RDRUFC General Manager's 2011 Review

The Randwick Rugby Club has enjoyed an interesting year in 2011 with impressive individual and team performances at different times throughout the season complementing the vision of the Randwick Rugby Council under the leadership of Anthony Bell.

The Rugby Club enjoyed a season on the pitch where six teams made the semi finals. Unfortunately no Randwick Rugby team made a grand final and that is how we measure success.

The Club celebrated the achievements of the 2011 colts program under the leadership of Jayson Brewer; management of Michael Radziowsky and Keith Holmes and coaching team led by John Delaney and his staff. The First grade colts team were cruelly robbed of a famous victory in the semi-final against Sydney University who were on the rack. We also celebrated an incredible year by 3rd grade colts who made it to the semi-finals by not losing a game in the second round. Unfortunately they lost to Manly in the semi-final but we must acknowledge the players and coaches Emanuel Kaissis, Tony Palmier and Briant Kareroa on a great job done.

In 2011 Randwick Rugby entered a team in the Meldrum Cup - "Subbies" rugby. The team, after a difficult start to the season, finished second in the competition. After bizarre circumstances the team was demoted to 5th and bundled out in the semi-final. The Fifth grade competition proved to be a master stroke because it enabled the club to have depth when injuries hit later in the season. Players and coaches Bill Davies and Ray Jennings are to be congratulated on the season's effort.

Randwick Rugby again enjoyed huge representative success but the success of this group was capped off with Kurtley Beale winning the coveted John Eales medal. The Club also celebrated Matt Giteau becoming a ‘Galloping Green'; his appearance was crucial to First grade making the top six, his two passes against Norths, which resulted in tries to Ethan Ford, were brilliant. The Club also enjoyed seeing one of our favourite sons, Sekope Kepu, dominate both at Super 15 level and for Australia. He is a great club man - who was the Randwick Rugby Most Valuable Player in 2010. The return of our star recruiting tool Drew Mitchell to the playing field was another highlight.

In the 2011 NSW Junior Rugby state championships Randwick teams performed with exceptional results. The under 12s were crowned State Champion, the under 11s lost the semi-final by the narrowest of margins and both under 10 teams were very successful. The under 14, 15 and 16 teams all performed above expectations. The Coogee faithful enjoyed watching the village clubs play curtain raisers to the First grade team throughout the season especially the exhilarating under 12 Coogee vs. South Coogee final.

The Randwick Rugby Club had a number of events throughout 2011 but two that spring to mind which reflect the Randwick Rugby spirit were the 1971, 81 & 91 reunions and the ‘Life Members' medal presentation. They were both excellent and memorable events and it was great to see so many past players and valued contributors back at the club. Bob Outterside was a driving force of these two events.

In 2011 the Randwick Rugby Club, with the support of Club benefactor Jon Collins, employed Jim Dubos as ‘Development Officer'. This enabled the Club to support junior rugby development in local schools via coaching programs and school-specific gala days. We were able to ensure our junior programme had focus and a point of contact. Feedback from the initiatives has been very positive.

It has been an interesting year financially for the Randwick Rugby Club, with the continued global economic crisis taking its toll on sponsorship for 2011. We have been fortunate to off-set this through different revenue streams through the following:-

1. gate revenue increased by 30% of budget in 2011
2. events - the ‘Hall of Fame' lunch which is 25% of revenue
3. new sponsors e.g. Girvan Waugh, Vachie, Body Science, Salmat, Royal Randwick Fruit Market and MLC Advice Randwick
4. 100% player subs paid in 2011
5. strong financial management

I take this opportunity to express my sincerest gratitude to our many sponsors and partners. Your support is never taken for granted and we look forward to working with you all to grow Randwick Rugby well into the future. The Randwick Rugby Club is indebted to its sponsors and 2011 was no different. Without the support of Peter's of Kensington, Girvan Waugh, Body Science, AllightSykes, Royal Randwick Fruit Market, Sydney City Motor Group, NG Farah, Taylor Woodings, MLC Advice Randwick, Cartwright Insurance, Divcall, Grinners Catering, Vachie Teamwear, Coogee Café, Eastside Physiotherapy, Wireless2Way, Salmat, Beirsdorf, Walsh's Pharmacy, Pattons, ATF and Computer Associates we would not only struggle to survive but the opportunity to promote the game of rugby within the Randwick area would be severely diminished.

We also thank all of our other valued supporters and suppliers who assist us to provide the best possible variety of rugby programmes.

The other positive aspect of marketing in 2011 at Randwick Rugby was the further development of the web page www.randwickrugby.com.au as a communication tool for our members. The number of Randwick Rugby hits in September alone is 645,000 on the web side and 22,000 dedicated visits to the web site. This is an increase of 300% this year. The highlight is August where we had 30,000 dedicated visits and 864,000 hits. The flow of information via the much anticipated weekly newsletter which included match reports, coaches comments, news stories, photo gallery etc meant that the web page was the first point of call for general public, media, our members, supporters and players. The new twitter medium has also been a popular communication source to the followers and players.

May I take this opportunity to thank the Randwick Rugby Council and, in particular, President Anthony Bell, Treasurer Quentin Olde, Michael Jorgensen, Doug Eggins, Warwick Waugh and Simon Poidevin for their continued support and guidance. I would like to thank this group for their efforts in supporting the concept of the Hall of Fame lunch. The success of this day is due to the drive of this group in selling the event to corporate Sydney. The day is a huge bonus for the Club's profile and the ability to again put on such an event was the talk of the town.

In addition, I sincerely thank all the staff at Randwick Rugby and the many volunteers throughout the club who have put in so much effort over the past twelve months especially the match day assistants Doug Eggins, Steve Holton, Tim Burgess, Richard Brincat and their leader Michael Lewis. I would like to thank all the coaches under the guidance of Club Coach Craig Morrison; the trainers, doctors, strappers, physios and volunteers. It would be remiss of me not to mention the incredible work of Clarissa Luxford who has assisted in the development of the web page and been key to our weekly newsletter - thank you.

Finally, the most important group - the players. Under the leadership of Chris Barron, Peter Wright and club captain Tom Weber nothing was a problem. The effort by this leadership group to assist in ensuring payment of player subs was appreciated by the Club. I look forward to assisting this group in 2012 with a Club tour and fundraising.

There is no Club without the players; without your presence we don't have a rugby club and for your efforts and enthusiasm I am truly grateful.

It has been a difficult year on the pitch for a club accustomed to success - my advice is that in times like this we pull together, support the decisions made and move forward.

Up the Wicks!

Tony Lewis
General Manager