Bringing Parramatta People Back Home

This year the Parramatta Eels celebrated their 75th anniversary. It was quite the milestone as the club has a rich history, with thousands of people who’ve contributed to legacy of the Eels.

Imagine charging yourself with the responsibility of connecting with as many people from those 75 years as possible.

That means reaching out to every graded player, coach, staff member and official since 1947. It’s a huge goal and an enormous task to undertake, but that’s just the beginning of what the Blue and Gold Alliance (BGA) is looking to achieve.

This past week, The Cumberland Throw met with BGA chairman, Bill Richards, at Parra Leagues to learn more about a relatively new organisation with impressive goals that extend from engaging with former players and staff to raising funds for dedicated charity partners.

Parramatta player number 259, Bill has a fascinating story to tell.

A local junior who came through the Cabramatta and Guildford clubs, playing alongside the likes of Bob O’Reilly and Len Stacker, Bill made his first grade debut as a five-eighth in 1968 before being drafted and sent to Vietnam in the same year.

Such were the times for many young people of that era, and Bill’s anecdotes of sharing the army football field with some famous names only serves to emphasise that it was indeed a different era.

You can catch our extended interview with Bill in an upcoming podcast. I strongly recommend having a listen. His football journey is compelling to hear, and we learnt things about our club and the game itself that we didn’t know before.

Bill Richards

Bill is also a highly educated individual with expertise in the field of high profile athletes transitioning into retirement, something which is extremely relevant for professional rugby league players and will prove invaluable in his role with the Alliance.

The genesis for the Blue and Gold Alliance came at a 2015 player reunion when Bill and Michael Vella spoke about creating an Eels alumni.

As Bill explained to us, his conversation with Michael identified a need that hadn’t been addressed.

“All the former players, we needed to get them together, to look after them, the ones that are doing it tough, and also get together and celebrate on an annual basis what had happened previously. Relive all those wonderful memories. All the goals that should have been kicked and weren’t, the tries that were scored, and the semblance of camaraderie and mateship that goes with playing team sport.”

From there, the BGA kicked off in 2016 with Michael leading the committee until 2019 when Bill took on the chairperson’s role. The hard work of those on the committee will only continue to grow with the introduction of the NRLW extending the membership and the reach of the BGA.

“We want a strong and vibrant Blue and Gold Alliance, to uphold, build and reinforce the club’s legacy. We want to welcome all former Parramatta people back home to the Eels.”

As noted earlier, this was going to be no small task. They needed to contact and engage with all former graded players, coaches, staff and officials.

Rugby league clubs don’t set out to be historians of the game. It’s only as time goes by that they often wish that they had documented their history much better.

Consequently, a working group of former players associated with the BGA, including the great Ken Thornett, commenced the job of tracking down as many people as they could, and this assisted the club in updating their own data base.

Since then, the BGA website, Facebook Page and What’s App have also been used to reach out to people, and they are working towards that day when everybody will finally be welcomed back to Parramatta.

Listening to Bill speak about the goals of the BGA, and their desire to reunite former Eels people and assist in matters of welfare, it seems obvious that the Alliance is positioning itself to not just be an “old boys” organisation, but also a Parramatta focussed version of the marvellous Men of League.

Bill is currently undertaking his PhD, and is examining how professional sportspeople transition into retirement. As he informed us, this transition can be either voluntary (planned) or involuntary (injury related or no contract on offer).

Involuntary retirement can cause the greatest issues, as there is a stronger likelihood that there’s been limited or no planning. Furthermore, people don’t always seek help or speak out about their problems, so welfare support is essential. 

Bill feels strongly about this topic. “The clubs and the NRL have a vicarious liability, because they make money from these players, and they have a duty of care to look after them.”

Down the track, Bill would also love to see the BGA involved in a mentoring system with the Eels. Some of the former players connected with the BGA would be fantastic mentors for younger squad members. Like it or not, NRL players are role models who have to be good both on and off the field, and having former players helping them on this path would be highly worthwhile.

BGA polos look good.

For the immediate future, the BGA has a couple of big days on the horizon. The first of which will be the BGA Golf Day.

After the passing of Ted Sulkowicz, this inaugural BGA Golf Day has been renamed the Ted Sulkowicz Memorial Golf Day.

Sponsored by Parramatta Leagues Club, this event will now take place on August 12 at Cabramatta Golf Course. Ted was involved in organising the day and was passionate about it being a quality event. At this stage it’s just for BGA members, depending on numbers, but it’s expected to grow over coming years.

The other major day to mark down is the player reunion.

It kicks off with a luncheon at Parra Leagues on August 20, which will then followed by a walk around the CommBank Stadium field prior to the Eels clash with the Bulldogs. The BGA will then form the guard of honour for the NRL team as they take to the field.

The reunion will always be a priority on the BGA calendar as it’s their day on Parra’s home ground schedule. It’s an opportunity to rekindle the camaraderie of playing together, and more critically it gives the BGA the opportunity to check how people are going. Are they doing it hard and how can they help?

As Bill emphasised to us, “The one thing you can never get back is a missed opportunity. And reunions provide an opportunity to catch up.”

We should also remember that reunions are a celebration. Eels fans can help these former players enjoy their celebration by getting to the stadium early and cheering them as they walk around the ground.

If you’re a former player, coach or official, or you know someone who is, please let them know about the Blue and Gold Alliance. Though the number of first grade players is still in the hundreds, there are thousands who have played lower grades or assisted the grade teams in some capacity.

The BGA can be contacted via email at BGA@parraeels.com.au or via the website or Facebook page.

Our full podcast interview with Bill will be posted very soon.

Eels forever!

Sixties

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