From ‘Real Madrid’ to Tah-celona: Easts stars extend with the Waratahs

The day after Easts won their first Shute Shield title in 55 years, the players’ celebrations continued deep in enemy territory at Coogee Oval.

They were there to support Easts teams in the colts’ Grand Finals, but in a final flourish to a season of controversy and criticism from rivals, some of the star first-graders took the chance to stir the pot on Randwick rugby’s home turf.

Two weeks earlier, Stan expert and prominent Galloping Greens figure Morgan Turinui had tagged rival club Easts – with seven Waratahs and other internationals on board – as the “Real Madrid” of club rugby on the Between Two Posts podcast.

“So someone said, ‘you know if you guys win it you should go as Real Madrid to Silly Sunday’,” Easts five-eighth Jack Bowen said.

“We were like ‘oh we can’t do this unless we win’, so it was about 10 o’clock on Sunday morning, Teddy [Wilson] and I went to Bondi Junction and bought six Real Madrid jerseys.

Four Easts stars and Waratahs re-signings (l-r) Julian Heaven, Jack Grant, Jack Bowen and Teddy Wilson. Credit: Rhett Wyman

“It was a bit of fun, and something we made quite a joke around training the last two weeks, and everyone was named a different Real Madrid player. It was fun just to let it out and have a bit of a laugh about it – and down at Coogee Oval, which made it even probably more of a laugh.”

After a few more days of celebrating – and a change of clothes – Bowen and Wilson, and fellow Easts players Julian Heaven and Jack Grant, were still smiling at Waratahs headquarters on Wednesday, where they posed for a photo to announce the Tricolour quartet had all extended contracts with the Tahs for another season.

Easts players Darby Lancaster, Jack Grant, Chris Bell, Teddy Wilson and Scott Bowen at Coogee Oval.

Along with Charlie Gamble, Miles Amatosero, Fergus Lee-Warner and Wallabies winger Darby Lancaster, who was recruited from the Rebels, the Tahs will continue to have a strong Easts flavour in 2025 under new coach Dan McKellar.

The concentration of Waratahs players at one club may have irked club rivals, and contributed to simmering tension around Easts in the Shute Shield, but from a cohesion point of view, McKellar would have been pleased to see many of his players standing tall for the club in the finals.

Bowen, Lancaster and Wilson combined several times to score crucial tries in the final two weeks.

The long-standing halves partnership of Wilson and Bowen, in particular, is cohesion that money can’t buy. The pair first played rugby together at age 11 in junior rep teams.

“It’s very special to build a combination with a player like him, Wilson said. “If we can do something similar here at the Waratahs. It’d be something that would be very special.”

They may have made light of it in Spanish soccer outfits but the criticism of Easts having too many Gallacticos this year was felt by players, Wilson said. Easts were stripped of five competition points when they breached the Player Points system during the season, which is used to keep the Shute Shield fair.

Randwick coach Stephen Hoiles said on the Between Two Posts podcast: “If they win, there’ll be an asterisk next to their name.”

Teddy Wilson in action during the Grand Final against Norths.Credit: Karen Watson/Sydney Rugby Union

Wilson said there was a misconception Easts were chock-full of mercenary imports, and pointed out nearly all Waratahs at the club were Easts juniors and/or colts first.

“We all love the club very much and we did find it was a bit tricky at times. We were getting criticised a lot but I think it only made our team a lot stronger. We used it as a bit of motivation to prove a lot of people wrong and make our supporters proud,” he said.

“We’ve come through the colts and none of us were Tahs before playing for Easts. Easts created that … they’ve made us the players who we are today.”

Grant, a veteran halfback, said his goal was to keep pushing Wilson and Jake Gordon in a competitive halfback unit. After coming in as a replacement hooker in the 2024 season, Heaven said he was aiming to continue growing as a professional alongside Dave Porecki and Mahe Vailanu.

Bowen will compete for the No.10 shirt with Tane Edmed, who is also playing well in the NPC.

The experience of guiding Easts to a premiership will be a huge step forward and a lasting memory for the 20-year-old.

“I grew up around the club, and Dad [Scott Bowen] lost a few grand finals and semi-finals, and then lost a grand final as a coach,” he said.

“So just seeing all him and his old mates that hadn’t managed it, and then for us to walk in the clubhouse on Saturday night and to actually just have got it done, it was just, ‘wow, what an unbelievable feeling’.”

Sports news, results and expert commentary. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.