The Newtown Jets are a rugby league football club based in Marrickville, a suburb of Sydney's inner west. They currently compete in the NSW Cup competition, having left the top grade after the 1983 NSWRFL season. The Jets' home ground is Henson Park, and their team colours are blue (traditionally royal blue) and white.
Established in 1908, Newtown were one of the founding members of the New South Wales Rugby Football League. They competed continuously in the NSWRFL premiership until their departure in 1983, the first reduction in the League since 1937. Over this period they won the competition three times.
History NSWRFL Premiership The club was founded on 14 January 1908 at a public meeting held at Newtown Town Hall that had been convened by the prominent Sydney sportsman James J. Giltinan (after whom the NSW Rugby League Premiership shield is named), local MP Henry Hoyle, and Harry Hamill, who was to be the fledgling club's first captain.
Newtown was the second rugby league football club to be founded in Australia and is the oldest in existence. The first club, Glebe, was formed on 9 January 1908. When the 'Dirty Reds' (Glebe) were controversially excluded from the NSWRL Premiership in 1929, Newtown became the oldest remaining Australian club.
There is some discussion however over whether or not Newtown was actually the first Rugby league club in Australia, being formed on 8 January 1908, one day earlier than Glebe. The club's website stands by this claim,History of the Newtown Rugby League football Club at newtownjets.com however other sources, most notably Terry Williams' book Out of the Blue: The History of Newtown RLFC, dispute this claim. Rugby league historian Sean Fagan similarly holds that the date of 14 January 1908 is the correct foundation day. The minutes of the original meeting held by Newtown's Board shows the date as 8 January. A Newtown winger, Jack Scott, was the first to score a try in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership.
Newtown played in the NSWRFL Premiership from 1908 to 1983. They won the 1910 NSWRFL Premiership after drawing the final was enough to see them win due to being minor premiers.
In 1929, Newtown would reach the grand final against the all conquering South Sydney side but would lose 30-10. In 1933, Newtown claimed their second premiership defeating St. George 18-5 in the grand final. In 1943, Newtown claimed their third and final premiership defeating North Sydney 34-7 in what was then a record grand final crowd of 60,922. The following season in 1944, Newtown finished as minor premiers but were defeated by Balmain in the grand final. The rules at the time allowed Newtown to challenge Balmain for a rematch which they also lost 12-8. In the 1950s, Newtown reached back to back grand finals in 1954 and 1955 losing to South Sydney on both occasions.
Known as the "Newtown Bluebags" for most of its lifetime, the club adopted the Jets nickname in 1973, referring to Newtown's catchment area under the nearby Sydney Airport flight path, and the need for a modern club identity.
Jack Gibson took over as Newtown coach in 1973. Gibson picked his team solely on form, irrespective of seniority. The great Brian Moore had been relegated to the reserves bench throughout the preliminary rounds of the Wills Cup tournament, and youngsters like Ian Satori, Dennis Gardiner, Peter Parry and Warren Snodgrass were all given a chance in the top grade. The Newtown side for the final was:
Barry Cox, Mark Cohen, Dave Oliveri, John Bonham, John Bradstock, Ken Wilson, Des O'Connor (c), Neil Pringle, Gary Sullivan, Peter Parry, Tom Melville, Mark Robertson and Dennis Gardiner.
The St. George lineup was:
Graeme Langlands, Geoff Carr, Ted Goodwin, Bob Clapham, John Chapman, Tony Branson, M. Shulman, Lindsay Drake, Peter Fitzgerald, Rod Reddy, Inisai Toga, Colin Rasmussen, and Harry Eden.
The Wills Cup Final was played under floodlights at the old Sydney Sports Ground on St Patricks day before a crowd of 13,180. At halftime St. George were up 15-2 and looked certain to win. In the second half the Newtown forward pack gave the Saints a taste of their own medicine which helped gain tries for Melville and Robertson, both converted by Ken Wilson which reduced the St George lead to 15–12. Brian Moore brought on at halftime, scored the final try, converted by Ken Wilson which sealed victory for Newtown in the last minute, making the game one of the most exciting comeback wins in rugby league history.
After Gibson departed the Newtown side as head coach, the club went through another period of decline and finished last in the 1976, 1977 and 1978 seasons. In 1979, the club appointed Warren Ryan as head coach who turned the club's fortunes around again once more.
The 1981 Newtown team, which played in the club's last NSWRL premiership grand final, included the legends of game Tommy Raudonikis and Phil Gould. It was coached by Warren Ryan. Newtown had led the match 7–6 at halftime against Parramatta but were defeated 20–11 at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Ejection from the Premiership Along with financial pressures and pressure put on by the South Sydney Rabbitohs to expel the club, the club was forced out of the NSWRL Premiership at the end of 1983. The club continued to seek readmission, pursuing various alternatives. One such alternative, proposed for the 1985 season (after a planned one-year sojourn from the League) involved a full relocation to Orana Park, at Campbelltown in south-western Sydney, and during this period the club was run by its loyal stalwart and CEO, Frank Farrington.
This plan involved a name change for the club, to the Newtown-Campbelltown Jets. The proposal, including a new logo with the new name on the traditional royal blue jersey, was approved by the football club directors. These plans eventually failed, as the economic recession of the early 1980s prevented the club from finding a suitable buyer of the club's key asset, the Newtown Leagues Club located on Stanmore Road, Stanmore.
This left the Newtown club out of the premier Australian Rugby league competitions. In 1988, Newtown was able to sell its clubhouse, now the Cyprus Community Club of NSW, however too much time had elapsed and readmission to the top competition was not considered.
It is worth noting, however, that for a short time in their final season of 1983, Newtown called Campbelltown home. As a show of commitment to the Campbelltown-Liverpool region, with a new junior league structure ready to be implemented at the Jets' instigation for the 1984 season, Newtown played five home games of the club's final season, at Orana Park in Campbelltown, including an opening round blockbuster against 1981-82 premiers Parramatta Eels, won 54-14 by a rampant Eels combination. On August 27 Newtown played its final match in the top grade, defeating Canberra 9–6.
Ultimately, when the final deal between Newtown and the Campbelltown-Liverpool junior rugby league fell through in 1984 and it was confirmed by 1985 that Newtown would not be returning to top flight competition, the Ashfield/Lidcombe-based Western Suburbs Magpies, suspended by the League at the same time as Newtown but having had the financial resources to earn a stay of execution, negotiated a deal for the 1987 season whereby Wests would move all home games to Campbelltown and claim ownership of the vast junior league in south-western Sydney.
Newtown District Junior Rugby League The Newtown District Junior Rugby League (NDJRL) competition ended after the ejection of the club from the NSWRL premiership in 1983. The NDJRL was absorbed mainly into the South Sydney District Junior Rugby Football League and also a small part into the St George and Canterbury-Bankstown districts. Existing junior clubs that were formerly part of the Newtown district include the Camperdown Dragons (now in South Sydney), Marrickville RSL (now in South Sydney), Earlwood Saints (now in St George) and Christian Brothers' High School, Lewisham who now only compete in school competitions.
Some notable Newtown juniors include, Johnny Raper (Camperdown Dragons), Ron Sigsworth & Phil Sigsworth (Newtown Hawks), Mark & Geoff Bugden (Marrickville), Grant & Craig Ellis (Marrickville RSL), Jeff Fenech (St. Pius Enmore, Marrickville RSL), Matt and Brad Burke (St. Josephs Newtown), Paul Osborne (Christian Bros Lewisham), Col Murphy (Newtown Hawks), Frank "Bumper" Farrell (Marrickville), Frank Hyde, Brian "Poppa" Clay (St Peters), Greg Pierce (Sydenham), Paul Akkary (St Peters), Michael Speechley and future Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese (Camperdown Dragons).
Referees Despite being one of the smallest junior league competitions in Sydney, Newtown District Rugby League Referees Association provided a steady flow of referees to the graded ranks of the National Rugby League and the New South Wales Rugby League. Newtown Junior League was a tough, uncompromising competition so the referees quickly learned to manage difficult players and provide a controlled game.
The Newtown graded referees included: Gary Bennett, David Bowron, Lyle Buckley, Phil Cooley, Jack Danzey, Cyril Dimon, Grant Heaton, Kim Holwell, Mick Howell, Peter Lucas, Don Macdonald, Terry Murphy, Geoff Norberry, Richie Pierce and Peter Pierse.
Re-emergence The club re-emerged in 1990 to play in the third-tier NSW competition, the Metropolitan Cup, winning the title four times (1992, 1995, 1996 and 1997). The club no longer enters a team in the NSWRL Jim Beam Cup due to it announcing in the off-season after the 2006 season of the NSWRL Jim Beam Cup that it would now only concentrate on the Premier League side. The coach during 1990, 1991 and 1992 was Brian 'Wacka' Wakefield.
In 2000, Newtown entered a team in the NSWRL Premier League, the second-tier NSW competition to the NRL. While a stand-alone club for many purposes, they have acted as a feeder for NRL teams such as South Sydney, Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, Auckland, Sydney Roosters (until the end of the 2014 season), and as of the start of the 2015 season with the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks.
In 2006, Newtown lost to the Parramatta Eels 20–19 in extra time in the Premier League Grand Final due to a field goal from Eels halfback Marcus Perenara after three minutes of golden point extra time.
In 2007, the club had a less fortunate season compared to 2006, failing to make the finals or even make the top 10.NSWRL 2007 Table retrieved 20 December 2007
On 20 August 2007, a film depicting the club, The Final Winter starring and written by former Sydney rugby league footballer Matt Nable was released in cinemas across Australia.
In 2008, Newtown again made the Grand Final of the newly formed New South Wales Cup. In an extraordinary game against the Wentworthville Magpies, the Jets scored first and led 8–4 at halftime. At full-time scores were locked at 8-8, again forcing the game into extra time, an ironic repeat of the 2006 decider. Finally after 24 minutes of extra time and dozens of attempts at field goals from both teams, captain Sean Rudder erred in kicking out on the full. This gave the Magpies good field position and allowed them to score the winning try in the corner. After the longest ever grand final match, Wentworthville won 12–8.
On 5 February 2011, Newtown played a trial game against long term rivals, the South Sydney Rabbitohs, at a revamped Redfern Oval. South Sydney won 10–4.