In the lead up to the Walcha Rams' quasquicentennial celebrations the Walcha News is publishing a weekly excerpt from Graham Croker's 1994 book on the history of rugby union in Walcha 'Memories from Scrum and Ruck' - which was written to mark the club's centenary year. This week we delve into Chapter 4 which documents Walcha's move from the New England competition to the Tamworth Union - before the age of motorised transport.
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Jas Love's residence, Walcha, 1907 - There was more in the air than smoke at the annual general meeting of the Walcha Apsley Football Club when members decided to seek permission to join the Tamworth Union in 1907. The request must have been turned down by the New England Rugby Football Union and Walcha remained in the New England competition to defend the Junior Cup they had won in 1906.
However, while successfully defending the title, the Club managed to play three matches against combined Tamworth teams during the course of the 1907 season. The players received a very warm reception when they ventured to Tamworth on the mail train for the first match, indicating that approaches may have been made to lure Walcha into the Tamworth competition.
But the decision to seek permission to join the Tamworth competition was also brought about by Walcha's dissatisfaction with the programming of matches in New England. The club's correspondent at the time wrote in The Walcha News: "Some time back I referred to the way the local team had to travel, and the scarcity of matches in Walcha. This state of affairs is likely to continue from what I can glean from the fixtures arranged by the Armidale Union. Walcha visited Uralla last Saturday, will play at Armidale this Saturday, will return to play there on Monday and again the following Saturday."
players were pelted with rotten eggs
There was also the mounting problem between Walcha and Uralla. As the season unfolded, tensions between the two clubs crescendoed to the point where Walcha players were pelted with rotten eggs after a match in "Thunderbolt town". And that was after they had secured the Junior competition for a second successive year.
The move to enter the Tamworth Union (later Central North) competition was to be repeated in similar fashion 50 years later. When the Walcha Club re-formed in 1950, it took several seasons to become established before appearing in three consecutive grand finals in the New England competition. After winning one premiership the Club then joined the re-formed Central Northern Rugby Union, again because of the lack of regular matches in the New England competition and difficulties arranging matches to coincide with 'bye' weekends.
All in all, it must have been a lively meeting in the Love household in 1907.