Tusks up!
Country rugby stalwart Stu Gibson talks to Dom George about the heart and humor that underpins small town rugby clubs like the Onga Tiko Rugby and Sports Club.
Stu, a committee member, is known for his colourful match reports and the creation of the club's mascot, the Blue Boars. He said his role is to add a dash of levity to the local rugby scene.
"It's pretty minimal really. I'm just on the committee and all I do now is pretty much the match reports, but just chipping in like everybody else."
Stu began writing the reports in 2021, aiming to make them more engaging than standard match summaries. "I just thought we'd do a match report and then I thought, well, might as well make it... I mean, who wants to read just a boring old match report? So I sort of started just talking a load of rubbish really and just had a bit of fun with it."
Gibson also touches on the importance of the club in fostering community spirit and the challenges of declining participation rates in rural sports clubs. He underscores the club's role in community cohesion and the value of remembering history, particularly the local soldiers who served in wars, a topic that was soberly acknowledged in one of his reports.
Gibson also discusses the storied past of the historic Gwavas Garden and Homestead where he and wife Phyll live. Gwavas has the country's longest-running weather records. "I think we're the oldest continuously monitored rainfall site in the country. We’ve been measuring the rainfall here every day since September 1889."
Listen to the full chat between Stu Gibson and Dominic George above.
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