Northern Suburbs RFC
Encyclopedia
Northern Suburbs Rugby Football Club is a rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 club in Sydney, Australia, that was formed in 1900 from the merger of the Pirates and Wallaroos clubs. The club competes in the Shute Shield
Shute Shield
The Shute Shield is a rugby union competition in Sydney, New South Wales. It is the premier grade rugby trophy in NSW rugby. The Shute Shield is awarded at the end of the Sydney Club Rugby season to the team that wins the Grand Final...

 and Tooheys New Cup
Tooheys New Cup
The Tooheys New Cup is a rugby union competition established by the New South Wales Rugby Union in 2002 as a stepping stone between the existing grade rugby and Super 14 competitions. Open to the existing 12 grade clubs, the TNC features Super 14 players not on international duty and the...

 competitions run by the New South Wales Rugby Union
New South Wales Rugby Union
The New South Wales Rugby Union is the organisation responsible for the sport of rugby union in most of the state of New South Wales, Australia...

.

The club has produced 42 Wallaby
Australia national rugby union team
The Australian national rugby union team is the representative side of Australia in rugby union. The national team is nicknamed the Wallabies and competes annually with New Zealand and South Africa in the Tri-Nations Series, in which they also contest the Bledisloe Cup with New Zealand and the...

 representatives. The club's home ground is the historic North Sydney Oval
North Sydney Oval
-Development:* The first cricket pitch was laid on 6 December 1867, making it one of the oldest cricket grounds in Australia.* The first structure built, in 1879, was a simple pavilion overlooking the cricket ground...

 on the North Shore of Sydney. The ground has been a venue for both codes of rugby and for cricket over more than a century.

Club information

Club Name: Northern Suburbs Rugby Football Club
Nickname: The Shoremen, Norths, The Red and Blacks
Founded: 1900
Home stadium: North Sydney Oval
Head coach: Grahame O'Donnell, Scott Fava & Justin Tamsett
Club Captain: Simon Johnson
Uniform colors: Red & Black
Premiership Titles: 6 in First Division (1933, 1935, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1975)


Pre World War One

Rugby on the lower North Shore is over 130 years old. Council minutes reveal that the North Shore Football Club played on a paddock adjoining Holterman's Tower, the present location of Shore School.

The club later transferred to St Leonard's Park and became known as the Pirates, a team which won the First Grade Premiership in 1898 and the R.A.S. Trophy in 1897/8/9, defeating the neighbouring Wallaroos 10-nil in the third final.

The Pirates and Wallaroos combined in 1900 to form North Sydney. It was the first district club to affiliate with the metropolitan Rugby Union in the initial eight-club district competition. The date was 5 April, ahead of Wests on 11 April and Easts on 12 April.
Jim Henderson, commemorated in the present premiership trophies for third and fourth grades, was North's first secretary, and the club's first cap was winger Charlie White, who played in the first-ever test-match in 1899 against the British Isles and then in the first Australia v New Zealand test in 1903.

The club did not win any premierships prior to the 1914-18 war, but before competitions were suspended, its name was changed to Northern Suburbs. However, for reasons today unknown, the new name was not implemented until the 1928 season.
Under the guidance of one-eyed (lost in action in France) Fred Aarons, Norths played a leading role in the resurgence of rugby in Sydney during the 1920s. The reserve grade won the club's first premiership in 1925 and, in 1929, Norths won the initial Club Championship.

The year 1928 saw a young recruit arrive, one Gavin John Andrews, who is now enshrined as the club's greatest treasure, Bon Andrews, after whom North Sydney No. 2 Oval is named.

The first of North's two 'golden eras' occurred in the early 1930s. The club's initial first-grade premiership was in 1933, beating Manly 8-6, and again beating Manly in 1935 by 22-5. A member of the 1933 team, Jim Young, recently attended the club's tribute to our World Cup representatives, and was presented with a photo of his old team.

The inaugural fourth-grade competition in 1932, back-to-back Club Championships in 1934 and 1935 and seven other minor grade premierships, highlighted the first half of the decade.

Australian caps in the 1930s were ‘Big’ Tom Perrin, Waratah Sid King, ex-Kiwi Bill Hemingway, dual international Wal Mackney (stroke of the rowing eight at the Berlin Olympic Games, half Mike Gibbons and Eric Hutchinson who, with brother Frank, was killed while serving in World War II.

Post World War One

The Red and Blacks took some time to get back on top after the war, winning only the Third Grade Premiership in 1947, the Fourths a year later and nothing in the fifties. In 1947 Roger Cornforth played the first of his two Tests against the All Blacks. Controversially omitted from the 1947-48 Wallabies to the British Isles, this then allowed him to represent Australia at the 1948 Olympics in London at water polo. He also played against the 1950 British Lions.

Peter Rothwell, Jim Cross and John Carroll added their names to North's honour roll in the 1950s and by 1960 John Thornett and Rod Phelps had joined Norths to improve its fortunes when once again defeating Manly, 21-3, Norths won its third First Grade Premiership and fourth Club Championship and its second Golden Era was ushered in.

Three years later, the Red and Blacks beat Sydney University back-to-back for the 1963 and ‘64 First Grade Premierships, together with the Club Championship for those years.

In 1964 Norths won three out of the four grade premierships, a rare feat until Randwick's run in the 1980s. In all, eight premierships were won in the 1960s and three Club Championships. From the Thornett and Phelps days, Roy Prosser (for several years Australia's most capped prop), Les Austin, Andy Town, John ‘Sparrow’ Dowse, Hugh Rose, Reg Smith, Garrick Fay, Peter Carson and Andy Stewart kept Norths alive in the test arena. Others, including Peter Johnston, Keith Henry, playwright and actor Warwick Moss, Peter Medway, Dennis Turnbull, Graeme Ewens, five-eight Jim Allen, Wallaby David Codey who played his Colts Rugby at Norths and ex- Rugby Club president, Russ Tulloch, played for the State. Russ also toured to Great Britain with the Wallabies. There was also the Westralian-Kiwi Bob Thompson.

The club won eight premierships during the 1970s including First Grade in 1975. Norths also toured Singapore and Malaysia in 1970 (7 games), England and Wales in 1973 (7 games), USA West Coast in 1976 (6 games) and England, Holland, Belgium and France in 1977 (8 games). By 1981 when, unhappily relegated to Second Division, Norths stood fourth on the list of premierships won in all senior grades in the First Division.

There was no doubt that Norths were unlucky to be relegated in 1981. Even though the club went down, it still won the Fourth Grade Premiership. The criterion then was based on the First Grade team and Norths had a disastrous year, scoring only four wins and a draw.

Norths were relegated with Hornsby, despite being just one point behind Sydney University and, in the club championship, was actually ahead of Warringah, Sydney Uni, St George and Hornsby.

Norths went on to win the Sydney Rugby Union (second Division) Club Championship in 1986, 1987 and 1988. Finally, after winning it again in 1989, Norths won promotion back into First Division.

However, also during this period the Club undertook two overseas tours. In 1984 there were 6 games against teams in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. The club returned to Europe at the end of the 1988, with fixtures in England, France, Belgium and Italy. Some described it as an arduous four-week tour.

In the eight years out of Sydney's top division through the 1980s, Norths won 12 premierships including three in first grade as well as four club championships.

In addition to those grade rugby successes, a tremendous effort was made to develop the Colts and 12 premierships were won in various grades, which formed a sound basis for the return to First Division.

1990s

In its first year back, 1990, Norths finished eighth out of 11. In 1991 North's fourth-grade players were semi-finalists and its second-grade Colts were premiers —a first-ever senior Colts win.

The season also saw North's first addition to its Australian honours list since 1979—Richard Tombs was selected in the victorious Wallaby World Cup squad. But he had to wait until 1992 to play his first two tests, against Scotland, at home.

The 1993 season saw seven teams reach the semis, with Reserve Grade and Colts Seconds and Thirds winning premierships. There was also an overseas tour to the USA, playing games in Los Angeles, New Orleans and New York.

1994 saw the merger of North's two clubs (licensed and rugby). The Alfred Street properties were disposed of. The club purchased and moved to Christie Street, St Leonards
St Leonards, New South Wales
St Leonards is a suburb on the lower North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. St Leonards is located 5 km north-west of the Sydney central business district and lies across the local government areas of Municipality of Lane Cove, North Sydney Council and the City of...

 location. Third and Fourth Grade won premierships that year, as did the Second Grade Colts.
Richard Tombs won the inaugural Sydney Morning Herald 'Rugby Player of the Year Award' in 1995, with Nick Harvey being the youngest winner of the AAMI Medal. Fifth Grade won a premiership, and the club toured France, Belgium, Germany and UK at the end of the season.

1996 saw the beginning of professional rugby, and in 1997 the Club lost its Patron and Honorary Life Member, George Marshall. The same year, members voted to change the Club's accounting year to close on 30 June annually.

1997 also saw the arrival of Dennis Brown of New Zealand as head coach attracting such players as the 'bushwackers' dean et al. Plus a contingent of northern hemisphere players such as Fintan 'clinton napkin' Godkin, Linus 'why was I invited to the 1st grade trail' Mortlock the party even included Welsh legends Barry John and Carwyn James. Due to the high standard of these players and the reputation of Norths hospitality more followed in Scotsman David McComisky and Andrew 'Action' Jackson. The boys all left with fond memories of Norths and the 5th grade kit was a little lighter that year after they left! But was easily replaced due to the extraordinary bar profits established that year.

The 1998 season proved to be the best since 1975 with a string of notable statistics. These included all five grade teams in the Grand Final, winning Second and Fifth Grade premierships. Norths won The Herald Club of the Year Award, and Michael Sykes the Club Player of the Year.

Keith Gleeson won the Ken Catchpole Medal (Best & Fairest) in 1999, and at season's end a Club team toured Spain and Portugal. The 90's saw quite a number of players achieving representative honours. Jim Allen, Dominic Vaughan, Mick Kearins, Rod (Rambo) Clark, Sam Domoni, Richard Tombs, Mark Bell, Nick Harvey, Darren Junee, Keith Gleeson and Graeme Bond all played for the N.S.W Waratahs with Bond also playing at the ACT Brumbies in 1999 with Troy Jacques and former 1991 N.S.W Waratah Craig Wells. The representative careers of Ben Darwin and Al Baxter also began to emerge.

2000 onwards

The year 2000 saw Northern Suburbs celebrate 100 years with the Norths Centenary Dinner, a black-tie affair at the Wentworth Hotel with over 300 people in attendance.

The 2001 rugby highlight was obviously the success of the first-grade team securing the minor premiership for the first time since 1960. The season also saw the Wallaby debuts of Ben Darwin and Graeme Bond, with Al Baxter and Francis Cullimore gaining Super 12 contracts.

During the year the Bon Andrews Bequest was established with the $25,000 he left to the club. This money is used to provide educational assistance to talented young players. During the year Vince Arena created a little more history for the club by playing his 300th match for Norths, and on retirement is second only to Bon Andrews in club games.

Fifth Grade won the John Thornett Cup in 2002, and First Grade Colts made it to the grand final for the first time since 1977. Milton Thaiday and Lachlan McKay were offered Super 12 contracts, and First Grade finished second in the Shute Shield, and sixth in the inaugural Tooheys New Cup.

In 2003 the season kicked off for some with a tour to Japan. First Grade finished fourth in the Tooheys New Cup, and captain Mark Challender achieved the SMH's ˜Club Player of the Year' award. Kevin Horan was voted ˜Club Coach of the Year'. All four Colts teams qualified for the semis, with First and Fourths losing narrowly in both grand finals. In the Rugby World Cup, Ben Darwin and Al Baxter played for the Wallabies (Al having made his debut earlier in the season against the All Blacks), and Tonga Lea'aetoa and Sai Latu represented Tonga. And Keith Gleeson played for Ireland.

Early 2005 saw Northern Suburbs' club house undergo extensive renovations to reopen in June as Cabana Bar and Lounge. Cabana Bar has since cemented itself as a central venue to Sydney's north shore night life and a strong financial building block for the club.

2008 was a year of mixed emotions for the club. The colts teams had a disappointing year with some upheaval in the coaching staff and a reduction in player numbers compared to the year before. In hand with the reduction in young blood entering the club, Northern Suburbs were sad to see the passing away of one of their greatest treasures from the 1960s and 70s in Vale Roy Prosser. Roy still holds the club record for the highest number of First Grade games at 220. The Grand Final for 2008 saw Second Grade come from fifth on the table to claim the Premiership after being Runners Up the year before. The Second Grade Coaches Tony Horan and Grahame O'Donnell received a further reward in being promoted to coaching First Grade for the 2009 season.

2010 saw Norths, Waratahs and Wallabies front rower Al Baxter become the most capped New South Wales front rower when he received his 100th cap in the Super 14.

Australian representatives

  • 1903 Charlie White
    Charlie White (rugby)
    Charles J. B. "Charlie" White was a rugby union player who represented Australia.White, a wing, was born in Maitland, NSW and claimed three international rugby caps for Australia...

  • 1903 Dinny Lutge
  • 1905 Lancelot Smith
    Lancelot Smith
    Lancelot Machattie "Mac" Smith was a rugby union player who represented Australia.Smith, a centre, was born in Bathurst, New South Wales and claimed one international rugby cap for Australia, playing against New Zealand, at Dunedin, on 2 September 1905.-References:...

  • 1905 Blair Swannell
    Blair Swannell
    Major Blair Inskip Swannell was an English-born international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Northampton...

  • 1907 Norman Row
  • 1913 Bryan Hughes
  • 1921 Onslow Humphreys
    Onslow Humphreys
    Oliver W. "Onslow" Humphreys was a rugby union player who represented Australia.Humphreys, a fly-half, was born in Sydney, New South Wales and claimed a total of 6 international rugby caps for Australia.-References:...

  • 1921 Charlie Fox
    Charlie Fox (rugby)
    Charlie Fox was an Australian rugby union player, a state and national representative second-rower who made 36 appearances for the Wallabies, playing in 17 Test matches and captained the national side on seven occasions in 1925.-Representative career:Charles Fox was twenty-one years of age and...

  • 1921 Dr Darby Loudon
    Darby Loudon
    Darby Briton Loudon was a New Zealand born rugby union player, a flanker who made sixteen representative appearances for the New South Wales state team in the 1920s...

  • 1922 Roy Cooney
    Roy Cooney
    Royal Charles "Roy" Cooney was a rugby union player who represented Australia.Cooney, a centre, was born in North Sydney, New South Wales and claimed 1 international rugby cap for Australia.-References:...

  • 1925 Colin Shaw
    Colin Shaw (rugby)
    Colin Hedderick Shaw was a rugby union player who represented Australia.Shaw, a lock, was born in Edinburgh and claimed a total of 3 international rugby caps for Australia.-References:...

  • 1925 Ken Tarleton
    Ken Tarleton
    Kenneth Tarleton was a rugby union player who represented Australia.Tarleton, a hooker, was born in North Sydney, New South Wales and claimed a total of 2 international rugby caps for Australia.-References:...

  • 1926 Sydney King
  • 1928 Eric Bardsley
    Eric Bardsley
    Eric [Rick] John Bardsley was an Australian Rugby Union player and represented for the Wallabies three times.-Early life:Bardsley attended Newington College and played Rugby in the 1st XV for three years.-Rugby career:...

  • 1931 Tom Perrin
    Tom Perrin
    Thomas Drummond Perrin was an Australian Rugby Union player who represented for the Wallabies twice.-Early life:Perrin was born in Summer Hill and attended Newington College .-Club Rugby:...

  • 1932 Bill Hemmingway
  • 1933 Walter Mackney
  • 1936 Eric Gibbons
  • 1937 Eric Hutchinson
    Eric Hutchinson (rugby)
    Eric Ebsworth Hutchinson was a rugby union player who represented Australia.Hutchinson, a lock, was born in Armidale, New South Wales and claimed a total of 2 international rugby caps for Australia.-References:...

  • 1947 Roger Cornforth
  • 1951 Peter Rothwell
  • 1953 Jim Walsh
    Jim Walsh (rugby)
    James Austin Walsh was a rugby union player who represented Australia.Walsh, a hooker, was born in Orange, New South Wales and claimed a total of 4 international rugby caps for Australia.-References:...

  • 1953 Ned Morey
  • 1955 Jim Cross
  • 1956 Rod Phelps
  • 1958 John Carroll
    Jack Carroll (rugby)
    John Charles "Jack" Carroll was a rugby union player who represented Australia.Carroll, a number 8, was born in Sydney, New South Wales and claimed 1 international rugby cap for Australia.-References:...

  • 1958 John Thornett
    John Thornett
    John Thornett is a former Australian rugby union player, having played 37 Tests for Australia between 1955 and 1967. He captained Australia on four of the eight occasions that he went on tour....

  • 1961 John Dowse
    John Dowse (Australian rugby player)
    John Henry Dowse was a rugby union player who represented Australia.Dowse, a fly-half, was born in Mackay, Queensland and claimed a total of 4 international rugby caps for Australia.-References:...

  • 1962 Roy Prosser
    Roy Prosser
    Roydon "Roy" Barnett Prosser was an Australian Rugby Union player who represented for the Wallabies twenty-five times...

  • 1962 Andy Town
  • 1962 Les Austin
    Les Austin
    Leslie Raymond Austin was a rugby union player who represented Australia.Austin, a prop, claimed 1 international rugby cap for Australia.-References:...

  • 1967 Hugh Rose
  • 1971 Reg Smith
  • 1971 Garrick Fay
  • 1979 Peter Carson
  • 1979 Andy Stewart
  • 1991 Richard Tombs
  • 1996 Mark Bell
  • 2000 Troy Jaques
  • 2001 Ben Darwin
    Ben Darwin
    Ben Darwin is a former Australian rugby union footballer. A graduate of the Australian Institute of Sport scholarship program, he played 28 times for the Wallabies, Australia’s national team, from 2001 to 2003. During this time, Darwin played games against the British and Irish Lions and was part...

  • 2001 Graeme Bond
    Graeme Bond
    Graeme Bond is a former Australian rules football player who played in the VFL between 1967 and 1973 and then again between 1975 and 1977 for the Richmond Football Club and then from mid-1977 until 1980 for the St Kilda Football Club....

  • 2003 Al Baxter
    Al Baxter
    Al Baxter is an Australian rugby union player. He currently plays for the Waratahs in the Super 14. He played in the 2003 and 2007 Rugby World Cups, but was not selected for the 2011 squad.-Career:...

  • 2005 Adam Ashley-Cooper
    Adam Ashley-Cooper
    Adam Ashley-Cooper is an Australian rugby union footballer. He he has signed with the NSW Waratahs in the international Super Rugby competition for 2012 and also plays for Australia. He was educated at the Berkeley Vale High School and played his junior rugby for Ourimbah on the NSW Central Coast...

  • 2006 Cameron Shepherd
    Cameron Shepherd
    Cameron Shepherd is an Australian rugby union footballer. He currently plays for the Western Force in the international Super 14 competition. His usual position is at fullback or wing.-Biography:...

  • 2007 Sam Norton-Knight
    Sam Norton-Knight
    Sam Norton-Knight is an Australian international rugby union footballer. He was born in Canberra but was educated on the Gold Coast....


  • International representatives

    • Keith Gleeson
      Keith Gleeson
      Keith Gleeson is a retired Irish rugby union football player.- Early life :Gleeson was born in Dublin, Ireland, before moving to Australia with his family as a child after attending St. Michaels College, Ailesbury Road, Dublin 4 for several years...

    • Tonga Lea'aetoa
      Tonga Lea'aetoa
      Tonga Lea'aetoa is a New Zealand-Tongan rugby union player who currently plays for Bayonne in the French Top 14. Lea'aetoa's position of choice is as a prop....

    • David Schuster

    Norths Junior Rugby Club

    The Norths Pirates Junior Rugby Union Club is the local Norths junior Club, the Pirates being the original name for the senior club. The Pirates play home games at Tunks Park Cammeray and train at Primrose Park in Cremorne and Anderson Park, Neutral Bay.
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