Maroochydore Swans rugby league club celebrates 50 year milestone

A trip down memory lane has uncovered some top tales and incredible pictures from the past 50 years of the Maroochydore Swans rugby league club.

The Maroochydore Swans rugby league club will celebrate 50 years on Saturday with a look back on the top tales and incredible moments from the “glory days”.

Founded in 1972, the inaugural Swans a-grade team stamped their foot on the competition with the side going all the way to the grand final.

Former Olympic boxer and Maroochydore senior player Benny Pike remembered pulling on what was then the blue and white Maroochydore playing strip.

“I was just out of high school and played in our first ever grand final and I mainly played as a winger and centre back then but finished up as a lock forward,” he said.

Maroochydore‘s first ever reserve grade side before their 1973 grand final. Back: Gary Pugh, Keith Nuendorf, Bailey Pashley, Terry Parker, Bob Mackay, Horrie Robinson (coach), John McCoomb, Viv Dangerfield, Ken Wrigley, John Redwood, Rod Atkinson, Bob Collins and Cyril Erbacher. Front: Bruce McGuire, Gary Anderson, John Sly, Cliff Flavell and John Kalincos.

Pike played six years for the Swans and helped the club lift their first senior premiership in 1975.

“I played on and off for a few years because I was focusing on my boxing so I was in A-grade sometimes but mainly played in the reserve grade side and was lucky enough to be a part of that team that won the club its first piece of silverware,” Pike said.

The now 68-year-old said he enjoyed playing alongside quality representative players.

“For me personally the thing that I enjoyed was playing against and with players that had played high level rugby league for Australia, for Queensland and even Wide Bay,” he said.

“It was also amazing the sheer number of people that would turn out to watch a round game and so grand final days were always huge.

“It seemed like half of the Sunshine Coast would turn out in the grandstand, in parked cars or cover the hill and I remember the mayor would always be there so anyone you could think of would come along to the games, which was very exciting.”

The 1975 Maroochydore Swans a-grade team. Back: Alf Tisler, Dave Arabina, Perry Andrews, Kev Hackney, John Fielding, Bill Barnes, John ‘Bluey’ Purcell, Peter Cox. Front: Paul Smith, Kev Wormington, Greg Appleton, Peter Cameron, Bruce Sinclair, Bob Miller, Noel ’Squizzy’ Taylor and Coach Reg Cannon.

In the past 20 years some of Maroochydore’s best players have included Murray Goldsworthy, Daryl Fitzgerald, Ricky Duncan and Josh Buckland.

Pike said he was looking forward to Saturday’s celebrations.

“There’s some guys that I’ve been mates with for a number of years and there’s some guys I haven’t seen for 40 odd years so I think that’s one of the nice things about sport is to catch up with some friends and the lifelong bond you all share,” he said.

Old newspaper articles featuring the Maroochydore Swans rugby league club.

Current Maroochydore Swans senior president Simon Graye said he was proud to be a part of the club.

“The thing that stands out to me and that I’m really fond of is that it’s intergenerational at the Swans,” he said.

“Dennis (Moore) who is our a-grade coach now is coaching the children of players that he coached in grand finals in the late 90s and even guys that I used to play with are now coaching each other‘s kids so the same surnames keep popping up and it’s been like that since the start.”

Front: Ben Toby, Brad Henderson (captain), Kerry Lamont, Dale Bond, Shane Hawes and Al Makinen. Standing: Mark Capelletti (manager), Dennis Moore (coach), Steve Atkins, Russell Benson, Lincoln Smith, Tony Henderson, Greg Wright, Paul White, Brad Letarran, Darryl Fitzgerald, Steve Moon, Mark Sippel, Trafford Jackson and Tim Abbott (conditioner) celebrate their 1998 grand final victory.

Graye, a former player and committee member before taking over as president in 2018, said the club was extremely appreciative of the work of their volunteers.

“I’m stoked because our current playing group are the sort of people that would do anything for each other and that’s why our volunteers put in a lot of work because they know how much they are appreciated and valued,” he said.

“I’ve never seen our current players so pumped about something than just knowing that the old boys and players from that first ever side will be there and present them with their jerseys and to acknowledge them,” he said.

The Swans will play Nambour at home on July 16 with the under 18s kicking off at 3pm, division two at 4.30pm and division 1 at 6pm.

Graye said all players, supporters, coaches, spectators or anyone that has had anything to do with the club over the years was invited.