Eastern Suburbs Rugby Union Football Club.

22/06/2026

Round 7 – Geoff Farrington Memorial Shield
📍 North Warrane Oval
Eastern Suburbs 21 def. by Taroona 43

Firstly, a huge thank you to all our officials, sponsors, volunteers, supporters and both clubs who helped make Saturday such a great day. The crowd turnout and atmosphere were outstanding and a fitting way to honour Geoff Farrington.

Congratulations to **Nick, Nathan and Zavier** on making their club debuts. A special mention also to **Cuddles, Dickie, Wiggy and Sprouly** for stepping up and having a crack. For some it was their first game of the year, and hopefully not their last. We'd love to see you all back out there throughout the season.

A big thank you as well to **Barrie and Jon**, who helped get the boys prepared while I was running around trying to keep everything together.

The Farrington Shield is always the biggest game on our calendar and the boys turned up ready to play. Taroona crossed first in the 5th minute, but Easts responded quickly and led for much of the first half. It was a tough arm wrestle with both sides throwing plenty at each other. Taroona took a narrow 10–7 lead into halftime.

We started the second half strongly and looked dangerous with ball in hand, but an intercept try shifted the momentum. Taroona capitalised and added two more quick tries. To our credit, the boys dug in and responded with two tries of our own to get back into the contest. From there it became another hard-fought battle, with Taroona eventually finishing on top.

While the result didn't go our way, there's a lot to be proud of. We continue to grow and improve every week. Back in Round 2, Taroona defeated us 84–3. Just five rounds later, we've reduced that margin to 43–21 — a 59-point turnaround. That's a clear sign of the progress being made. We're still a long way from our potential as a team, but we're moving in the right direction and hopefully this performance gives us momentum for the rest of the season.

# # # 3-2-1 Points

**1 Point – Justyce Thow**
Another strong performance. Runs hard every week, creates opportunities in attack and works tirelessly in defence to shut down opposition scoring chances.

**2 Points – Zavier Thow**
A fantastic senior men's debut. Didn't look out of place at all. Strong one-on-one defence and brought plenty of spark in attack, putting Taroona on the back foot and giving us momentum.

**3 Points – Peter "Kiwi" Heke-Te Kahika & Matthew "Sprouley" Sproule**

**Sprouly** – First game of the year but like he'd never been away. Led by example in defence, carried strongly and competed hard all day.

**Kiwi** – His best game of the season so far. Stood up when it mattered, led from the front with strong carries and some huge hits. A massive influence on the game.

Thanks again to everyone who came out to play, support and be part of the day. It was a great occasion and one the club can be proud of.

Coach Brendan.

19/06/2026

Positions subject to change**
Women’s list to follow.

03/06/2026

29/05/2026

Women's Match Report - Round 1 v Taroona Rugby Club

Facing last season's Premiers first up was a daunting enough prospect without the added pressure of playing 10 a side with no bench compared to their 5 but we were hoping that experience would counter their youthfulness at least. To make up our 10 - your's truly (Coach KT) pulled the boots on once again (not MY boots as I'd given them away lol) and Assistant Coach Nick took the reins.

I took on the role of Captain as I figured standing in the middle and yelling advice might be all I was good for and had Chicken as VC. We won the toss and kicked off the first half. First scrum of the match was a Taroona feed but we managed to turn it over and Chicken made a good run from half, backed up by Mia who picked up the ball from the ruck and easily ran through to score between the posts just 3 mins in and followed up with a clean conversion!

The Penguins kicked off deep into our territory but our defence was strong and we got the ball back to the halfway line before a Taroona scrum followed by young legs got around the outside of the usually inescapable Mia who was struggling to breathe due to a recent cold.

Our next try came from an Easts scrum on the halfway line with Chicken getting the ball away to Mia who made a great run through and around the opposition before off loading to Safi who ran on to score her 1st ever try right between the posts!

Taroona's kick to start the 2nd half didn't make the required 10m and Kate was quick to seize the advantage and scoop up the ball and made some good ground before offloading a sweet pop ball to Safi who went on to make distance before being brought to ground. From the ruck we had some good passing through the hands until it reached me and I attempted a little run only to be stripped of the ball in the tackle - sorry ladies! Taroona ran that stolen ball quite a way before Mia chased her down and jumped straight back up for the counter ruck alongside Ally, winning the ball back for Mason to pass out to Missy who made a strong run requiring 3 or 4 Penguins to stop her.

Not long afterwards, Taroona did the same back to us and got away down the wing before being taken over the sideline by a 1 - 2 tackle combo by Ally and Chicken. unfortunately for the 2nd time in the game Chicken's tackle was a little high and for the 1st time in her 10 year career she was yellow carded and sent off for 5 mins. For this extremely out of character premise she was awarded C**k of the Day! Taroona took the penalty on our 25m line and despite great tackles from Ally and Kate, eventually got through for another try.

With only 9 on the field we started to tire and some holes opened up in our defence but Safi was quick to pounce on a Taroona fumble and secured the loose ball so Kate could pick and drive, passing off to Maz who was eventually brought down by 3 opposition.

With 5 minutes to go Chicken was able to retake the field and I took my exit before the heart palpitations kicked in. Taroona gave away a penalty deep in our defence - Mia took the tap and ran through 3 players before going to ground with Chicken and Treya securing the ball before Mason popped it out to Maz. Once again it took 3 players to bring her to a stop with Mason right there to pop the ball out to Treya who broke through 4 attempted tackles to run half the field then fended off another attack before grounding her second ever try!

In the dying minutes Chicken fed the ball from the back of our scrum to Mia who made a great run around several opponents to then pass the ball back to Chicken who passed to Mason who went to ground. Kate came out of the ruck with the ball and made a break for the try line but fell 10m short but was awarded a penalty. Ally took the tap and strode for the line but couldn't break through the defence nor could Mia and eventually we gave away a penalty ourselves. Taroona took a long kick which was gathered up by Safi and we managed to get it back to the 25m line but time ran out.

Not a win on the scoreboard but very happy with our performance given our numbers. A great stat to the season :-)

Coach's 3-2-1
3 - Missy - She came out fighting and made every tackle she could
2 - Safi - she always gives 100% and was finally rewarded with a try
1 - Treya - is adjusting well to being a forward this season but hasn't forgotten how to run when the moment is there

Thanks to Nick for the the guidance, Gabbie and Les for managing everything behind the scenes, Jon for making sure I had everything we needed, Matty for running the water, our supporters and past players for coming along. Big thanks also to our President 'Leitchy' for your leadership.

Thanks to our Major Sponsor Coogans, our Minor Sponsors TPU, BRD & Think Real Estate. Also to our individual player sponsors - John Peers, Ally's Hot Shots, BMC Plaster, Stratagem GRC, Gumleaves, Blooms the Chemist New Norfolk and Tas Protection Unit - without whom a Team and Club would be impossible.

26/05/2026

Eastern Suburbs Rugby Club is currently looking for a Social Representative to join our committee after our current rep unfortunately had to step down from the role. We’re looking for someone willing and able to help organise fundraisers, social events and club functions, or simply someone keen to learn, contribute and be part of building our great club culture. If you’re passionate about community, rugby and helping keep the Roosters moving forward on and off the field, we’d love to hear from you.

25/05/2026

Hello community!

We are wondering if anywhere has a large amount of plastic chairs and trestle tables we can borrow for a fundraising event on June 6th. We need at least 80 chairs and 15 tables. Would be greatly appreciated!

25/05/2026

Round 3 Review
vs Hobart Lions/Uni @ Home
Result: Loss 43–0

I would like to thank all sponsors, volunteers, supporters and officials. Without you, we don’t play.

I would also like to send our best wishes to Chris “Camel” Hancock, who was due to make his club debut on the weekend but unfortunately wasn’t able to due to personal circumstances. We’re thinking of you mate and hope to see you back out on the field soon.

A shoutout as well to Cuddles, who came for a run on very short notice. Hopefully we see you back out there again soon. Also to Caiden, who played injured due to our low numbers — that sort of commitment doesn’t go unnoticed.

We had a couple of hurdles to overcome before even taking the field. Within 26 hours of kick-off we lost four named players due to illness, personal reasons, and the removal of a previously approved dispensation. Add that to another four unavailable through work commitments and injury, and it left us with a tough start to the weekend.

As Easts do, we didn’t use any of this as an excuse. Instead, we used it as motivation both individually and as a team.

If I could describe the game in one word, it would be gritty.

Our start to the game was a big improvement on previous weeks. Defensively we worked hard, our scramble defence was on point, and we came off the line aggressively which forced a number of errors. We spent a large portion of the first half defending our own line, with the Lions’ kicking game and a number of offside penalties making field position and possession difficult for us. Considering we only had around 20–30% possession, the boys showed a lot of resolve and limited the damage to three first-half tries.

The men were still in good spirits at halftime and felt like they were in the fight. They ran hard, tackled hard and continued digging in for each other. We tightened up our offside penalties in the second half, but eventually we just ran out of gas. The Lions kept the pressure on and crossed a few more times, but Easts continued to fight right until the end and stopped the game from completely blowing out.

Overall, it was a gritty effort from the boys, who easily made two to three times more tackles than the Lions. Our scrum improved from the previous game, especially considering we were relying on a last-minute, underdone ho**er as a final option. Our lineouts still need work, but they are improving each week. Penalties unfortunately hurt us early, with five or six offside penalties in the first half due to our eagerness to apply pressure, but overall our discipline was solid.

I look forward to playing the Lions again later in the season with a full-strength side.

3-2-1s

1 – Maxx
As usual, Maxx was everywhere, tackling everything that moved (and some things that weren’t moving). Great defence off kick-offs and solid first-up tackles all day.

2 – Jack
After a positional change to flanker, Jack stood up and made an impact. Strong carries, aggressive defence, and a good work rate around the field. Looking forward to watching his development continue.

3 – Justyce
Second week running taking out the 3 points. Huge efforts defensively in one-on-one situations, but really dangerous with the ball in hand as well. Every time he touched the ball he looked threatening and would’ve easily run for 150m+ during the game.

Next week we travel away to take on Burnie at Emu Park.

Burnie have started the season strongly with two wins and one loss, so it will be another good challenge for us and one we’re looking forward to.

Coach Brendan.

23/05/2026