Eastern Suburbs District RUFC

Club information

• Club Colors: Navy Blue, White and Red

• Home stadium:

  • Rushcutters Bay Oval (1900–1935)
  • Waverley Oval (1936–1948)
  • Woollahra Oval (1949–)
  • Centennial Park Oval (2018)

• Coaches:

  • Head Coach: Ben Batger
  • Colts Head Coach: Dan England

Club history

Eastern Suburbs District Rugby Union Football Club was formed at a meeting at the Paddington Town Hall on Thursday, 22 March 1900. In an assembly presided over by the mayor and aldermen of Woollahra Council, 200 Eastern Suburbs residents turned out to hear Colonel J.C. Nield put forward a case for the birth of a local rugby club. The sports journalist Jack Davis motioned for the formation of the club and, from that point forth, Eastern Suburbs District Rugby Union Football club came into being. Easts Rugby is the oldest district rugby union club in Australia.

Since then, Easts Rugby has seen a lot of great players. The first ever try-scorer for Eastern Suburbs in a first grade premiership match was H.D. Thompson, who scored a try on 19 May 1900 playing Glebe at the Sydney Cricket Ground. That same day, Leo Finn made the conversion and became Easts first goal scorer. That year, Easts Rugby was honoured to have test forward A.J. (Tiger) Kelly become its first NSW representative, when he helped lead NSW to victory over QLD 11–9 in Sydney on 21 July 1900. However, it was not until 1903, when J.W. Maund was named in the Australian side, that Easts saw its first Wallaby.

As the years moved on, Easts Rugby saw success on many occasions. The club was helped along by a raft of talent that included H.H. (Dally) Messenger, G.C. (Wakka) Walker, sports star Harald Baker, and Victorian Cross winner Bede Kenny. Easts also had a notable backline when Stanley R. Rowley – Australia's first Olympic sprint medalist – joined the team in the early 1900s. Other noted players included Dr Alex Ross, Englishman Ed Slater, Robert Westfield, Colin J. Sefton, Wallaby Murray Tate, reputed goal-kicker John Cox, World Cup winners Tony Daly and Jason Little, the world's best number 8 in his era Tim Gavin and H.R. (Perc) Newton who played a record 264 grade games for Easts.

In all, Easts Rugby has won a total of 79 premiership titles or shields across Grade and Colts from 1900 to 2013. Along with this, they have won 9 club championships and continue to be a breeding ground for superstars of the future.

A women's team was first established in 1994. Team captains were Sarah Roxburgh and Amy Copeland.

Honours

FIRST DIVISION

• 1st Grade Premiers (Shute Shield since 1923): 1903, 1913, 1921, 1931, 1941, 1944, 1946, 1947, 1969, 2024
• ES Marks Minor Premierships: 1953, 1969, 1970, 2000, 2024

SECOND DIVISION

• 1st Grade Premiers (Colin Lawson Memorial Trophy): 1981, 1984

Recent titles in other grades:

• 2022,2018,2009 Colin Caird Shield
• 2022,2010 Henderson Cup
• 2019 Shell Trophy
• 2022,2019,2018,2013 Bill Simpson Shield

Season By Season Records (incomplete)

Season cut short by COVID-19.

Players of note

• Tom Bowman
• Mark Bakewell
• Ryan Cross
• Fabian Goodall
• Tony Daly
• Huia Edmonds
• Ted Fahey
• Tim Gavin
• Andrew Heath
• Matt Hodgson
• Archer Holz
• Jason Little
• Jack Maddocks AUS
• Kotaro Matsushima Japan (2015)
• Malcolm McArthur
• Keith McLellan
• Brendan McKibbin
• Dally Messenger
• Geoff Richards
• Ed Slater
• Tiaan Strauss
• Fred Thompson
• Matt To'omua AUS
• John Welborn
• Dirk Williams
• Arabella McKenzie AUS
• Desirée Miller AUS
• Lydia Kavoa AUS
• Maya Stewart AUS

Nearby Clubs

• Woollahra Colleagues RFC
• Waverley Rugby Club

References

References

1. The Cynic. (14 March 1900). "Football Notes". Referee.
2. Fagan, Sean. "The Game Begins".
3. "Shute Shield 2013".
4. "Shute Shield 2014".
5. "Shute Shield 2015".
6. "Shute Shield 2016".
7. "Shute Shield 2017".
8. "Shute Shield 2018".
9. "Shute Shield 2019".
10. "Shue Shield 2020".
11. "Shute Shield 2021".
12. "Shute Shield 2022".
13. "Shute Shield 2023".
14. "Shute Shield 2024".