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Newtown RLFC

Frank "Bumper" Farrell
A life long Newtown icon and a long serving member of the New South Wales Police Force. Bumper led Newtown to the Bluebag's last premiership title in 1943 against a skillful North Sydney team who were captain-coached by Frank Hyde.

Faces of history

Newtown Rugby League Football Club - Founded 1908

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Take a moment to browse a gallery of some of the players and officials who together created the history of the great Newtown Rugby League Football Club.

Charles "Boxer" Russell kicked the goal that ensured Newtown's first premiership win in 1910, and he also coached Newtown's 1933 premiership winning team.

Newtown's first grade premiership-winning team of 1910 was definitely a "team of all the talents". No less than seven members of this team went on to win selection in the 1911-12 Australian Kangaroos touring team that won the Ashes in England.

Bill Noble (sitting in the middle of the front row) captained the side although Charles "Boxer" Russell (in the same row as Noble, two in from the left) captained the team in the final competition round. The premiership was decided on a "first past the post" basis in those early years of the NSW Rugby League.

Newtown's first grade premiership-winning team of 1933 was coached by the multi-talented Charles "Boxer" Russell (standing in the middle of the back row). "Boxer" Russell was named as a winger in Newtown's Team of the Century at the club's Centenary Dinner in July 2008.

Newtown defeated St George 18-5 in the premiership final of 1933.

Newtown's 1937 RLFC first grade City Cup winning team.

Frank Hyde is third from the right in the back row. Frank was a stylish and scheming centre-threequarter with the Bluebags from 1934 to 1937 before moving on to Balmain and North Sydney.

Champion second-rower Herb Narvo gave Newtown great service in the late 1930's and early 1940's, and also served with the RAAF in World War II.

Frank "Bumper" Farrell was without doubt one of the most colourful identities in the long history of the Newtown Rugby League Football Club. Farrell, a rugged and uncompromising front-rower of the old school, served the Bluebags well as a player for more than 15 years and also represented NSW and Australia.

He gained even greater fame as a long-serving NSW police officer and as the head of the Sydney Vice Squad, from where he entered the pages of Sydney folklore with tales of his vigorous law-enforcement exploits.

Newtown's first grade premiership-winning team of 1943 was captained by the redoubtable Frank "Bumper" Farrell [sitting in the middle of the front row].

Farrell was named as captain of Newtown's Team of the Century at the club's Centenary Dinner in July 2008.

Stylish centre Dick Poole was captain-coach of both Newtown and Australia in his successful playing career that extended over thirteen seasons. He is pictured here in action against Eastern Suburbs.

The 1954 Grand Final was the first of two successive losses to the South Sydney Rabbitohs.

The Bluebags lost the 1954 decider by 23-12 and then in a real heart-breaker went down 12-11 in the 1955 Grand Final.

Dick Poole is third from the right, front row.

If you wanted pathos 1955 was the year!

Newtown had won the first grade minor premiership and went into the Grand Final as favourites.

South Sydney grabbed a 12-11 lead late in the game and the Bluebags narrowly missed a last-minute penalty goal attempt.

Dick Poole captained the team and is sitting in the middle of the centre row.

1958 saw some of Newtown's finest play for NSW against the visiting Great Britain team.

In this photo, Gordon Clifford hares off down field, chased by the legendary English halfback, Alex Murphy.

In 2008, 50 years later, Gordon Clifford was named Fullback in Newton's Team of the Century.

The victorious Newtown Bluebags President's Cup team of 1956 had one player in its ranks who was to achieve Rugby League immortality – the great John Raper.

Raper represented NSW Colts against Great Britain in 1958 while still playing with Newtown, and was immediately identified by the legendary British forward Vince Karalius as a champion of the future.

And what about John Raper's 1950's crew-cut hairdo! [Second back row, fourth from right]

Photo caption not shown: "Newtown District Junior Rugby Football League, President's Cup Winners 1956. President's Cup Winners 1919-21-28-44-50-56. Runners-up 1932-33-45-47-48

Australian Rugby League Board of Control supremo Harry "Jersey" Flegg presents Dick Poole and Brian Clay with their 1957 World Cup Australian blazers.

John Raper, the man rated by the late Frank Hyde as the greatest player he had ever seen in Australian Rugby League football.

Raper was a product of St Joseph’s CBC, Newtown and the famous Camperdown Dragons juniors. He played with Newtown from 1956-58 before transferring to St George and a stellar career in international, interstate and club Rugby League.

This Ern McQuillan photo of John was taken at a Newtown training session at Henson Park in 1958.

Great Britain's mercurial halfback Alex Murphy wore a Newtown jersey on the front-cover of his 1966 autobiography.

Frank Hyde always claimed that Alex Murphy and John Raper were the two best players he had ever seen in more than 80 years of following Rugby League.

Bill Buckley was the Chairman of the NSW Rugby League throughout the 1960's and is credited with the rapid growth of Rugby League in that decade.

He had played with Newtown in the 1920's and is pictured at a Newtown Bluebags reunion in 1970 with (among others) John Raper, Alf Richards, Clem Kennedy, George Debnam, Ray Kelly and Don Stait.

Brian Moore is unquestionably one of the great names of
the Newtown RLFC century.

Harry Bath coached Newtown from 1969 to 1972.

Pictured here with several of his first graders prior to a match at Henson Park in 1970.

Newtown icon Brian "Chicka" Moore is at the right-hand side of the photo.

American professional footballer and Oakland Raiders Super Bowl hero, Manfred Moore, had a short-lived but spectacular stint with the Newtown Jets in 1977.

Here he is pictured in action against Cronulla-Sutherland at the SCG on Easter Monday, 1977.

The way we were – Newtown Jets first graders [left to right] Phil Sigsworth, Peter Ryan, Craig Ellis, John Mackay and Mick Pitman are all dressed "fit to kill" in this 1980 photo that captures the era so perfectly.

Phil Gould playing for Newtown.

Gould moved to Newtown Rugby League Football Club in 1981 where Warren Ryan was still honing his innovative coaching approach that transformed the way that top grade rugby league would be played in Australia throughout the next decade.

After being also-rans for many years a turnaround was achieved when Newtown in 1981 made the Grand Final against Parramatta, though losing 20-11.

The 1981 Final was played at the famous Sydney Cricket Ground on the 13th September between Newtown and Manly-Warringah.

This elimination semi-final will always be remembered for the notorius all-in brawl with the main combatants Newtown's Steve Bowden and Manly hardman Mark Broadhurst. Bowden was marched for the incident and was unable to take part in the Preliminary Final against Eastern Suburbs and the Grand Final against Parramatta.

Tom Raudonikis was signed from Western Suburbs at the end of the 1979 season and he immediately instilled a fiercely competitive and winning culture into the Newtown club.

The Jets narrowly missed the playoffs in 1980 and were one of the front-running clubs for all of the 1981 season, ending in a dramatic finals series and a narrow defeat to Parramatta in the 1981 Grand Final. Raudonikis is pictured here celebrating the try he scored from the scrum base early in the second half of the 1981 title decider. He is flanked in this photo by Phil "Gus" Gould on the left and John "Chicka" Ferguson on the right.

Tom was named as Newtown's greatest ever imported player at the club's Centenary Dinner at the Petersham Town Hall on the evening of the 5th July 2008. Raudonikis remains a favourite son of both Western Suburbs and Newtown, the two 1908 foundation Rugby League clubs to which he rendered magnificent service.

Newtown Jets second-rower Colin Murphy was a hard-working forward and successful coach in his long association with the Newtown Jets.

He is pictured here taking on the Balmain Tigers defence in a 1982 match at Leichhardt Oval.

Five former Newtown RLFC first grade coaches gathered together at Henson Park in August 2004.

From left to right:
Brian Moore - First Grade coach in 1983
Jack Gibson - 1973, when Newtown won its only NSWRL Club Championship)
Clarrie Jeffreys - 1974-76
Warren Ryan - 1979 to 1982, including the 1981 Grand Final
Dick Poole - captain-coach from 1955 to 1958, and non-playing coach from 1966 to 1968.

Dick was captain-coach of the victorious and undefeated 1957 Australian Rugby League World Cup winning team.

The Newtown Jets VB Premier League team of 2005 with the coveted Frank Hyde Shield.
Newtown Jets head coach, Colin Murphy, is wearing a cap at the right hand edge of the photo and team manager and statistician, John Little, is in the white shirt. Both men played significant roles with the club between 2000 and 2005. The Frank Hyde Shield is contested on an annual basis between the Newtown and North Sydney clubs.

Danny Williams with Terry Rowney and Barry Vining.

Danny was just one of the heros when a youthful Newtown Jets team took on a full-strength North Sydney team to contest the Frank Hyde Shield, May 2007.

Danny had his nose badly smashed in the game's first half but stayed on as a wonderful inspiration to his team-mates.

The Newtown RLFC entered into a five-year partnership agreement with the progressive Sydney Roosters club (formerly Eastern Suburbs) at the end of 2005. A large number of talented youngsters have played with Newtown in the past three seasons and have moved on to become established NRL contracted players with the Roosters. Mitch Aubusson, Shaun Kenny-Dowall and Shaun Foley are pictured here celebrating a Newtown Jets try against the Newcastle Knights in 2007.

Newtown was well-represented in the 2008 NSW Residents team that defeated Queensland Residents 24-16 at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, 11 June.

From left to right: Bobby Jones (Sydney Roosters) (Team manager); Mickey Paea, Shaun Foley, Byron Ford; Greg Matterson (Newtown RLFC VB NSW Cup coach and NSW Residents coach).

The Newtown Jets of 2010 travel further afield for their competition matches than did the Bluebags of 1908 (the club's foundation year) or 1910 (the year of the club's first First Grade premiership). The modern-day Jets are pictured here in Melbourne on the occasion of their first away match against the Melbourne Storm on the 10th July 2010. The Melbourne tram in the background gives proof to their location.

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