Ex-Bears Hibernate Back to North Sydney

Friday, 25^th October saw a gathering of Bears who played with the Club at North Sydney during the 1960s and 70s. Amongst a gathering of 34 players we had 3 Club Presidents, 5 Sheffield Shield players as well as several 1^st Grade Captains and former Club Coaches.

Proceedings got underway with a look at North Sydney Oval No.1. Many past players had not seen the ground since its redevelopment in the 1980s but many came away gobsmacked with the renovated change rooms.

Next stop was Lee's Fortuna Court at Crows Nest for lunch. As everyone started to catch up and embellish careers it was bought to everyone’s attention what a fantastic camaraderie that existed during these days.

As nearly all the players from the 1976-77 premiership winning 2s assembled many a story was told. As was the case with the 2010/11 premiership winning 2nd grade side, everyone had 1^st grade experience and, indeed, there was a lot of competition for spots. Putting away the merits of selection everyone just got on with the job of winning and enjoying each other company.

A couple of speeches were made before a talk from Rob Lavery about Norths now being UTS Norths and the reasons behind it as well as the change to red and black colours. The audience was very supportive of the reasoning behind the changes.

After lunch a sleuth of bears wandered into an adjoining hotel to see out a wonderful afternoon and a determination to get together more often.

Everyone signed up to get the Newsletter and looking forward to some solid performances from the Bears.

Pictures and article courtesy of David Rodgie