Junee Diesels celebrate return to first grade with Pie in the Sky charity day
They were kicked out of the competition last year amid fears over the club’s future. But one of NSW’s most iconic bush footy clubs is set to celebrate its remarkable resurrection.
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They say a week is a long time in rugby league. So for the Junee Diesels, the past 10 months must feel like a lifetime.
After being kicked out of the Group 9 first grade competition in April last year, the club will celebrate its successful return to top-line footy in 2023 with a blockbuster charity day at Laurie Daley Oval on Saturday.
The club, which is the junior home of former NRL players Daley, Michael Dobson and Adam Perry, as well as legendary commentator Ray Warren, will host the third Pie in the Sky event, with six hours of footy at the club’s home ground, followed by a night’s entertainment in town.
Headlining the event at 3pm will be a clash between Junee’s first grade team and a side of former NRL All Stars, featuring the likes of former Canberra Raiders Sam Williams, Terry Campese and Adrian Purtell, Bulldogs legend Steve Reardon, Warriors and Parramatta cult hero Mark Tookey, local lad and former Bulldog Adam Perry, and coached by none other than Junee’s favourite son, Laurie Daley.
Meanwhile, former NRL referee Sean Hampstead will keep an eye on the former NRL stars with the whistle in his mouth.
“We’re definitely starting with a big bang,” says Junee president David Holt.
The day will kick off with a junior coaching clinic – open to any junior across the country – at 11am, and will be followed by a dads vs daughters game of league tag at 1pm.
“We ran it a couple of years ago when we had a bye and we thought, ‘What are we going to fill this gap with?’ We tried it and it was fun,” says Holt.
“Now it’s turned into something that really is something. The girls have put the challenge out to their dads,” he added. “The dads have tried to stack their team by recruiting a few young fellas, so we’ll have to monitor that.”
After the big grudge match there will be a clash between a team of Diesels old boys and Group 9 masters at 2pm, and then a game of U6s v U7s at 2:45pm before the main attraction at 3pm.
Entry for the day is a gold coin donation, with the proceeds going to Can Assist Junee.
The match between Junee’s first grade side and the team of former NRL Allstars will then be followed by a ticketed function at the Athenium Theatre, which will see Doug Chappel from the Melbourne Comic Lounge try and keep a heap of former NRL players and Group 9 legends in check.
“There’ll be plenty of funny stories going around, it’ll be pretty good entertainment,” says Holt.
‘A really good vibe’
For many heading down to the oval on Saturday, it’ll just be nice to see Junee with a first grade side on the paddock again.
The club was kicked out of the first grade competition by Group 9 officials in April last year after forfeiting the first game of the season and indicating their intention to forfeit the second, citing a lack of players.
The group supported the Diesels’ desire to maintain a presence in the lower grades, however, with the decision leaving Junee with teams in the reserve grade, U18s, U16s and ladies league tag competitions.
The news led to a series of articles bemoaning ‘the death of bush footy’, with many supporters unsure whether the Diesels, established in 1926, would ever manage to get back to the top-flight.
“You can’t just put your finger on one thing and say that that’s the cause of it,” says Holt.
“Junee itself has got a lot of shift workers, and the difference between when I was a young fella and now is that everything used to shut down on a Sunday – the railway included, and the railway has always been a big employer.
“Now railways run seven days a week, so you’ve got a bit of a challenge there. Some age groups end up with more builders and some age groups end up with more shift workers.”
Despite the concern about the Diesels’ longevity, the club remarkably managed to turn things around – and fast.
With plenty of hard work behind the scenes, Holt credits signing and holding onto head coach Damion Fraser as the key piece of the puzzle.
“Our biggest challenge was to find a first grade coach prepared to say, ‘Ok, you’re in a tough spot, I’ll help you out.’ We looked for two years, everybody we rang up wanted to see what players we had, and then when we rang the players up they wanted to know what coach we had, so it was the chicken-and-egg kind of thing,” he said.
“So we managed to secure a great coach who was tough enough to go through the tough times. We also had to get ourselves in a position where we could prove that we were going to be competitive, as in winning a reserve grade premiership. That was one thing we thought that we had to do to be a serious team going into the 2023 season.”
The club well and truly managed that, with both the Diesels’ reserve grade and U18s sides winning their respective grand finals in September.
With a coach secured and the reputation in tact again, Holt said that attention turned to building a squad for 2023.
“We got a great bunch of blokes together and formed a recruitment committee. There were seven blokes, ex-footballers, who started scouting around to see what players we could get. We put together a competitive squad. A competitive squad that’s got depth… That was the way we approached that.”
And to ensure that the club doesn’t find itself in the same situation again, the Diesels have taken a leaf out of the Penrith Panthers’ playbook by looking internally for the next generation of players.
“There’s also a big emphasis on our juniors coming through and getting them developed and up to the first grade standard,” Holt said.
“The long term, we’ve started a junior development academy where we run training sessions from 13s through to 16s, boys and girls, so they’ve got that exposure to that level of training.
“It’s also more to teach those kids how to take ownership of their own healthy lifestyle, and of course with rugby league skills.
“That’s the long-term goal. If we continue with that and are successful with it, then that will give us that longevity.
“In the short-term, the young fellas that won the U18 premiership last year are a skilled bunch of kids with great enthusiasm. Nearly every one of them is playing again. They haven’t missed many pre-season training sessions.”
Indeed, after such a difficult start to 2022, there’s a really positive atmosphere at the Diesels, who are hopeful they’ll have plenty to cheer about in 2023.
“There’s a really good vibe around the club. There were 28 senior players at training last Wednesday night. That might not sound like many to bigger clubs, but to a bush footy club like us, in February, that’s a lot of players,” said Holt.
“Everybody’s happy to be there, and it’s great to see. A couple of years ago it was a job, a chore, to turn up at training. But now you’ve got people happy to be there and with each other and support each other.”
Information for the David Reid Homes Pie in the Sky III event can be found on the Junee Diesels Facebook page.
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