Ballina Seagulls get ready for 2022 after NRRRL season abandoned

A popular rugby league club should be pushing to be at the top of the ladder but financial woes, Covid and lockdowns have clipped their wings. Despite it all, they keep fighting.

Ballina Seagulls committee member Max Beecher has been , over the decades, player, coach and former president of the club, among other roles.

With the NRRRL season abandoned by NSW Rugby, the Ballina Seagulls are now focusing on 2022 after a dramatically devastating year.

The Ballina Seagulls trail only Cudgen in this year’s Northern Rivers Regional Rugby League competition.

The two teams were meant to clash at Ned Byrne Oval in Kingscliff on August 8.

It was meant to be the decisive, nailbiting match of the year.

But a last-minute cancellation due to the August lockdown meant the Seagulls did not get a chance to battle their main competitors for the championship.

It was a tough break for a club that endured the closure of its clubhouse last year and subsequent financial woes.

Ballina Seagulls committee member Max Beecher said the closure and transition of the club to not-for-profit status had come because it was no longer viable as a business venture.

Ballina Seagulls centre Dan Gibson celebrates the 2013 grand final win. Photo The Northern Star.

Mr Beecher joined the club in 1994, when he came from Sydney to play for Ballina.

“My grandmother’s family came from Ballina so I knew the area,” he said.

Now a surveyor for Ballina Shire Council, Mr Beecher has been player, coach, former president and now he wants to take the club into a new phase.

He said the arrival of Covid ended certainty over income, footy games and people being able to congregate normally.

“The club was only open three or four days a week, so we couldn’t compete with other clubs,” he said.

“Insurance costs and the lease we pay to the state government was too much for us.

“We weren’t making money, we were going backwards, we couldn’t keep the debt down.”

The NRRRL First Grade Gold grand final was won by Ballina Seagulls who defeated Marist Brothers in a tough game 30 to 16. Photo: Alison Paterson

The club then became a not-for-profit entity in January 1, 2021.

Their issues were compounded in April when the council started trying to recover a debt of more than $15,000 on water, wastewater and rates.

After negotiations between both parties, council agreed to waive half of the debt.

Mr Beecher said the club had hoped not to have to ask council for the debt to be waived.

“We’ve never asked council for anything, apart from a grand stand for community events,” he said.

“This club is for everyone, not just for the players, they had school sports and other events here, we would come to train on a Thursday and the toilets would be trashed and we’d have to fix all that.

“Council has been really good in the last few years.”

Ballina seagulls mascot.Photo Cathy Adams / The Northern Star

On Tuesday, NSW Rugby confirmed the remaining regional NSW Rugby League competitions were cancelled.

“While the NSW Government has recently announced easing to some restrictions in various areas of NSW, the NSWRL has been advised that the Public Health Orders do not allow for organised or competitive community sport to recommence,” a statement explained.

The Seagulls were hoping to play the final game against Marist Brothers Lismore on September 18 at Kingsford Smith Park in Ballina.

Mr Beecher said the club just wanted to go back to playing footy.

“The grounds are the best in the area, the oval is in great condition,” Mr Beecher said.

“If it wasn’t for blokes like Mick Kilner and Alan Perry, who busted their backsides to keep this club afloat, the club would not be here, they have worked so hard and that’s why the club is still here, hopefully we will be able to have a great celebration next year to mar the centenary in the way we want.”

“We want to go back to hosting games here.”