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.
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This week we delve into Chapter 13 which covers the careers of WRUFC's three Wallabies: Bill Laycock, Peter Fenwicke and Andrew Laurie. Here are some highlights of the career of Bill Laycock.
University Oval, Sydney, June 1926. Bill Laycock was causing the All Blacks some problems in their match against a NSW XV. It was the lead-up to the Second Test at the Sydney Showground and Bill was vying for a spot in the NSW front-row. Reliving the match many years later he said: "By jeez, I livened them up. I was causing a bit of concern when I was paid the greatest compliment I've ever had. No less than the All Black captain said, 'Stop that mad bastard'."
Embellished or not, stories about Bill Laycock abound, on and off the field. His name might not dwell on the lips of many of the present generation of Walcha Rugby Union Club players, but he will be remembered as the Club's first Wallaby, an honour accorded in 1986 with the Australian Rugby Union decree that members of the Waratah teams of the 1920s be afforded Wallaby status.
That's how I opened the chapter on our Wallabies. When researching the book in 1993 (I had 14 months' notice and didn't have the resources of the internet or Trove), I gathered enough information to write a scratchy biography of Bill Laycock. What I did garner is factual, but I've since found out so much more. Instead of reprinting a few hundred words on an extraordinary life, a personal memory might be more fitting.
I had the great honour of meeting our first Wallaby. My dad was the gateman for WRUFC in the mid-1950s. One Saturday afternoon at the Park, a man came to the ground and stopped to chat with Dad. I was called over and introduced to "Mr Laycock" who shook my hand. I have three memories of that meeting. Dad never charged him an entry fee. My new acquaintance had the saddest, but kindest, eyes, and after he had moved on Dad told me to always call him "Mr Laycock". I now know why.
I ended Mr Laycock's biography with these words: "Prop forward, poet, prisoner-of-war, prospector, traveller, grazier, novelist and dreamer, Bill Laycock died at Warialda on 12 May 1966. He was a man of many talents, but to those who knew him, played rugby with him and provided information about his life, Walcha Rugby Union Club's first Wallaby was commonly referred to as an all-round good bloke."
