Gold Coast and District Rugby Union

Gold Coast District Rugby Union
Sport Rugby Union
Jurisdiction Gold Coast, Australia
Abbreviation GCDRU
Founded 1964
Affiliation Queensland Rugby Union
Regional affiliation Queensland Country (1978)[1]
Headquarters Albert Park, Broadbeach Waters
Official website
www.rugbygoldcoast.com.au
Queensland

The Gold Coast and District Rugby Union, or GCDRU, is the local governing body for the sport of rugby union on Australia's Gold Coast. The GCRU runs a club rugby competition for men's teams with three senior grades,[2] as well as a junior club competition that caters for teams grouped by age from under 6 to under 17.[3]

Gold Coast representative teams play under the name "Cyclones" in a range of rugby competitions for senior and junior players.[4] The Bond University Rugby Club plays in the Queensland Premier Rugby competition.[3]

History

The foundation club for rugby union on the Gold Coast was the Gold Coast Eagles. The club was registered with the Queensland Rugby Union (QRU) after a positive response at the initial foundation meeting in late 1964.[5]

A meeting was called to be held at a downstairs room at the old Chevron Hotel. This meeting was attended by people such as Tom Perrin who had represented Australia both in Rugby Union and Rugby League, Nap Palmer, the brother of Brian Palmer the ex Australian Coach, Ken Hughes, Paul Perrin (son of Tom, who played for Australia against Japan and France)...
— Bob Sinclair, former Chairman of GCDRU, A Brief History, c. 1992.[5]

The Gold Coast team's first season of rugby was in the 1965 Queensland Subbies competition, playing out of Rudd Park in Burleigh Heads. Coached by Paul Perrin and Bob Sinclair, the team went on to win the competition in 1965 and 1966, and finished second in 1967.[5] In 1968, the QRU directed the Gold Coast to play in the Brisbane first grade competition.[6] The team managed to defeat the eventual premiers GPS on their home ground but did not win any other matches for the season. This bad run of results and the logistics of traveling to Brisbane resulted in the Gold Coast team dropping out of all rugby competition in 1969. The club was reformed and rejoined Subbies in 1970.[5]

In 1973, Col Macdonald and Barry Moon proposed the establishment of a second club on the Gold Coast, and the Surfers Paradise Dolphins club was founded in 1974. Coached by ex-Wallaby Alan Ware, the Surfers Paradise club played their first home games on the grounds of The Southport School.[5]

In 1978 the Gold Coast and District Rugby Union affiliated with the Queensland Country Rugby Union.[1]

Clubs

Bond University Rugby Club competes in Queensland Premier Rugby.

Gold Coast clubs that play in the GCDRU senior grade competitions, as of 2014, are:[7]

Additional clubs with junior teams that play in the Gold Coast age-group competitions include:

Representative teams

Cyclones colours

The GCDRU selects representative teams each year which play under the name "Cyclones". The senior men's team and junior age-group teams compete in the annual Queensland Country Championships.[4]

See also

Rugby union in Queensland

References

  1. 1 2 Purcell 2002, p. 10.
  2. ↑ "2014 Gold Coast & Districts Rugby Union Senior Competition". Australian Rugby Union. 2014. Archived from the original on 26 February 2014. Retrieved 24 September 2014.
  3. 1 2 "Welcome To 2014". Gold Coast & District Rugby Union. 2014. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
  4. 1 2 "Gold Coast claims third historic Farmoz rugby title". Farmoz. 2007. Archived from the original on 30 April 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Sinclair.
  6. ↑ Purcell 2002, p. 7.
  7. ↑ "Rugby unions underneath: Gold Coast & District Rugby Union". Australian Rugby Union. 2014. Archived from the original on 20 May 2014. Retrieved 20 May 2014.

Sources

Club websites

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