Nedlands

Established in 1934, Nedlands RUFC represents an area not much older than the club itself. In 1931, the Claremont Roads Board split and formed the Nedlands Road Board, later becoming Nedlands Municipal Council and then City of Nedlands. Land in the area had initially been settled in the 1850s by Captain John Bruce, and he bequeathed the land to his son Edward – hence the area became known as Ned’s Land, later morphing into Nedlands. The club's emblem – the rampant lion, is thought to have derived from the badge of the Bruce family.

Nedlands RUFC was formed at a meeting in Alec E Davies’ tearooms on the corner of Broadway and The Esplanade called by Cliff Stark, at 7:45 pm on 5 April 1934. In that first season, the club fielded just one team with players wearing a black jumper with a large gold N on the chest. The jumper was changed to blue and gold in 1962 to conform with the colours of the original Claremont Road Board.

The club initially played on a ground made up from four vacant blocks on Aberdare Rd. After nearly 20 years of temporary fields, Neddies was finally granted a permanent home on the Nedlands Foreshore in 1951, after using it unofficially since 1946. The Foreshore had been reclaimed from the Swan River before and after World War 1, and in the 1930s was a highly popular camping and holiday ground. But as West Australians became more mobile after WW2, the demand for its use fell away and it became a sports ground. Initially, the park was shared between the Nedlands and Associates clubs, but Associates moved to a ground of their own in the 1980s.

After finding its feet in the 1934 season, the Club won the 1935 B Grade grand-final. With success, membership rose from 24 in 1935 to 55 in 1936. With teams in both the B and C grade, the club pushed for promotion to A grade. This was granted in 1939, and the following year, Nedlands won the 1940 A Grade grand final. This team included some of the significant names in the club's history with Cliff Stark, Bob McMillan, Laurie Simmonds. John Poor and Joe Poynton all featuring in the club's records in the years to come. Captain Laurie Simmonds’ son Ken featured in the club's third A Grade premiership team thirty years later in 1970. 80 years after their great grandfather led Neddies, another generation of Simmonds are turning out.

World War 2 and its aftermath brought hard times to Nedlands, compounded by a breakaway group who went to rugby league in the early 1950s. While some of these players returned to the fold, and the Club won a famous A Grade premiership in 1957, this was a difficult period for Nedlands. For a time, they were only kept alive by the determination and great work of men like Joe Poynton, Jim Stitfall and Jim Macauley. Charlie Duncan and his wife Jess were also key in holding the club together, with Jess serving as both club secretary and Colts coach for a number of years.