Celebrating 40 years of the Batemans Bay Boars

Fri, May 28, 2021, 7:38 AM
Brumbies.rugby
by Brumbies.rugby

South Coast Rugby Union club the Batemans Bay Boars are celebrating their 40th anniversary on the 19th of June during the 2021 season with a variety of matches and events throughout the day culminating in a Gala dinner.

The Boars have always been a strong rugby union presence in the South Coast Rugby competition, having been a mainstay in the SCRU competition since its inaugural season in 1981 and have won numerous premierships in that time as well as having never forfeited a game in any of the three grades in their long and proud history.

The Anniversary aims to get back as many Boars fans, members and players as then can from all eras of the club to celebrate and reminisce about their rich history.

The event will feature an appearance from the Classic Wallabies and Wallaroos headlined by Morgan Turinui alongside confirmed guests Chris Whitaker and Matt Cockbain with more to be announced, who will host coaching clinics for the juniors on the day.

This will be followed up by the “Golden Oldies” (Over 35’s) clash when the Batemans Bay Grande Olde Boars will play the Braidwood Daddy Long Legs while in the main game the Boars facing off against the Braidwood Redbacks in their South Coast Monaro competition game for round nine.

Peter Ryan is in a unique position regarding this celebration as he is in his second year as President of the Boars and has also been the President of the SCRU organisation for 24 years. Peter has a deep connection to the Batemans Bay side as he played over 200 grade games for them and is also a lifetime member.

Peter has dedicated over two decades to growing and sustaining the game of rugby union in the south coast region and has done so with the assistance of the ACT Brumbies in recent years to a great degree of success, maintaining a high standard of competition and feeding talent into the higher levels of competition.

The South Coast Competition combined with the Monaro Competition to form two pools in a format that is similar to the current Super Rugby AU and Super Rugby Aerotoa competitions with the goal of minimising travel for the teams.

Peter is of the opinion that despite these changes, the competition is going strong, and the standard of the competition is higher than it has been in previous years despite the various hardships the competition has gone through.

“It depends on if you talk to someone who played now or five years ago. I think it’s better, that’s my opinion. It’s stronger and more consistent.”

A celebration of a local club is very important for any community, but especially one that has stayed strong through many difficult times like the Boars have after the natural disaster of early 2020 as well as the impact of COVID-19 on sport.

“To still play rugby last year with the bushfires that came through the south coast and wiped out a lot of communities. Sport in general, and rugby, was a good bond and a good healing process as well.”

“So it’s important to pop the champagne corks and celebrate it”

There are still tickets available for the Gala dinner can be found on the Batemans Bay Boars Facebook page or Here and the days games will be hosted at Hanging Rock Oval, Batemans Bay.

Words: Mathew Williams

 

 

 

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