The Club’s first coaches played as Captain-Coach. The first was Bobby Brown who coached for the first 2 years and then played on for a further 2 years tallying 54 games. A succession of one season coaches came and went in those formative years – Max Aitken from Bude (aka “The Duke of Cornwall”) who helped the Club get its first premiership in 1972; Dave Ramanui, a kiwi; and Terry Lawton.

The Blood Cup, Shamrocks Blood Worth Bottling

Dexter Porter came to Shamrocks in 1975 as a non-playing coach with the reputation of being “a club-builder” and coached until the end of 1976. He had played with Vikings in their formative years, before switching to Weerona when they formed in 1962. Dexter was rugby tragic, acting as an IDRU selector, Rep Team Manager, Vice-President, Secretary and occasional coach. Between 1984 and 1991 he was secretary of NSW Country Rugby Union (CRU). He became a life member of the CRU and was awarded an AOM in 2000 for his services to Rugby. His name lives on the Dexter Porter Cup, a trophy awarded to the football Club that makes the greatest contribution to the Australian Red Cross Blood Bank in Wollongong and is a trophy Shamrocks aspire to annually – and have won it twice.

Geoff Murrell filled the role between Porter and Barry Stumbles and also had two stints as Second Grade captain-coach, including a minor premiership in 1978. He played 65 games for the Rocks over 3 seasons, and a few cameo roles later in his career when the club was short of players.

Dicky Hasler coached the Club’s second ever premiership winning team, the 1978 3rd Grade.

Billy Blanch had the unenviable task of taking the reins after Barry Stumbles returned to Sydney. Having coached the 1979 ‘B’ Grade to the Grand Final, against all predictions he coached the 1980 First Grade team to win the premiership. He expected to continue on in 1981, but was challenged for the position and won the ballot for the position. However, Club politics resulted in him stepping down during pre-season and he was quoted as saying “that he was severing all ties with the Club. They are not the same mob anymore. The old social side to the game is missing”. But Billy was to return a few years later and played major support roles especially in the big year of 1994 when the Club won all 3 grades and Club Championship.

Greg (Rory) Ryan: Transferred from Weerona in 1979 and played 7 seasons including 1984-85 as Captain Coach. He was the Captain in 2 First Grade premiership winning teams (1979 & 80) and he represented NSW Country as a No 7.

Some Coaches and Managers over the Years

John Brass was a dual international (Wallaby 1966-69 & Kangaroo 1970-75) and a Premiership winning player with Eastern Suburbs Roosters. His real job was in shopping centre management and when he was posted to Wollongong Crown Central, Club President Frank Peterson, (who had work links with Bob Dwyer the Australian Rugby coach), used the network to persuade Brass to coach the Shamrocks in 1983. He played a couple of games in a Shamrocks jersey making him probably the most credentialed player to pull on the green and white strip. He coached until he was transferred out of the district late in the ’83 season, but can make the claim that he was the first coach to record a win against Vikings in a first grade competition – round game (18th June 1983). In the 14 years of the club’s existence Shamrocks had only previously beaten the blues in finals games and for the record the score was 16-6.

In 1986 Warwick Melrose was lured to the club by his Scots College workmate and Shamrock Brian Nutt to captain-coach the Rocks. A member of the famous 1977-78 Australian Schoolboys team that toured the UK, he had played many seasons with the strong Randwick Rugby Club. He was picked to play for Country before his first game with Shamrocks. As a back-rower he lead the Rocks to the First Grade minor premiership and its first ever Club Championship (1986). During the season both he and Brian Nutt were suspended by the IDRU for failing to play for Illawarra against a touring American Western Union team. Melrose blasted the IDRU, claiming it was their poor communication which resulted in their absences and further said that “Shamrocks were better organized than the IDRU” – was that a compliment to the club’s Committee?

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Excerpt from “50 Years of Rugby: The Woonona Way” by Mick Traynor, documenting the history of the Woonona Shamrocks Rugby Union Football Club from 1970 to 2019. Reproduced with permission from the author.

To read more of the book, you can download it here.