KEVIN O’Toole is looking forward to the October 18/19/20 West Tamworth reunion.
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The former barnstorming prop started playing for the West Robins as they were then known when he was 14 and finished when he was 32 – 18 years of tough football, hard training and good fun.
Many of those memories will be flooding back for O’Toole and his many mates when they celebrate the 100 years of the club at Wests next month.
“I really enjoyed it all,” O’Toole told The Leader this week after another meeting of the organising committee on Wednesday.
“I met a lot of good people through the years.”
He also had plenty of success when he started playing for the Under 18s as a 14-year-old in 1955.
“The Graham boys were two years older but talked me into playing,” he recalled.
“We won it in 1957.”
Kevin was lock/second row and captain by that stage.
“We got beaten 4-nil by Tamworth City in the mud in 1956.
“ They kicked two goals from near halfway to beat us.”
As a senior, O’Toole was part of a club that won all three grades in 1962.
“Boggabri beat us in 1963 and 1964 but then we won three in a row –1966, 1967 and 1968.
“I went out to Narrabri in 1969 but came back and we won in 1972.
‘That was about it.”
He retired after that premiership but made something of a comeback the following year, playing a couple of games before a bad rib cartilage injury influenced him to make his retirement permanent.
Sitting in on Wednesday’s committee meeting rekindled a few old memories for him.
Organising committee chairman Kevin Robinson remembers O’Toole well.
“I was coaching Manilla in 1972,” he said.
“Bischoff (Bill) was coaching West.
“They had a scrum on our line but Bischoff called Kev out of the scrum.
“I ran straight for Kev trying to stop him from getting any momentum up but Bischoff dummied to him and scored under the posts.
“He was a great player.”
He was talking about not only the famed West coach but O’Toole as well.
Tickets for the October 18/19/20 reunion are $60 and include a meet and greet in the Chillingworth Room on the Friday night, a reunion dinner on the Saturday night and then a BBQ farewell on the Sunday morning.
