Balmain RFC

The Balmain Rugby Football Club is an Australian rugby union football club, based in Balmain, Sydney, New South Wales. The original club established in 1873 is one of the oldest rugby clubs in Australia.[1][2] Balmain was one of the founding members in 1874 of the Southern Rugby Union,[3] later renamed the New South Wales Rugby Union, which was the first governing body for the sport in the Southern Hemisphere.[4] Billy Murdoch, who would later go on to captain the Australian cricket team,[5] was Balmain's first captain,[6] and he represented the club at the Southern Rugby Union's formation.

Balmain
Full nameBalmain Rugby Club
Nickname(s)Muzzled Wolves
Founded2005 (2005)
LocationBalmain, Sydney, Australia
Ground(s)Billy Murdoch Field, Glover Street, Lilyfield (Capacity: 5.000)
League(s)NSWSRU
Team kit
Official website
www.balmainrugby.com

Over the years, Balmain has provided several players who have represented Australia in international rugby, including Bob Craig,[7] Robert Graves,[8] and Herbert Moran,[9] who was captain of the 1908 Australian side and served as Balmain's president in 1911–12. Bill McKell who would later become Australia's Governor General also played for Balmain in 1909–10.[1]

More recently, international players including Wallabies Drew Mitchell, Matt Giteau, Matt Dunning and Ryan Cross, and French representative Sébastien Chabal have all played for the club run by Warren Livingstone,[10] re-established in 2005.[1]

Balmain currently competes in the New South Wales Suburban Rugby Union competition and won the first grade premiership Kentwell Cup in 2013, shared with St Patrick's Rugby Club after a 33-all extra-time draw.[11] The club won the Kentwell Cup two years later with a 43–29 win over Knox in the 2015 Grand Final.[12]

Bibliography
  • Mulford, John G. (2005a). Guardians of the Game: The History of the New South Wales Rugby Union 1874-2004. ABC Books. ISBN 0-7333-1625-5.
  • Mulford, John G. (2005b). Men in scarlet: history of the Balmain, Glebe and Drummoyne Rugby clubs 1874-2004. John Mulford MacMasters Beach, N.S.W. ISBN 0-646-44931-1.
  • Pollard, Jack: Australian Rugby: The game and the players. (1994) Pan Macmillan. ISBN 0-330-35619-4

References
  1. "Club History". Balmain Rugby. Archived from the original on 25 April 2014. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  2. Fagan, Sean (30 December 2013). "What are Australia's oldest Rugby clubs?". The Roar. Archived from the original on 15 September 2016.
  3. Mulford 2005a, p. 22.
  4. Mulford 2005a, pp. 20–21.
  5. Morris, Christopher (1974). "Murdoch, William Lloyd (Billy) (1854–1911)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. MUP. pp. 314–315. Archived from the original on 11 October 2012. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  6. "News of the Day". Evening News. 27 June 1874. p. 2. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  7. "Noted Footballer. Death of R.R. Craig". Sydney Morning Herald. 6 March 1935. p. 18. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  8. "Football in Sydney". Singleton Argus. 10 August 1907. p. 4. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  9. "Club History". DDRFC. Archived from the original on 26 January 2014. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  10. Payten, Iain (30 September 2013). "Balmain positioning themselves for opportunity at proposed third tier of Australian rugby". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 16 January 2014. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  11. "St Pats and Balmain crowned joint Kentwell Cup Premiers". NSW Rugby. Archived from the original on 17 March 2014. Retrieved 29 September 2013.
  12. "Annual Report" (PDF). NSW Suburban Rugby Union. 2015. p. 12. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 August 2016.
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