The start of the Baa Baas as remembered by Anthony Wood.

Like many great ideas, the Barbarians Rugby Club - or UNE Barbarians as it was originally known - was conceived over a few beers, in the winter of 2004.

I was Executive Officer of the New England Rugby Union (NERU) at the time, and me and my fellow committeeman were grappling with the ongoing dilemma, still valid today, of how to expand the competition beyond the core of clubs Armidale, St Albert’s College, Robb College and the on again/off again Guyra and Glen Innes.

Present on this particular evening following a committee meeting at the New England Hotel, were (if memory serves me correctly) President Mick Barry, Secretary Richard Croft and Vice-Presidents Rob Tindale (Snr) and Teddy Horsburgh (Jnr).

Having experimented with combined competitions with teams from the coast, ill-fated participation in by Dorrigo, and ongoing but ultimately fruitless talks with Central North Rugby Union, we agreed that the only possibility for the inclusion of a new NERU club that was sustainable, was to form one from scratch based at the University of New England, utilising college players not involved with the St Albert’s and Robb teams.

There was a precedent for this, with the United Colleges club, a combined college side which participated in NERU competitions in the '80s and '90s (later combining with Armidale City to form City United).

But a lot of water had passed under the bridge since those days and some of us were more optimistic than others about the chances of getting a combined college team off the ground (one member in particular felt it was an impossible task), but nevertheless we agreed to pursue the matter. We even decided on the club’s colours that evening - the green, gold, black and white of UNE.

Sponsorship was secured from the New England Hotel so the financial side was covered, all we needed now was a coach and some players.

long-time former player and NERU identity, Geoff Tombs, got wind that we were looking for a coach and put his hand up.

‘Tombsy' had a long history with the then defunct Armidale City and Teachers’ College clubs as a player, while his brother Richard was a former Wallaby, so he had the right pedigree for the role, and was duly appointed the inaugural coach of the Barbarians.

All we needed now were players.

The committee set up a stand at UNE during "O-Week” handing out leaflets and chatting to prospective recruits, and we were heartened by the interest shown by students in the fledgling club.

Buoyed by the response, we decided to hold a sign-up day and free barbecue and beers at Bellevue Oval. I plastered posters around the uni campus, and the local papers ran a story, so Mick Barry and I were full of anticipation as we unloaded the barbecue and esky full of snags and beers on the designated summer afternoon.

By the time we got the barbecue lit it was 5pm but nobody had yet turned up. We put it down to student tardiness and each cracked a beer and waited for the crowd to arrive. By the time we finished our beers it was 5.45pm and not a soul had arrived. Not even the promise of free beer could attract anyone! It was then that we realised this was going to be tougher than we anticipated.

But not long after I got a call from a student who told me he and a group of his mates were keen to have a run, and Tombsy had also drummed up a bit of interest. By the time autumn rolled around, a committee of mainly keen students had been formed, and there were enough players attending training to field both a first grade and under 19s side. The committee couldn’t have been happier.

And while that inaugural season was a tough one, featuring some almighty wallopings at the hands of the established clubs, they stuck at it, and as the seasons rolled by the Baa Baas slowly became more and more successful, adding lower grades as their playing ranks swelled, culminating in the club’s inaugural first grade premiership in 2012.

It is particularly pleasing for me, having been involved closely in its formation, to see what a strong and proud club the Barbarians have become, and I have no doubt the Barbarians will continue to grow and prosper, and enjoy many more successful seasons in the future.

Barbarians RUFC

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