Former attendee and now regular special guest, Paddy Ryan, joined fellow Waratahs forward Tala Gray in addressing and then training with the 300-strong crowd of rugby-mad players and coaches.

“It’s all about enjoyment of the game on and off the field,” Gray said.

“Some of my best mates I met at footy camps and sessions like this.

“Today has been awesome.”

Both players had a similar theme with enjoyment coming first, but also the benefits of being part of the rugby community.

The final training and presentation day marked the end of four days of non-stop rugby action at SportUNE.

Local development officer and former Pirates whipcracker Gary Walsh was the orchestrator of the program that was specifically put together for country rugby and the region, although the camp did attract some players from much further afield.

A few boys from Perth and Darwin made the trip, although this year the camp also had one keen player bring his boots from Malaysia for the week.

Camp operator David Schmude said it was a feather in the cap of the entire organisation to attract campers from so far away.

“It is great for national recognition,” Schmude said.

“We have had around 300 campers for nine years now.

“It all comes down to the quality of the coaches and the coaching volunteers from around the region.”

Earlier in the week Tim Walsh, the Australian Women’s 7s coach, also visited for a day and it could be a sign of things to come for the camp.

“Women’s rugby is the fastest growing female sport in the world at the moment,” Schmude said.

“We are talking about having a dedicated women’s program in the near future.”

Going into next year’s Super 15 competition as champions has not affected the Waratahs’  preparation according to Gray.

Backing up what he said to the Armidale campers, the massive loose forward believes that it is the tight culture of mateship that will see the Waratahs get more success this season.

“We are going to keep playing exciting footy with an attacking mindset,” Gray said.

“We won’t sit back and defend the title – we are going after it again.

“That is the type of squad we have.”

The Waratahs kick off their pre-season matches with a trial against the Chiefs on February 6.