The Newtown Jets, Australia’s oldest rugby league club, haven’t been sighted in the top grade since 1983, when financial issues sadly brought about their demise.
However, they have never stopped competing.
Throughout the rest of the ’80s, the Jets entered teams in junior club competitions and they continued on to play in the Metropolitan Cup with great success throughout the 90s.
Older Roarers may well remember Newtown’s loss to Parramatta in the 1981 grand final. The Eels broke Newtown hearts again in 2008, when their feeder team Wentworthville eventually put a defiant Jets team to the sword in the 104th minute of the NSW Cup Grand Final (the local RSL who sponsors the Jets jumpers received a glorious two-hour gold mine of Channel Nine coverage).
This year the Jets will continue to ply their trade in the NSW Cup, still playing as a proud standalone club and acting as the feeder team to the Sydney Roosters, an arrangement dating back to 2006. The NSW Cup will move up another gear this season, with most of the NRL clubs entering a team, plus Illawarra and a Canberra affiliated team rejoining the competition.
Surrounded by the heavyweight NRL territories of the Dragons, Bulldogs, Rabbitohs and the orange half of the Wests Tigers, Newtown still has a dedicated and rowdy following of supporters turning up to Henson Park, Marrickville, the self-described “jewel in the crown of rugby league”.
Although some modern concessions have been made this year with the renovation of the King George V Grandstand and the addition of an electronic scoreboard, the spirit of yesteryear still remains defiantly strong at Henson Park.
If rugby league has song lines, this is its most sacred site. The blokes at the gate arrive at some arbitrary price for a car load of people. No barcoded tickets or hired goons to check your bags. No flat watery beer sloshing out of plastic cups. Four cans of KB is the standard order, and the closest thing to a corporate box is the blokes up top of the hill who bring their beanbags and deckchairs along.
Even the merchandise stand is a throwback, selling t-shirts of Steve Bowden flooring Manly’s Mark Broadhurst with an uppercut circa 1982 (probably not approved by David Gallop, that one).
Thirty years after that famous uppercut, hipsters now roll through the gate on fixies, but old buggers still zip up their ancient shell jackets and curse the ref. Punters still sit in their cars behind the posts and maniacally beep the horn as the opposition kicker tries to slot a conversion into a nasty southerly.
At half-time, kids still run around the field like herds of cats until the ground announcer shoos them away. The guaranteed attendance of 8972 will be greeted with an ironic cheer and the usual raffle draw will offer meat trays, fruit and veg and “a box of cleaning products for ya missus”.
What year is it again? Who really cares. The Jets are still playing, still winning, and still coming over after the final whistle to shake hands with the good folks at Henson Park. Another season is almost upon us and another chapter in Newtown’s proud history is about to be written.
Andy saliba (jets4life)
Guest
Yes jets 4 life!!!! :) most hme game i go to at hensen park i lov our jets scream my bloody head off and stand up with them run away trys i went to both grand finals from tears to happy cheers again wat a moment lol i was born there in marrickville and was a jets jnr and metro cup team res team scream in blue cause when u do eveyone wil know ur tru fan of the jets Jets 4 life ppl
craig W
Guest
Belatedly just saw your article! Loved it, I am a big Jets fan and you certainly painted an accurate picture of a day at Henson!
jett
Guest
The Newtown Jets running around at Henson Park on a sunny saturday arvo- one word - AWESOME! I'm 15 AGAIN and the rest of it doesn't matter.I've got my 2 pies and tomato sauce,can of coke and the Jets are on the attack. Somehow 2013 has morphed into 1981.For now , all is well with the world.
Alby
Guest
Great Article Blake I have watched and comentated the NSW Cup for the last 3 seasons Henson Park is still one of the great traditional grounds and still attracts a healty crowd every home game (8972). The volunteers still have great pride and passion in their distrcit side. The quality of games in particular last year was much better compared to previous years and will only only get better this year. I hope The Roar has a weekly update the great thing about Henson is that at Half Time & Full Time the Kids can get on the ground and kick the ball around it is a great sight. So as Molly would say do yourself a favour and get to Henson Park and have a few Newtown Prawns (Sausage Sandwichs). PS. KB is now off the menu but another Retro Brew will take it's place. The ground surface was totally upgraded 2 years ago. Maybe the Roosters could play a Trial there next year?
Blaze
Guest
Great article! I rarely miss a home jets game after joining in on my new town mates tradition about 10 yrs ago.. Can't wait for the season to start! Gez I hope the kb will still be there, and how many grounds can you bring your dog to? Kids love it,dad loves it, hell, even the dog loves it! Just gonna be a shame to not see the jets v wests magpies in the coming future..
Tom
Guest
You remember the Jets but how about remembering the junior clubs that were part of the jets district. The Camperdown Dragons is one such club formed in 1908 and is the oldest junior club in Australia. It had such illustrious juniors such as Johnny Raper before moving to the senior jets, Barry Wood father of Garth and Nathan and lots of other famous players. The Dragons still survive and play I the south Sydney juniors district while most of the other teams that were part of the jets juniors have all vanished. Incredibly sad day when the jets were kicked out because the history of its junior clubs went up in smoke as well.
Eug
Guest
My mates and I started attending a few games there in 2010 and got hooked. Great way to spend an afternoon. Watching the kids chase the guy on the penny farthing after a try is always a highlight (as is seeing the Jets score another try before he's completed the lap). We've also learnt to yell 'Go Rhiiiiiino' every time he gets the ball. Will definitely be back for a few games this year. Love the Jets.
Queensland's game is rugby league
Guest
I like this article.I've been thinking of writing similar articles about the Queensland Cup. I'm really looking forward to the Queensland Cup this year. I've been buying merchandise and season memberships. I encourage all fellow Queenslanders to do the same. The Northern Pride (Cairns) are hoping to sign up 5,000 members this year. That's more than some NRL clubs! Souths Mapgies are settling on 300 and the premiers, Wynnum-Manly, are aiming for 100. I encourage people down south to get behind the NSW Cup. The quality of the football isn't NRL standard, but for the low price you pay for entry it isn't bad. The relaxed atmosphere at the ground -- not stadium, but ground -- makes it a great day out.
Rabbi
Guest
I was lucky enough to play on that ground and leichardt when the tertiary league played the odd curtain raiser there before nsw cup games. The grand old ground does indeed have an old world ambience (though the surface could be better!). There was a fervent crowd in there, and I couldn't resist buying a jumper and a stubble cooler at the Merch tent, with the lady there throwing in the cooler for free! A steak sanga straight off the bbq and an ice cold tinnie or five and we were on the team bus home. It was like stepping back in time two decades, in a good way! Up the mighty blue bags! -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download The Roar's iPhone App in the App Store here.
j5
Guest
Great article Blake. Some important histoery even for someone who doesnt follow leagure Keep up the good work!
Johnno
Guest
Tommy Roduonikis and chicka ferguson and gus gould.
Brett McKay
Expert
which is fine Blake, but what will they do for their second home game of the year?!?
BlakeW
Roar Rookie
Sheek, the existing NSW cup is awfully close to that roster already. Just need Easts and Souths to field genuine teams and not hybrid RoosterJet NorthSouthBunnyBear sides....
BlakeW
Roar Rookie
Thanks Pete, and Brett.
BlakeW
Roar Rookie
That's devastating news! Although I'm sure that the Jets have a stockpile under the scoreboard somewhere....
BlakeW
Roar Rookie
Thanks guys!
sheek
Guest
You know, There's no reason in my mind, you can't have the 'big 12' still running around in a Sydney metro cup comp. Who are the 'big 12', you ask? Well, they're the 12 clubs who defined rugby league between 1967-83. They are: North Sydney Bears, South Sydney Rabbitohs, Eastern Suburbs Roosters, Western Suburbs Magpies, Balmain Tigers, Newtown Jets, Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, St.George Dragons, Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, Parramatta Eels, Penrith Panthers & Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks. Into that lot you could add Wentworthville Falcons (can't have two magpies), Ryde-Eastwood Hawks, Illawarra Steelers & Central Coast Centurions. It coulda happened, & it still could happen.....
Pete75
Guest
Blake, Thanks for the column, it was a good read. Although, having lived through the demise of my own team (Balmain) and learning to love a new team (Wests Tigers), I'm not someone who puts as high an importance on "heritage" as others, it is fantastic to get out to a Sydney game at some of the old grounds (Leichhardt, Henson Park, North Sydney Oval, Jubilee, Belmore, Redfern). I reckon we've got to move on from being a provincial Sydney game, to a national and international one, while maintaining the roots of the "Sydney" game. There is something very special to sitting on a hill, eating a sausage sandwich, drinking a beer and being close to the action of your local team playing a team from a different suburb. Without trying to be condescending, I reckon Newtown are playing in the right competition. Now, if we could only get better quality NSW cup games, or perhaps elevate the comp to a genuine "reserve grade" standard.
Brett McKay
Expert
great read Blake - I ventured into Hensen Park a couple of years ago on a Bucks day, and it turned out to be the highlight of the weekend. The Jets were playing Parramatta, ironically, and for a couple of hours in the August sunshine, we all agreed we'd been transported back to 1982 as we drank KB cans and ate steak sandwiches on the hill. Talk abaout a throwback...
RickG
Guest
I read the other week KB is no more - the Jets faithful were understandably upset:)