1995 - 1996 ~ 1997 - 1999 ~ 2000 - 2004 ~ 2005 - 2008 ~ 2009 - 2010

INTRODUCTION

Formed in 1995, Old Collegians Women's XV is one of the two founding teams of the South Australian women's rugby competition. Adelaide University had been invited to form a team to compete in the Nationals that year. (That team included a number of girls from Canada as well as Jo Bathern and, later, Lito Fata. Both girls continued playing for many years, although they moved through various teams. As of 2010, Lito Fata is still playing.) On University's return from the Nationals, Old Collegians was formed and the first women's rugby season consisted of five games between these two teams, played to Under 19's rules. The last game was the grand final, a fifteen minute demonstration match which University won. University won all of the games that year.

1995 - 1996: THE FIRST OLD COLLEGIANS TEAM

1995 - Peter Mehrtens was a member of the Old Collegians Rugby Club and heard about University sending a team to the Women's Nationals. He persuaded Old Collegians club that it should form a women's rugby team to compete against University locally. He was supported by Caroline Ninnes who was already a social member of the club and by Meredith Knowler. Hamish Cranna, then president of the club, convinced the club committee to embrace women's rugby.  It should be remembered that rugby had not been played by women in SA before this time and this was seen by some as a dangerous innovation. In these early years there was some latent resistance to women's rugby. Teasing was common, as well as open remarks questioning the value of the team and its "appropriateness".  The support of Hamish was critical and in time the commitment and success of the team earned the respect and support of the whole club. That support has been the difference between the team surviving and failing.  Other teams in the competition often disband and when they have done so they have often blamed the lack of support from their club for their failure. 

Peter and Meredith advertised for players in gyms and at University. The first team consisted primarily of girls who saw those notices (including Zoë Woodstock, Bec Manson, Fiona Mensforth (late to become Fiona Brady), Jo Fell, Brenda, Tracy, Tiffany and Megan).  The team trained once a week and played on Sundays. They played in a hand-me-down set of club jerseys but were otherwise not really part of the club life.

Any woman rugby player will have been asked whether or not women's rugby is played by the same rules and with the same rigour as men's rugby. The same doubt existed in the team's first training sessions. Peter Mehrtens took on the role of coach. The recollection of the girls who were in the team at that time is that the training session in those days were a little "soft". Some recall that they were only taught to "grab and hold", not to tackle. University had, however, played at the Nationals under normal senior rules and some of their girls had played before (for example, Lito Fata had played for a number of years in New Zealand). As a result, the girls who played in that first game describe it as a baptism of fire - they had not expected to tackle or be tackled. However, it was this intensity that had often attracted them to rugby in the first place and kept them coming back.

Zoë Woodstock and Bec Manson were part of that original team and as of 2010 remained still with the team, although as young mothers they are both now suggesting that their rugby days may be over.  In that first year, Bec Manson played five-eight against Li and Zoë played in the second row - which may surprise the girls who know them exclusively as a flanker and Number 8! Meredith Knowler was the team's captain that year.

The first final was always only to be a demonstration match but was cut much shorter than intended. A number of the men's finals went over time and the time available for the women's final was slowly whittled down to only 15 minutes. University won that game and were thus the first women's premiers in SA.

1996 - A number of the girls from the OC's women team recruited new players during the Flinders University Orientation Week in February 1996. Sara Lasscock and Helene Dimitri joined the team through that recruitment drive. Esme Thomas and Kathryn Cherry had played touch football with Jo Fell over summer and she convinced them to join the OC women's rugby team too that year. Esme had played rugby league in Canberra. Sisters Tiana and Cara Hume also joined at the beginning of this year.

In the meantime some of the girls from the University team, including Li Fata and Jo Bathern, left and formed a new women's team at Burnside Rugby Club. Woodville RFC and Elizabeth RFC also formed women's teams, with Elizabeth drawing largely on the local air-force base for its players. The competition moved from Under 19's rules to ordinary senior rules.

Peter Mehrtens continued in his role as OC women's coach, assisted by Ben Brady. Bob Lightfoot of Suzuki in the City sponsored the team and continued to do so for many years. His sponsorship bought the girls their own jerseys. Meredith Knowler continued in her role as captain. Old Collegians women's team still only trained once a week. Training was on Wednesday nights and games were still played on Sundays but games were not played every week. As the men played on Saturdays and trained on Tuesdays and Thursdays, the women's team was still largely estranged from the club. However some of boys, notably Ben Suttell and Richard Czeglik, started to come out and watch games (generally hungover!).  It is with wry retrospect that we can now observe that Ben Brady eventually married Fiona Mensforth, and that Richard Czeglik and Zoe Woodstock have just had the second child and Ben Suttell and Imogen Hume (who joined in 1997) were expecting of their first as at the end of 2010.

Old Collegians Women's XV played 8 games and won 5, coming third on the ladder of five. Old Collegians Women's XV beat University in the semi final (20 - 7) to meet Burnside in the grand final. The final was then won by Burnside, 17 to 0.

1997 - 1999: THE PREMIERSHIP YEARS

1997 - At the end of 1996, the OC girls saw that they could be a premiership side. They made a conscious commitment to improvement and this meant changing their attitude to training. They decided they wanted to train twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays like the men's teams. They felt that training up to this point had not been physically rugged or serious enough. Until this point, there had been a reluctance on the part of the coaches to do very much tackling/contact drills and (for example) they were encouraged not to train when it was cold or wet. Peter Mehrtens was not available for two training sessions each week, so Ben Brady and Ray Butler took over the coaching of the team. Ray brought old fashioned clichés to women's rugby, regularly telling the girls they should be willing to "bleed for their jersey".

More girls joined the team this year, recruited mainly through friendships with girls already on the team. They included Laura Giaretto, Jasmine Brown, Maxine Dunn, Naomi Oberscheidt, Penny Morton, Michelle Carr, Nicola Dutton, Bronwyn Gibson and Imogen Hume (cousin of Tiana and Cara). Trish Abbott also played, but more often she refereed. Sandi Jenni also joined us, defecting from Elizabeth RFC. Fiona Mensforth was the captain in 1997.
In addition to Old Collegians, University, Burnside and Elizabeth, in 1997 Brighton joined the women's competition and were a strong team from the outset. Port Adelaide, Onkaparinga and North Adelaide also attempted to field women's teams, but struggled. 

The surge in talented players and the reformed attitude to playing paid off. Despite Sara and Zoë both breaking their legs this year, the Old Collegians Women's XV were undefeated in 1997. The South Australian Rugby Union Annual Report for 1997 does not record the Women's Premiership Table, but the recollection of the Old Collegians players is that they did not have a point scored against them in the minor rounds. Old Collegians Women's XV defeated Brighton 66 to 5 in the qualifying final and again the grand final 51 to 5. 1997 was Old Collegians’ first premiership!

That year, Fiona Mensforth won the Edna Reilly trophy for Best Women's Player in Adelaide. Sandi Jenni won the club's award for highest point scorer in the club, thanks to her phenomenal kicking.

1998 - The South Australian Rugby Union recognized the value of women's rugby and funding was acquired for a women's development officer.  The Port Adelaide team folded, and Onkaparinga and North Adelaide eventually merged with Woodville and Burnside respectively. Accordingly, the women's competition in 1998 consisted of six teams - Old Collegians, University, Brighton, Elizabeth, Burnside/North Adelaide and Onkaparinga/Woodville ("Wonkaville"). Games started being played on Saturdays and the women's team was now truly a part of the club culture.

The Old Collegians Women's XV continued to grow. Catherine Follett, Liz Gabb and Kim Evans (who worked with Chris Darby, one of club’s 1st XV props, and had played Summer Oztag with him and Meredith Knowler) joined the team. However, Helene Dimitri retired during this season and we saw less and less of Bronwyn and Jasmine. Ray Butler and Ben Brady continued to coach and the team was still sponsored by the ever supportive Suzuki in the City. Meredith Knowler was again the captain.  The OC women's team remained dominant, regularly beating teams by up to 120 points. Meredith Knowler won the Edna Reilly trophy for Best Women's Player in Adelaide.

The Old Collegians Women's XV again defeated Brighton in both the Qualifying and Grand Finals (31 to 0 and 21 to 0). This was a great year at the club, with the Men’s First XV also winning the premiership against Brighton's First XV (who had won for the previous 6 years).

1999 - The women's competition remained relatively stable, with essentially the same six teams as 1997; Old Collegians, University, Brighton, Elizabeth, Burnside and Onkaparinga (who shed their association with Woodville).  Ray Butler moved to Brisbane and the coaching of the team was taken over by Chris Pearl. Meredith Knowler remained as captain. A number of new girls joined the team, including Jody Hawson, Belinda Wade (who worked with Sara Lasscock) and Ronnie May. The Old Collegians Women's XV won the premiership again in 1999 defeating Brighton for the third year in a row (25 - 0). The team was also again undefeated throughout the season. 

2000 - 2004: CHANGING OF THE GUARD

The next few seasons at Old Collegians proved challenging due to a number of senior players retiring/leaving and difficulties in securing coaches.

2000 - The women's competition dropped to five teams, losing Elizabeth. This left Old Collegians, University, Brighton, Burnside and Onkaparinga. The women's games in 2000 were held on the same pitch, rather than as a part of the "home and away" draw followed by the men's teams.

Meredith Knowler wished to further her career in coaching and, as a number of the Old Collegians team members were not supportive of a combined coach/captain/player, Meredith left Old Collegians and joined Adelaide University RFC. She took with her Penny Morton and Jody. In addition, Nicky Dutton stopped playing to concentrate on travel/school. Laura Giaretto, Bronnie Gibson, Michelle Carr and Jasmine Brown retired. Sandi Jenni returned to Elizabeth. Kath Cherry went to Burnside, where her partner played. Sara Lasscock and Naomi Oberscheidt played only half the season, due to significant injuries. Ronnie returned to NSW.

Denzil Church coached the Old Collegians team. Unfortunately, Denzil suffered from ill-health for a lot of the rest of the year.

A number of new girls joined the team, including Emma Tachowski (whose father had played for Old Collegians in his younger days) and Kate Reynolds (whose then boyfriend was playing). Esme Thomas was the captain.
Given that the team had lost thirteen players to injury, retirement and defection (seven of whom could be considered crucial senior players), it is not surprising that the 2000 season was disappointing for Old Collegians. We finished fourth (of five) on the premiership table, and were knocked out in the Elimination Final by University (25 - 10).

2001 - The Women's Competition in South Australia continued to shrink, despite the efforts of South Australian Rugby Union to promote women's rugby and the appointment over the previous couple of years of a women's development officer. Old Collegians, Burnside and University continued to field teams. However, Onkaparinga and Brighton folded. The girls from those two teams, in addition to some defectors from Burnside (such as the wandering Lito Fata and Jo Bathern), formed a new team with Southern Suburbs RFC. The girls from Souths were immediately dominant in the competition and won all the premierships from 2001 to 2007 years. The competition was effectively only 10 a-side in 2001, but returned to the men's "home and away" format.

Hamish Cranna agreed to coach the Old Collegians women's team for the Elizabeth Sevens in March and continued for the rest of the season. He was assisted by Phil Crowe as "fitness trainer". Phil put the girls through a rigorous pre-season fitness campaign which included running along behind them slapping them with a pink thong (a "jandal" or "flip-flop" not a g-string). Esme Thomas was, again, the captain.

Cara Hume and Emma Tachowski stopped playing, but we were joined by Bec "Missy" Ogilvie, Beck "Bob" Derbyshire-Lloyd and Susan "Junior" Brooks (Missy was dating one of the OC boys and Bob and Junior knew her through a local cricket club). We were also joined by Simone Fogarty (who played touch football with Kim Evans) and Susan Roberts (who had previously played for Brighton).

The year was not a successful one on the pitch for the OC Women's XV but off-pitch camaraderie was high. The minor round results show Old Collegians as fourth of four! Old Collegians met Burnside in the Elimination Final. Burnside failed to field a full team of ten and could not provide a front row, as had been the case for much of the year. As a result, contrary to the competition rules for finals, the game commenced with uncontested scrums. With Old Collegians' advantage in the scrums successfully paralysed, Burnside defeated Collegians in this game. However, the win was overturned by the South Australian Rugby Union and Burnside was deemed to have forfeited. Old Collegians went on to meet University in the Preliminary Final, but were defeated 21 - 17. Southern Suburbs then defeated University in the Final, to win their first premiership.

2002 - The same four teams from 2001 continued (Old Collegians, University, Southern Suburbs and Burnside) and continued trying to rebuild to a 15s competition. Port Adelaide attempted to enter the competition, but could not find the numbers. As Burnside had struggled to field a team in 2001, Port Adelaide and Burnside merged (to be known affectionately as "Pornside").

Ray Butler returned from Brisbane and started coaching the team again. Despite the poor results on the pitch, the Old Collegians Women's XV had remained a strong and happy group. In 2002, the team began to be known as "the Frocs" as a pair to the OC 3rd XV Crocs.

Fiona Mensforth had by now married Ben Brady and she stopped playing in 2002 to have a family. Esme Thomas had also married (to Richie Jasko) and only played half of 2002 as she was studying and working shifts which made playing/training impossible. Susan Roberts also retired. However, we were joined by Kristie Hume (the youngest of the Hume sisters, who had been training with the team off and on for a few years but had been too young to play) and Lusia Raikiwasa (whose father had played for Old Collegians and who knew the Humes), Emily Pollack (from USA) and Candice Daniel (whose boyfriend was playing). Bec Manson was the captain in 2002. Bec also had completed her Physiotherapy qualifications and, as part of her role with the club's major sponsor, Physio Direct, began providing physio services to the club at trainings and on game days.

The Frocs continued to build slowly in strength. They finished third of four on the premiership ladder and defeated Port Adelaide/Burnside in the Semi- Final (20 - 7), losing to University in the Preliminary Final (10 - 0). Uni went on to lose the Grand Final to Southern Suburbs (3 - 22).

Sandi Jenni, who had played for Old Collegians and Elizabeth, was killed in a motorbike accident in August 2002. All the women playing in the two semifinals on 8 September 2002 wore black armbands in her honour and observed a minute of silence.

 
2003 - Burnside folded in 2003 and Port Adelaide threw their lot in with Woodville to form the fourth women's team. The same other teams from 2001 and 2002 continued (Old Collegians, University and Southern Suburbs).

Ray Butler continued to coach the Frocs, with Tiana Hume as the captain. The team was joined by Tara Naige (from touch football), Naomi Woodstock (Zoë's sister) and her friend Kelly O’Neill. Sally Renfrey joined us, due to Burnside folding, and we were also joined by Elysha Skipper (an exchange student from Canada, who unfortunately only stayed for half the season). Simone left us, to travel around the country for a while and we saw no more of Esme or Fiona on the pitch this year. Emily moved to the Port Adelaide, which was closer to her home and work.

Stewie Douglas, Ryan Nielsen and James Bradley (injured first grade players) assisted in coaching and the team saw a long overdue increase in skills! The Frocs again finished third of four on the premiership ladder, however they had defeated every team at some point that season and felt they were travelling well into the finals. Unfortunately, Belinda Wade (the five-eight) was sent to the USA for her work in the week before the first final. A number of other girls suffered various injuries (including captain and scrum-half, Tiana Hume). The Frocs played the Semi-final against Port Adelaide with inexperienced players at 9 and 10. The players that stepped into those positions then left their own original positions undermined as well. Although the Frocs outnumbered Port Adelaide on the day and although Port Adelaide had not won a game that year, Port Adelaide defeated the Frocs 5 - 0. It was a dark, dark day for the girls from Old Collegians. Southern Suburbs went on to win the Premiership for the third year in a row, defeating University again (5 - 10).

2004 - Burnside returned to the competition in 2004, meaning that there were now five teams - Old Collegians, Southern Suburbs, University, Port Adelaide and Burnside. 

Ray Butler continued to coach the Frocs, with Imogen Hume as the captain. Kath Cherry returned to the team, as did Trish Abbott (who had played only briefly in previous years). New players also joined - including Julia Knuckey, Sam and Erin Faehrmann, Karen Stanton and Jenny Evans (an Irish girl who unfortunately only stayed for half the season). Elysha Skipper had returned to Canada. Sally Renfrey had moved to Perth. Candy Daniel and Max Moran (nee Dunn) were both pregnant, but Max managed to return to the game within a few months of giving birth and played out the rest of the season, including the finals. Tiana Hume had moved to Port Augusta for work (a three or four hour drive from Adelaide) and was also nursing her knee back to health; she was available only during the second half of the year.

The rebuilding years finally started to pay off, with the Frocs finishing second of five on the premiership ladder. They were defeated only by Southern Suburbs in this year.

With the gruesome memory of the 2003 semi final against Port Adelaide in their memories, the Frocs took their rugby very seriously in 2004. They defeated University in the Semi Final (10 - 0). They met Southern Suburbs in the Grand Final and drew at full time and then at the end of overtime. The Premiership was awarded to Souths, on the basis that they finished top of the table at the end of the minor round.

2005 - 2008: HARD ROADS

2005 - Sadly, due to poor numbers Adelaide University was forced to withdraw from the competition in 2005, meaning that there were only four teams - Old Collegians, Southern Suburbs, Port Adelaide and Burnside. The girls from University mostly went to Port Adelaide. In turn, Li Fata and Jo Bathern moved from Southern Suburbs to Burnside. Happily, these movements meant that the four teams were much more balanced and competitive than they had been in some years.
Ray Butler retired from coaching and Naomi Oberscheidt took up the role. Zoë Woodstock took the helm as captain.

A number of new girls joined the team but a few old girls were 'missing in action'. Trish Abbott again had to give up playing rugby in favour of other commitments (including coaching the club's Under 8 team and fulfilling her position as secretary of the SA Junior Rugby Union). Julia Knuckey, Simone Fogarty and Elysha Skipper (who returned from Canada) were all on the injured list (all with dodgy knees...) but were expected back at some future stage. Candy Daniel returned to the game after the birth of her son. Tiana Hume was still in Port Augusta, and had reinjured her knee. Kath Cherry was concussed in the first part of the season and did not return. On the other hand, we welcomed new girls Bec Mullane (taking the team's historical count of Rebecca Annes to four), Zoe Crittenden, Beth Nollenberger and Jenny Latte.

The results for the season were promising, with the Frocs winning nine of their fifteen games (and one draw), including wins against every other team in the competition. OCs lost the Semi Final to Souths in a performance well beneath potential, but fortunately had a second chance at making it to the Grand Final, and went on to defeat Port Adelaide in the Elimination Final only to lose to Souths again in the Grand Final (3 v  12).  Despite having more than 70% of possession the Frocs were unable to penetrate Souths defensive line and convert that possession into tries.

2006 -  The pre-season was wild with rumours that Adelaide University, Elizabeth and Onkaparinga Rugby Clubs would be fielding women's teams, but unfortunately it was not to be. Elizabeth nearly had enough numbers but eventually determined it would be better merging with another team to ensure sufficient numbers and threw in its lot with Burnside (the traditional swallower of other teams!). In short, in 2006 there were again only four teams - Old Collegians, Southern Suburbs, Port Adelaide and Burnside/Elizabeth.

The Women's Advisory Group was been formed, consisting of representatives from all women's teams to fund raise, promote women's rugby and provide feedback to the SA Rugby Union in relation to women's rugby issues. Kim Evans of Old Collegians was voted Chairperson and Kat Van Diemen of Burnside the Secretary.

Naomi Oberscheidt's career and travel intentions meant that coaching in 2006 was not feasible for her, and the role of Frocs' Coach lay vacant for some time. Some excellent fitness work was led by Eric Chmieleski in the pre-season on Tuesdays and Sundays. In the meantime, the role of coach was eventually taken up by Ryan Neilsen and Andy Farquharson of Old Collegians' First Grade team. To accommodate these gentlemen's own training commitments, the Frocs trained on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, no longer training with the rest of the senior club on Thursdays. While we regretted the lack of club contact on the more social Thursday evenings, we are delighted to be coached by Ryan and Andy and consider it worth the sacrifice. Zoë Woodstock continued as captain.

A number of girls retired after 2005; Liz Gabb, Candy Daniels and Belinda Wade were all unavailable to play due to pregnancy. (We look forward to bumper crops of juniors in 2012). Beck Derbyshire-Lloyd returned to New Zealand and Beth Nollenberger moved to Wyoming. Zoe Crittenden decided to pursue other things and Bec Mullane transferred to Southern Suburbs, but was rarely seen on a rugby pitch thereafter. Julia Knuckey did not return from injury, and Elsyha Skipper only gave us a few games before flying back to Canada. We welcomed a number of new girls, including Nadia Blake, Deb Richardson and Emma Slater, all of whom impressed. Emma moved to Ballarat mid year, but in August we were joined by Tara Eliades and Jess Turvey.

Perhaps it was the loss of a few key players, but for whatever reason the results were poor in the minor round of 2006, with the team winning only 6 of 15 games (and one of those was due to a forfeit by the other team). This was sadly echoed by the “win” against Burnside in the Semi Final due to Burnside’s forfeit.  However, OC went on to defeat Port Adelaide (the only score being a try to Bec Manson in overtime) in the Elimination Final. For the third year, OC met Souths in the Grand Final. Unfortunately, we had lost a number of strong players to injury (and holidays! Pffff! ) in the week leading  into the Grand Final, and were thrashed 52 – 10.

2007 – In a sad start to the season, neither Port Adelaide not Burnside could field a full team and eventually merged again. Old Collegians and Southern Suburbs remained, but the competition had shrunk to three teams. 

Old Collegians gained several players: Belinda Wade and Liz Gabb returned after having children and Rebecca Derbyshire Lloyd returned from NZ, plus new players arrived in the persons of Phoebe Hope, Kate Churcher, Caitlin Davies, Tara Eliades and Annie Mitchell. However, we lost Deb Richardson to other pursuits, Elysha Skipper who went back to Canada, Emma Slater went to Ballarat and Zoe Woodstock stopped to have children. 

Ray Butler returned to coach, assisted by Tiana Hume and the team was managed by Janet Penhall.  Ray was commuting from the Barossa Valley and both he and his wife suffered ill health, meaning that we saw him less and less and eventually the coach’s role was handed entirely to Tiana, who was helped by Andy Farquharson when he was available.   The captaincy was shared between a number of players.

It wasn’t a great year at OCs. In addition to our own problems with inconsistency in the coaching and captaincy, the competition contained a natural bye one week in every three plus a competition bye at the end of each round, meaning that we were playing only two weeks and four. This added to irregular attendance at training, and declining skills and fitness. Many girls’ commitment waned, and some, like Tara Eliades, drifted off entirely to play other sports.   Squabbling and ill feeling were, unhappily, the mood du jour.

Not surprisingly, we finished last of the three teams. Souths defeated Burnside/Port Adelaide in the Grand Final.

2008 –  The same three teams as 2007 were fielded in 2008, another year where OC finished last, winning only 2 of our 8 games. 

After the difficulties of 2007, it was not surprising that many girls had walked away – in particular Tara Eliades, Kate Chrurcher, Kelly O’Neill and Naomi Woodstock. Tara Naige left to spend a year in Tonga. However, Zoe Woodstock returned at the end of the season and we saw lots of great new players come into the team  - Sarah Mitchelson, Pip Shell, Laurel Eyton, Elena Casciano, Alyce Brewis, Chani Van Der Merwe and Ashleigh Smith, plus two French exchange students Florine Marias and Wendy Martinet.  Most of them came with little or no experience, so it was a year of steep learning curves for everyone.  We were coached by the Rev Simon Bailey, for whose assistance we were very grateful but who struggled to help the girls develop. 

OC lost the semi-final to Souths 24 – 0.  Burnside/Port Adelaide beat Souths in the final, 42 – 0.
Despite having not been dominant since the 1999, OCs was the only team able to field 15 girls most weeks. In 2008, neither Souths nor Burnside/Port Adelaide were able to field full teams and it looked likely that the SA competition was at the edge of failure.  The Women’s Advisory Group, with the assistance of the SA Rugby Union, made a concerted effort to recruit and promote, leading to better years in 2009 and 2010.

2009 - 2010: SADLER’S GIRLS

It was with enormous delight that OC’s girls heard they were to be coached by Rob Sadler in 2009. Rob had been the OC’s 2st XV coach for many years and was now coaching the Black Falcons (the state men’s team).  As he was not available to assist a men’s teams, he offered to help with the Frocs and it was two wonderful years of learning, camaraderie and growth before he left to coach professionally in Portugal.  The Frocs count themselves as extraordinarily lucky to have had him.

2009 – The recruiting efforts bolstered all teams, and nearly a fourth. Fifteen players were recruited for a new Uni team, but difficulties in their leadership and ability to train meant that they rarely had more than a handful on game days. They effectively played a “scratch match” each week immediately after the other women’s fixture, and the girls’ who had just played would bolster their numbers.  It was not sustainable and they did not return in 2010.

OCs numbers, as always, ebbed and waned. We were joined by Mel Bailey, Nina Woollard, Alice Kelly, Tahlia Parrish, Amy Perfors, Geraldine Yam and Katey Bereny. Tara returned from Tonga and Candy Daniels played sporadically, and Lusia Raikiwasa returned midyear after a few years in Broome. However, Kate Reynolds went to London for a year.  However, Pip and Laurel went home (to the UK and Canada respectively), and Chani Van Der Merwe,  Annie Mitchell, Caitlin Davies and Rebecca Derbyshire-Lloyd called it quits. Kim Evans was the captain, but carried injuries for most of the year limiting her usefulness. Bec Manson, always a hard-working stalwart and a core part of the team’s strategy, announced her pregnancy just before finals and was sorely missed! 

The girls came a long way with Rob this year and the core skills got better and better, with new players advancing much faster than they normally would. We won more games than we lost for the first time in many years.  We lost the semi-final (again) but were optimistic for the future.

2010 – The competition continued to grow. The “Port Adelaide” alliance with Burnside dissolved, as there were really only a few remaining Port girls. Instead, Burnside went it alone. Souths and OCs continued. Uni withdrew, to no-one’s surprise. However, Onkaparinga (under the leadership of Maryanne Longstaff) and Woodville (under the leadership of Abby Chitty and family) both fielded teams almost entirely populated by newbies, all of whom performed well.  There were relatively few forfeits and the comp was relatively even. Souths and Burnside battled it out for 1st and 2nd place all season, and while Woodville and OC traded 3rd and 4th place back and forth until OC got to its “easy end” of the uneven in August and phoned in several wins in a row. Onkaparinga finished last, but had many satisfying performances, including good wins against Souths and Woodville.

We again saw players come and go - we lost Amy Perfors, Nina Woollard and Tahlia Parrish to injury, Katey Bereny and Kristie Hume to study commitments and Alyce Brewis called it quits (but was never far away when drinks were called!).  Alice Kelly, who had played only a few games in 2009 was also unable to play in 2010.   However, Kate Reynolds returned from London, and Zoe Woodstock and Bec Manson returned after having babies (sooooo many babies in this team).  We also found some great new players in Danni Di Girolamo (a friend of Mel Bailey), Dani “PNG” Shiers (recruited at the Queen’s Head after Adelaide 7s!) and Elsie Bedson (through Alice Kelly).  Tara Naige was captain.

Rob Sadler was hell bent on a fluid running game and a very specific strategy, which was challenging for our forwards but liberating for the backs.  It took some getting right, and we probably looked a bit hopeless to outsiders but we knew what we were trying to achieve and no-one was disheartened by early results. We lost the first five games, but the support play improved weekly and by midyear we had hit our straps and won seven of the next eight, finishing a strong third on the table. 

Rob Sadler picked up a professional coaching gig that dragged him away from us just before finals. We were devastated to lose him, but very glad for him and he sent weekly messages and instructions for the rest of the season.  We are also thrilled to hear of his wonderful successes in his new role.

We were convincing against Woodville in the preliminary final (12 v 0 in dreadful weather, with the pitch nearly submerged).  Burnside had forfeited its last game of the year due to poor numbers and as a result relinquished the 1st spot to Souths.  They were defeated by Souths in the Preliminary Finals, and we went into the Elimination Final against them as definite underdogs.  However, the team was at its most positive and confident and every girl played the game of season, ultimately convincingly defeating the premiership team of the last two years, 31 v 19.  Our only sorrow was that Rob could not have been there to see it. Perhaps we peaked too early, perhaps we’d already played our premiership game, perhaps we just weren’t hard enough. In any event, we couldn’t repeat the performance against an aggressive and forceful Souths outfit, and despite a good effort and a great display by both teams, we lost the Grand Final 22 v 5.

2011 – coming soon...

CONCLUSION

OC's is the only team to have consistently fielded a women's team since the first year of the women’s competition in Adelaide. Other teams over the years have included Brighton, Burnside, Elizabeth, North Adelaide, Southern Suburbs, Onkaparinga, Port Adelaide and Woodville.

Over the years Old Collegians has won premierships, recorded "cricket scores" and has been undefeated for entire seasons, but at other times it has lost half of its players and suffered humiliating defeats. Through all of these times, the girls of Old Collegians have loved their team, their club and their game. A little like a marriage, the Frocs continue "for better or for worse".

They are now an entrenched part of their club culture. Their photos, flags and trophies hang beside those of the men of the club. There is always a handful of Frocs haunting the bar, and always helping with coaching, managing, training, strapping and on the Senior Committee.  The Frocs supplied the club’s first female president, Kim Evans, now also a Club Life Member, and Bec Manson was the first of the Frocs to make the Club’s Quindecim, for fifteen years of senior playing service.

We would like to thank everyone who has had a part in the history of the Frocs and of women's rugby in South Australia.