Dalby artist Graeme ‘Graz’ McCullough paints Tara Rugby clubhouse

More than 30 years after selecting the panther logo for the Tara and District Rugby League Football Club, artist Graeme ‘Graz’ McCullough has returned to paint it on their clubhouse.

Dalby artist Graeme ‘Graz’ McCullough has returned to the Tara Panthers’ clubhouse for a fresh coat of pain, 30 years after he was last there.

Tara and District Rugby League Football Club’s clubhouse has received a fresh lick of paint from renowned Dalby-based artist and former club member Graeme ‘Graz’ McCullough.

Mr McCullough has been working for over 30 years throughout the Western Downs and his designs can be seen across the region including at the Tara Foodworks and a number of shop fronts along Chinchilla Street.

Tara Rugby Club House

Tara and District Rugby League Football Club President Matthew Prain said the design had spiced up the previously bare clubhouse.

“We had a big white wall and we were having a chat one day and thought it would be a good canvas for putting a signature on the club,” he said.

“It was a pretty recent idea, Graeme was in town doing some sign writing work for the upcoming Tara Festival of Culture and Camel Races and I was able to run into him and the idea was born.

“Graeme gave us a couple of options of designs and the committee picked the one we liked.”

Tara club house paint

In a full circle moment Mr McCullough, who was part of the 1973 Tara under-18 premiership team that won a competition back in the early 1970s, helped select the club’s logo and put forward the idea of becoming the Panthers which has stuck to this day.

“He grew up in Tara and played his junior and senior league at the club,” Mr Prain said.

“Back prior to the earl 1970s cubs weren't affiliated with a logo so they ran a competition and he put forward the panthers and that's what we adopted.”

Mr Prain said the club was going strong and he hoped the new design would be enjoyed by guests to the games.

“The club is going well we have tripled our players numbers over the last three years and we are going from strength to strength,” he said.

“We are relatively successful and have good frameworks in place, we draw players from a long way away as far as Morgan and Moonie so we have a big footprint.”

Originally published as Dalby artist Graeme ‘Graz’ McCullough paints Tara Rugby clubhouse