A day at Randwick, the most famous rugby club in Australia

The 42

8 hours ago

IT'S JUST BEFORE midday and the winter sun is shining at Coogee beach in Sydney.
Or 'County Coogee' as it's known due to the many Irish accents around the place.
That Irish lilt is noticeable across the road at the Coogee Oval, home to Australia's most famous rugby club. Randwick has a central role in Aussie rugby.
Even at this relatively early hour, the club is abuzz. The third grade team are into the second half of their clash with Sydney University. The fourth grade sides from both clubs are already finished, having kicked off at 10.25am.
Rap tunes are blaring from the changing rooms, letting you know that Randwick's second grade side are getting ready for their game at 1.05pm. And the first grade players are milling about the place, with the main event to come at 3.05pm.
This is how things work in Aussie rugby. One club hosts all the teams from the other. The U20 sides are playing in the nearby Nagle Park, with the first of the three games at that level kicking off as early as 9.45am.
Everyone eventually gathers at Coogee Oval and the whole atmosphere builds towards the first grade clash in the Shute Shield, the annual club competition in New South Wales made up nearly exclusively of Sydney clubs. The rivalries are ferocious. Bragging rights are on the line, with the overall tallies of wins across the day watched closely.
'I don't know why they don't do this in Irish rugby,' says Randwick first grade head coach Shaun Berne, who played for Leinster from 2009 until 2011 and then started his coaching career in Ireland.
'By the time second grade's kicking off, fourth grade are having a drink, watching their mates, cheering their club. The opposition's doing the same thing.
'All their friends and family are turning up, there's the old old boys coming in. And then by 3 o'clock, all of a sudden there's a crowd to support the first grade game.'
Randwick head coach Shaun Berne.
It's a special thing to witness, particularly in a place like Randwick. This club has a rich history, having produced coaches like Michael Cheika, Eddie Jones, Ewen McKenzie, Bob Dwyer, Alan Gaffney, and over 100 Wallabies players, including the three Ella brothers.
Randwick took on the All Blacks here in 1988. Cheika played in that game, then brought his Argentina side to play the 'Wicks at the Coogee Oval in a warm-up match before the 2019 World Cup. Jones visited Randwick with the Japan U23 side back in April, with Berne's men winning that one.
But this lovely winter's day is all about how the 'Galloping Greens' fare against Sydney Uni. Walk in the gate and the first person to say hello is Alex Molloy, who has shone for Old Wesley in the All-Ireland League in recent years but recently moved to Sydney.
Molloy just made his debut for 'the 4s', coming on for the last few minutes as he returned from injury. He is the first of many Irish faces in Randwick. That 4s team also included former Clontarf man Ed Brennan.
Standing alongside Berne up in the stand is Donegal man Campbell Classon, who played for Terenure in the AIL up until moving to Sydney a year ago. He's part of the Randwick first-grade team and works in construction.
Mark Harrison, the club's general manager, is floating around making sure everything is running smoothly. He played for Randwick during their glory days in the 1980s when they won seven of their overall 32 Shute Shields. It was hard to get in the first grade team then and it remains so even now.
With the smell of burgers and brisket wafting in the air and cans of beer being dished out of the well-organised club shop, the second grade sides have kicked off.
The quality is good, with a huge amount of running rugby. This is the Randwick way.
'There's no kid who grows up and wants to just be part of a box kick,' says Berne, who was a creative centre or out-half, playing more than 65 first-grade games for the Wicks and captained them to the 2004 Shute Shield. His pro career involved time with Bath, the Waratahs, and Calvisano, as well as Australia A.
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'That kid wants to pick up the ball and try to score a try, and run over there and find space.'
Former Clontarf man Mick Courtney is on the wing for the 2s and nearly scores a wonder try. Perhaps the pick of the bunch of tries in Randwick's win sees Irish out-half Callum Smith find Irish loosehead prop Emmet Burns with a slick inside pass before Burns offloads for a brilliant score.
Burns, who overcame cancer a few years ago, used to play for UCD, while Smith was once part of the Ulster set-up and then starred for Terenure in recent years. The out-half is just coming back from a serious injury.
'They're called frenemies here,' says Berne with a smile. 'You're the enemy on the other side of the world in Dublin or in Ireland, then they become friends here.'
While the Irish lads are weaving magic on the pitch, first grade captain Joel Ellis is explaining that Randwick is a core part of his life. He grew up a few 100 metres from the Coogee Oval and has played for the club since leaving school eight years ago.
Every team in the club trains on Tuesday and Thursday nights, with the 1s also gathering on Mondays for video review and skills. 'We're like an AIL Division 1A team,' says Berne.
Gym work is done in their own time because the vast majority of them have day jobs. Ellis is part of the family plumbing business.
'Joel works hard Monday to Friday doing that,' says Berne later. 'And then he has to turn up on Tuesday and, you know, bash heads with blokes and then Saturday, he goes out and gets his body sore. He wakes up Sunday, has a day to himself, then does it all again.'
Ellis points to scrum-half Tas Smith on the second grade team. Smith has just played a full season of Major League Rugby for LA, coached by Randwick man Stephen Hoiles, Berne's predecessor. Ellis considered going over to the US but is sticking with the Wicks for now.
As Ellis and his team-mates head off to prepare for the main event, the atmosphere is building. By now, the 3s, 4s and U20s are gathering in their special stand on the far side of the pitch, seated around a big Esky cooler full of beers. They're ready to make some noise.
Tucked away in the office at the top of the stand is Chris Fraser, the timekeeper and scoreboard operator for every single game. He's the kind of friendly, long-serving volunteer that makes any sports club possible.
More fans are flowing in, some recognisable faces among them. There's Hoiles, just back from the States. Ex-Wallaby centre Morgan Tirinui, now a pundit on Stan Sport, is here too. Tirinui's son, Felix, delivered a classy crossfield kick for the winning try against the Japan U23s in April.
Omar Hassanein, the CEO of International Rugby Players, is gathered in the old boys' corner beside the beer stand on the beach side of the pitch. He grew up close to the Oval and is meeting his former Randwick team-mates to watch the rugby.
The Randwick community is tight-knit and the network is strong. They lean on each other.
'Earlier in the year when we had that Japan game, Eddie Jones came back and watched us play Parramatta, the Two Blues, that Saturday and he presented jerseys to the guys making their debut that day,' says Berne.
'Then recently, Emmet Burns and a few others were making their first-grade debuts and I called up Paul Cheika, Michael's brother. Paul was actually a better player, a prop and a hard man. Paul played 296 games for Randwick and was a Premiership-winning first-grade captain.
'So it just makes it special, that community feel.'
It's nearly showtime, but first there's a ceremony to mark Indigenous Round in the Shute Shield. The Ella brothers – Mark, Glen, and Gary – are the most famous Indigenous Wallabies of them all and Randwick is deeply proud of them.
Today, it's former Wallaby and Randwick man Lloyd Walker who leads the ceremony, a 20-minute celebration of Aboriginal culture. When the Randwick team are warming up, they wear a special Indigenous-themed jersey designed by Wallabies wing Dylan Pietsch, another Randwick man with Aboriginal ancestry.
By now, the place is heaving, everyone kitted out in something that sports the Randwick logo. Young kids tear around the place with big bags, competing to collect the most empty beer cans in order to earn the top prize for cleaning up.
And after Randwick and Sydney University line up for the national anthem, we're underway.
Berne's men need a win to give their play-off hopes a major boost and they get it. It's a commanding 40-17 win in the end as their attractive brand of rugby proves too much for their Sydney rivals. The quality is high, with some excellent players on show.
Terenure man Mick Melia is a key figure in the second row with his physicality and skills, having been pivotal when his Dublin club won the AIL in 2023. By now, there's a big crew of Terenure folk gathered on the touchline, all of them part of the Randwick family even if they don't play. They're heading onto the Lions' clash with the Waratahs after this.
Colm de Buitléar, also part of that 2023 AIL-winning side, has been sidelined by injury this season, but he's a Randwick man and can enjoy watching the 1s rack up a crucial win over Sydney Uni. Front row Classon comes off the bench to show his silky handling, while former Leinster underage back row Matthew Bursey carries hard at number eight.
The athleticism of these first-grade players is impressive, which is no surprise given that some of the Australians have professional aspirations.
Out-half James Hendren is on the books with the Waratahs and spent the week helping them to prepare to face the Lions.
'James is a tallish, lanky sort of guy that runs a bit like a Stephen Larkham, covers the ground quickly and reads the game really well,' says Berne before the game.
Hendren runs in a stunning solo try and kicks beautifully throughout. He hopes that playing for Randwick can launch him onto bigger and better things, like many players before him.
The Shute Shield is also a great development ground for ambitious coaches. It has been the ideal place for Berne's re-entry into full-time coaching.
He started off in Ireland with Coolmine RFC and St Mary's College, two different experiences which taught him that context is everything. He began working as an elite player development officer with Leinster in 2015 but returned to Australia two years later to join the Western Force staff and then move on to the Rebels.
In 2019, Berne stepped up as a Wallabies assistant coach to Cheika for the World Cup following the departure of Stephen Larkham. With the Rebels disbanding, Berne left rugby a few years ago and was working with analysis software company Hudl until Randwick came calling.
He's not sure where this role will lead – he has a 10-year-old daughter and eight-year-old twin sons to consider – but it's clear that he is loving being back home in Randwick.
He's a happy man by the final whistle, a big bonus-point win lifting them above Sydney Uni into sixth in the ladder with five more regular-season rounds to go. Randwick have won just one Shute Shield in the last 20 years, but they always aim for the pinnacle.
The players gather huddle up in their changing room under the stand and as darkness falls over Coogee Oval, they belt out the club song heartily. McNamara's Band is fitting.
Oh, my name is McNamara
I'm the leader of the band
Although we're few in number
We're the finest in the land
Oh, Hennesy, Tennessy tootles the flute
The music's something grand
A credit to old Ireland
Is McNamara's band
Da da da da, da da da da
Hey, up the Wicks!