On the morning of Sunday the 26th of October, the clubrooms hosted our annual general meeting. It was very well attended, with a broad range of participants appearing from life members to players to underage representatives. The meeting began with apologies from our outgoing chairman and all round good guy, Ross MacDonald, who has elected to hang up his spurs due to work commitments and he officially passed the baton to our new president, John Cameron.

The highlights of the previous season were disclosed to the attendance with the Shegull’s premiership victory and the representative honours earned by Bec Clough, Kaisa Reidy and Ali Haining, particularly standing out. John Cameron then unveiled a fantastic coup for the club by announcing that Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest has agreed to stand as patron for the club going forward, bringing his massive profile to bear on our behalf. This can only be a tremendous boon to the club and the parties who organised it were rightly applauded.

Sam Turner the outgoing treasurer followed this by outlining the financial results for the year in terms of sponsorship and bar takings. He then outlined the financial planning for the coming year including the implementation of the new 125 year initiative that the committee have been formulating in the background, as per previous blues news updates.

There were no notices of motion of changes to the clubs constitution.

The next order of business was the election of officers for 2018. Special thanks was given to outgoing committee members Ross MacDonald, Rachel Evans, Brendan Ash and Marc & Cat our clubhouse managers for their hard work on the committee. The committee that will steer the club through the 2018 season is as follows:

John Cameron moved from vice-president to president. A reputable businessman and a fantastic clubman, he has taken over the reins of the club from Ross. He resides over an incredibly youthful committee with 2017 club captain Sam Diamond taking over as vice-president, Sammy Turner moving from treasurer to secretary and Debby Carley moving from bookkeeper to treasurer. Debby will be working closely with our new bar manager, Lloyd Darmody, who will be taking over from Marc and Cat. Lloyd is a manager with Dan Murphy’s and an experienced bar manager. He plays fourth grade with the club and is known to all the players. He will officially take over in January 2018 circa Australia Day.

Gillian Forde will renew her responsibilities as sponsorship co-ordinator and was pleased to announce that the majority of our prior year sponsors have been retained for the 2018 season and she is actively looking to secure more to strengthen the club as we advance into 2018. Lynn Smith is once again fulfilling the registrar role. She did a fantastic job in 2017 and has refined the process to the nth degree.

Michael “Gals” Gallagher has resumed his position as junior rugby president and will add an experienced voice to the committee and represent our burgeoning population of juniors and parents. Brooke Fairless and Mariah Stringer have taken over the kit and merchandise responsibilities, guaranteeing that even if our rugby is not on point on the field, at least we will look the part! Katie Barnes, our resident minister of fun, has again taken the social role on the committee. Jack Ellis and I (CB) , have been volunteered for media and will attempt to keep our membership abreast of all goings on around the club.

Our latest committee member, Rachel Ouwendyk, was formally introduced to the congregation and rightly received a round of applause. She has revolutionized the club with her energy behind the health centre and coffee vision affectionately known as “The Nest” (our home). Tiernan Byrnes and Rory Edwards round out the committee by adding a voice for all of the grades that they participate in.

Due to the incredibly young and vibrant committee we have now at our disposal, it is prudent to implement an advisory council of our most venerable and experienced members to guide us as we navigate through the season, on matters of import. Milton Hunt, Neil Oliver and Bob Reineke will assist JC and Sam Diamond going forward and will add their input, vast knowledge and leadership where required.

On the rugby playing front there were major moves actioned also. Our Director of Rugby position was filled by club stalwart Craig Fairhall. He has already begun organising in the background and preparing all grades for the coming year. Damien Carley has been elected as Director of Player Recruitment and Retention and he has already begun making moves in this space on the clubs behalf. Daniel Grace has accepted the position of Club Captain. Daniel has played, coached and managed for years, after coming back from a stint in Sydney. He is as well known amongst the premiership players as he is to the fourth graders and has proven his leadership on the field on multiple occasion, being a handy player in his own right.

Ian Fowler will once again assume the mantle of Premier Grade Coach. He is the last man to ever deliver a premiership for the club, and after a two year sabbatical he has returned to the helm. He has assembled a formidable backroom team consisting of; forwards coach- Johno Owen; backs coach – Davie Kirton; technical coaches and runners – Ryan Westaway and Richard Brown. It is a testament to the club that we have such knowledge and experience at our disposal. Ian is excited to renew his position and he has already begun plotting the dreaded pre-season and is working closely with Damien Carley and Craig Fairhall in putting us in the best position to win the championship.

A number of positions both on and off the field are yet to be filled, so if you are inclined to get involved in the club, please get in touch with the committee.

This brought a close to the AGM Proceedings.

If anyone would like something included in a blues news, please don’t hesitate to contact Jack or myself on our email addresses and we will do our best to acquiesce.

Best of luck to all concerned for the season ahead.

Over and out,
CB & Jack Ellis