The smell of deep heat will hang in the air as ‘golden oldies’ shake the cobwebs from the boots and take to the rugby field this weekend.
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Masters rugby will go ahead across a number of ovals at the Tathra Beach Country Club on Saturday as part of the Blue Veins’ annual Golden Oldies Rugby Carnival.
Organisers said it will be the last opportunity this year for some more senior rugby enthusiasts to lace up the boots and display their “perhaps rusty, but awesome nonetheless, rugby skills”.
The Blue Veins are the local contingent of masters and welcome players from around the Far South Coast.
The group have signed on to compete in next year’s World Golden Oldies Festival, whigh will be held in Christchurch, New Zealand in April.
However, organisers of the carnival said all eyes were on this weekend and finishing off the season well first.
Everyone is welcome to the Tathra Beach Country Club on Saturday morning from about 11:30am with games to run to about 2.30pm,
“Bring the kids to watch dad have a run, rather than the other way around,” a spokesman for the Blue Veins said.
The score of every game is 2-all, so there is no room for heroes, but the games are still taken seriously with some very hard and skillful rugby on display.
The Wollongong Longhorns will celebrate their 11th consecutive appearance, while visitors will also include Shoalhaven Heads Aged Gentlemen, Vincentia Van Gones, ACT Vets, Tuggeranong Thorheads, Jindabyne Sorebores, Bateman’s Bay Olde Boares, Cooma Knackered Brumbies, the Braidwood Red Backs and the Terrey Hills Stillbillies are making a return.
The weekend will begin with crab races on Friday night at the Tathra Beach Country Club, which should get under way around 7:30. These are just a hoot, and some money is raised for the David Dodd Sporting Scholarship, a scholarship that supports local secondary students attend sporting or training events out of the district.
Games will begin on Saturday morning at about 11.30am and should wind up around 3pm, in plenty a time for some presentations and frivolity, the Cox Plate, and then a shower before moving to Fat Tony’s to tell a few more yarns.
The Mick Byrnes Memorial Trophy will again be presented. Last year the trophy was awarded to the Vincentia Van Gones who have been great supporters of this carnival and helped significantly with fundraising.
New players (over 35 year) are welcome. Just bring your boots or joggers, socks and a jersey and $25 registration fee. You play at your own risk, so must have at least ambulance insurance cover.
