‘Friends for life’ reunite for 125th jubilee celebration

A southern rugby club’s 125th jubilee weekend brought out former players from across the Ditch while some stalwarts of the club have been celebrating its milestones since the 1960s.

The Waikaka Rugby Club commemorated its 125th year at the weekend with more guests than anticipated, organisers said, including a returning member from Melbourne who flew back to his old stomping ground.

Organiser Tegan Pay said the club had been hoping for about 250 participants, but in the weeks before the reunion the guest list kept getting "bigger and bigger", ending with over 300 revellers.

The weekend included a muster on the Friday night, children’s games and challenge cups for the adults on the Saturday followed by a formal dinner and then a golden oldies game to round it off yesterday, she said.

Waikaka Rugby Club veterans Wallace Davidson and Bruce Smillie, both in their late 70s, could be found in the team officials box on game day, having earned the overlooking spot through years of service.

"We sit there, year in and year out — you’ve got to be invited to join the crew," Mr Smillie said.

"I’ve been in there for about 25 years," Mr Davidson said.

Having joined the club in 1966, this was the third of its jubilees he had attended, Mr Davidson said.

He said the part of the weekend he was looking forward to the most was the oldies round yesterday, though at 77 he would be watching safely from the sidelines.

Mr Smillie, 78, expressed a similar sentiment, saying he struggled to play at the last jubilee, 25 years ago.

Mr Smillie said returning members coming from the top and bottom of the country, as well as overseas, showed the "camaraderie" the club continued to share.

The club gave him "friends for life" he said, having only played for the Waikaka RFC since he left high school and he still followed it to this day.

At its senior level, the Waikaka and Riversdale Rugby Clubs merged three years ago, creating the Vikings team, a decision which Mr Davidson said was due to necessity.

Mr Smillie said the merger was what the players wanted and what the club had to do to keep providing the game of rugby to the area.

The Waikaka’s Senior B team and the division one Vikings both played their Wyndham rivals on Saturday for three shields between the regions.

The Bs won against Wyndham 29-5 but, in a neck-in-neck game, the Vikings lost against their opponents 27-28, partly due to a last-minute penalty.

Looking a little forlorn, the team and its local supporters were whisked away on party buses to Gore’s Town & Country Club to celebrate 125 years of rugby in the rural settlement.