THIS weekend will provide an opportunity for old Bega Roosters players to catch up and reminisce about rugby league.
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The Bega Roosters Rugby League Football Club will hold its 25-year reunion for the 1988 Group 16 premiership victory.
The celebrations will begin tonight with social drinks at the Grand Hotel, Bega.
All past and current players, supporters and members are invited to tomorrow night’s dinner at the Grand Hotel.
Roosters life member Ray Ringland said he looked forward to the event.
“It’ll be great catching up with a few blokes – our last reunion was five years ago and I haven’t seen some since,” he said.
“We will have people coming from Perth, Queensland, Wollongong and Canberra.”
The 1988 title win capped a special year for the club, because it was also awarded the Clayton Cup for being the best team in NSW Country Rugby League that year.
Ringland was a member of the first grade side from 1985-90.
A nuggetty halfback, he was part of the line-up that won five premierships during that time, only missing out in ’89.
Ringland told the BDN it was a “golden era” for the Roosters.
“We were all mates and most of us had grown up here,” he said.
“We had lost a few grand finals in ’81 and ’83, and come close in ’84.
“Getting Lloyd Martin made all of the difference.”
Martin joined the Roosters in 1985, taking over the role as captain-coach.
He arrived at the club on the back of a promising professional Australian rugby league career.
Martin played for the Balmain Tigers from 1978-81, scoring 10 tries, but the BDN was unable to find out how many matches he played.
He then notched up 23 games at the Canberra Raiders during a two-year stint, before moving to Bega.
During Martin’s time in charge, the Roosters won four first grade premierships.
Martin lined up next to Ringland for the 1988 grand final, which saw Bega record a 28-6 win against Cooma.
The Roosters had overcome their only scare of the season the previous week, defeating Cooma 22-18 in the major semi-final.
It was fitting that Bega won the premiership after dominating the group in 1988.
The Roosters played 14 games during the competition, scoring 630 points and conceding just 138.
On average, the side scored an impressive 45 points each match.
“We were pretty dominant,” Ringland said with a smile.
1988 premiership side:
1. Grant Dowdle, 2. Greg Stevenson, 3. Stewart Smith, 4. Peter Kennedy, 5. Andrew Campbell, 6. Lloyd Martin (captain/coach), 7. Ray Ringland, 8. John Cooper, 9. Greg Motbey, 10. Tom McCoy, 11. Bret Deacon, 12. Mick Driscoll, 13. John Sproates, 14. Barry Grant, 15. Bruce Collins.
