and February (2026). It also met informally on a number of occasions and kept in regular contact to ensure the smooth running of the association. In addition, committee members attended the senior club’s 2025 AGM in March and a specially convened meeting in February with The Waratahs Juniors to discuss proposed support from the Old Boys for the Juniors during the 2025 season.
The new committee made a number of important financial decisions which impacted the inflow of funds but at the same time had a positive impact in improving membership and support. Among the decisions were:
· Reduce the 2025 membership fee by 50% (reduced from $100 to $50 for full membership and from $40 to $20 for social membership.
· Subsidising the cost of $100 for members for the 2025 Sports Luncheon
· Subsidising the cost of the Annual Christmas Luncheon
The reduction in the membership fee resulted in our 2025 membership increasing from the mid 40s to the mid 70s; the subsidised Sports Luncheon resulted in a ‘full house’; the subsidised Christmas Luncheon resulted in a larger gathering than the previous year.
The committee planned other social activities but as the year progressed it became obvious that some lacked attraction for our membership. These included the Hunter Wildfires ‘home match’ social gathering and an attempt to organise a televised Wallabies Test social evening.
The Old Boys committee was aware of the varied results and made moves to gather information and ideas about what activities our members would like to see introduced (as mentioned in the President’s Report). Events - such as barefoot bowls days and a golf day - were not organised following feedback from previous seasons.
Membership and Communication
The Old Boys committee thanks all those who took advantage of the reduced membership fee in 2025 as it certainly bolstered confidence in the committee. It was nice to see many former players support not only the Old Boys’ Association but also The Waratahs Rugby Union Club.
We hope to maintain – and even increase – membership numbers and will focus on maintaining contact with all members and supporters in 2026.
Which brings us to communication. Our main vehicle is the Old Boys e-newsletter which the committee schedules for distribution on a monthly basis. This is supported by email ‘messages’ and the club website which the Old Boys is managing on behalf of the club.
Sponsorship and Support
The Old Boys’ committee had plans during the 2025 season to support the Juniors but unfortunately this did not eventuate. The committee discussed a number of potential sponsorship opportunities but decided on the following:
· Hunter Wildfires Junior Development Program – $2,000 sponsorship to support Colts program
· Sam Morgan Fundraising Appeal – (Sam was a former Junior player with The Waratahs before transferring to Hamilton. He unfortunately passed aware from a sudden illness just before Christmas and left behind a fiancée and a 22-month-old-son. The Old Boys $500 donation was part of a ‘rugby community contribution’ to help support the young family.
Social Events/85th Anniversary
The 2025 Sports Luncheon was again the highlight of the social calendar and we thank all those people who attended and participated in our auction and other fundraising activities.
The Tahs were fortunate in having one of Australia’s great Rugby Union fullbacks, Matt Burke, as Guest Speaker for the luncheon which was part of celebrations for the rugby club’s 85th Anniversary.
Matt, who is also President of the Board of NSW Rugby, saw us celebrate the ‘anniversary’ of four of The Waratahs teams that played in past Grand Finals, the teams being:
· 2005 First grade – Minor Premiers and Grand Finalists (20th year anniversary)
· 1995 First Grade - Grand Finalists (30th year anniversary)
· 1975 Second Division - Minor & Major Premiers (50th year anniversary)
· 1945 Third Grade - undefeated Minor and Major Premiers (80th year anniversary)
The Sports Luncheon was proudly sponsored by Churchills Carpet Court, Thomas Allen Wines and Tooheys, and supported by Rugby Australia, NSW Rugby Union, Hellyers Road Distillery and Hamilton North Bowling Club.
As mentioned above, The Waratahs celebrated 85 years of club rugby (1940 – 2025) throughout the year with a specially designed ‘anniversary keyring’ distributed at functions and events. A major focus was on the history of the club with various articles about past decades and club players printed in our e-newsletter and posted on the website.
The 85th year was celebrated with the cutting of an anniversary cake at the Christmas Luncheon in December.
Shipping Container at Waratah Oval
Discussions during the year between the Old Boys’ Association and Waratah Mayfield District Cricket Club resulted in transfer of ownership of the green shipping container at Waratah Oval to the cricket club.
The cricket club expressed interest in the container as a storage area for their ground maintenance program when officials realised the container was rarely being used by the Old Boys’ Association. The discussions resulted in formal approval and ownership of the container was transferred which the Old Boys committee believed was a good outcome for both clubs.
Unwanted contents of the container were donated to other sporting clubs (eg bbq to Newcastle Swimming Club; temprite to cricket club). Historical rugby club items in the container are now stored by the Old Boys committee.
Vale
The Old Boys’ Association expressed condolences during the past year to a number of families of past players and supporters. They included the families of Brent Tilse, John Perrin, Bruce Stevenson, Saxon White, Ray Holdstock, Val Mowbray and Past President, Kevin Hines.
Keith Powell
Secretary
Old Boys’ AssocIation
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2026 MEMBERSHIP FEES
Members of the Old Boys’ Association have reason to celebrate the 2026 season as there is no increase in membership fees.
The Old Boys’ Committee has decided to retain the reduction in fees by 50% because of the healthy financial state of the organisation and with the view of attracting more members.
Membership fees for 2026 are:
Full Membership - $50 (reduced from $100)
Social Membership - $20 - for former players and supporters who live outside of the Newcastle area and cannot attend a lot our functions and activities.
Membership payment can be made via the Greater Bank – BSB 637000 A/c 715493713 – marking your payment ‘Membership’ with your name.
John Gibson is our new Membership Officer and he will be in contact with members throughout the year.
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OLD BOYS - HISTORY AND CHARTER
The Waratahs Rugby Union Club Old Boys Association was established in 2007 as a formal link for former and current players and officials.
The focus of the Association is to contact all former players and officials and invite them to be affiliated with The Waratahs Rugby Union Club.
The Association is in its 18th year in 2025 and has been a major partner in organising member support and various social and formal activities for The Waratahs. Its achievements have included:
annual financial and in-kind support for the Juniors Rugby Committee and the Seniors Rugby Committee
organising the popular annual Sports Luncheon
organising wide ranging social events for members
75th anniversary celebrations in 2015
80th anniversary celebrations in 2020
85th anniversary celebrations in 2025
50th anniversary reunion of the 1971 Grand Final wining team
Special Presentation in 2024 to recognise all club players who had represented NSW Rugby (as part of 150th anniversary celebrations)
The Charter of the Association includes:
1. encouraging former players to stay and/or return to The Waratahs Rugby community
2. being a vehicle to allow former players of The Waratahs Rugby Union Club to maintain an active participation in The Waratahs
3. providing activities for social interaction and good fellowship of former and current players and officials
4. providing networks of mentoring and support to the Junior and Senior clubs in the playing and non‐playing spectators
5. facilitating the development of The Waratahs junior players by providing annual financial assistance via grants
The Waratahs Rugby Union Club has a proud history of women being active contributors to the club and membership of the Old Boys Association is open to both males and females.
MEMBERSHIP
Eligibility for membership includes having:
· been registered as a Waratahs Player and participated in one Newcastle and Hunter Rugby Union sanctioned senior grade competition game (having worn the Red in battle)
· been allocated a player’s registration number as identified by the club’s records, or the club historian
· served as a club official or committee member for three years
· provided substantiation by way of documentary evidence of exceptional support to the club and/or compelling physical disability evidence.
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The Old Boys’ committee for 2026 is:
President: Paul Paisley
Treasurer: To be appointed
Secretary: Keith Powell
Membership Officer: John Gibson
Committee Members: Julie Dumbrill, Lindsay Dumbrill, Mark Queenan.Three vacant positions to be filled.
To find more details about the Old Boys and becoming a member please contact Secretary, Keith Powell, on 0434 060 862 or email kgpowell51@bigpond.com
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PRESIDENTS
2021-26 Paul Paisley
2018-20 Hugh (Reg) Jarvis
2016-17 Ken Beveridge
2007-15 Mark Queenan
Old Boys’ Association established 2007