BARRABA have had a lot to toast over the years, from premierships to Wallabies selections, but will tomorrow toast arguably their most significant milestone.
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The Rams will officially mark 50 years of continuous rugby and have a big day planned.
There’ll be a full roster of games, with the Rams’ 16s, 18s, second grade and first grade tackling Tamworth.
Some of the former Rams will also be pulling on the boots, with a golden oldies clash between the junior and senior games.
The celebrations will then continue onto the golf club for a special anniversary dinner.
The club has a rich history and will have their two living Wallabies attending the
festivities.
John “Jock” Kelaher was the first and played for the Wallabies from 1933 to 1938.
Bill McKid followed in 1975, with Tom Bowman wearing Wallaby gold in 1998.
Pip Carter also represented the Australian Sevens side while Greg Darlington played for the Australian U17s.
But that’s just a small part of the Rams’ story.
Snow Kelly has been there for a lot of it.
He was one of the club’s foundation players in 1965 and played breakaway for the second grade side that first game against Moree.
“I was a bit of a kid then, only 16,” he recalled.
He went on to play over 200 games in the green and white – one of nine players to do so.
He also coached for a time and helped get the juniors going and has served as president, following in the footsteps of his uncle Reg who was the inaugural president.
The first grade side that year included Graham Bowman, John Strahan, Pip Kelly, Charlie Bull, John Raffin, Danny Forrest, David White, Tony Byrnes (current zone president), Paul Jackson, Bill Bucknell, Kevin Cummins, Neville White, Jeremy Carter, Ian McDouall and Doug Orchard.
Many of those names would become synonymous with the club, with the White and Kelly names particularly prominent over the following 50 years.
“It was pretty tough,” Kelly said of that first year.
“It took us a while to get going.”
He said heading into the 1970s things started to turn.
That culminated in the U18s winning the premiership in 1979.
Then came the glorious ’80s, which saw the Rams win four straight first grade premierships between 1986 and 1989.
They were the first team to achieve that and went within a whisker of five.
“We only lost by a couple,” Kelly said of the 1990 decider against Walcha.
He was involved in two of the four and recollects those days fondly.
Another highlight is the Rams’ famed victory over Moree when they ended the Bulls’ 72-match winning run.
Off the field, the last 10 years have been big for the club, with the development of the facilities and building of their own clubhouse.
The only downside of that was that it meant the end of the “tent in the corner”, as Kelly referred to the notorious bar at the south-west corner, from which advice was freely offered to referees and the opposition.
“It used to get pretty noisy, vocal,” Kelly said.
“It used to urge the boys on pretty well.”
The Rams are fresh from a come-from-behind win over Inverell and Kelly is confident they can get the job done tomorrow.
In other games, Scone are at home to Narrabri, Gunnedah head to Quirindi, Pirates host Walcha and Inverell travel to Moree.
Meanwhile, in New England action, Baa Baas and St Alberts clash at Alcatraz and Armidale and Robb match up at Bellevue Oval.
