Beaten in 1900, Unbeatable in 2024: 125 Years of Easts Legends

By Angus Hayman

Thousands of fanatics and rugby enthusiasts pour into the ground every weekend to catch a glimpse of the Eastern Suburbs Rugby Club. Still, not too many of those thousands quite understand just what this club has been through and achieved throughout its 125-year tenure.

Well, let this be just a taste of what a century and a quarter of club rugby looks like: It began on a Saturday at the Sydney Cricket Ground, May 19th, 1900. A narrow 7–5 loss to Glebe was Easts’ first entry into what would become one of Australian rugby’s most enduring narratives.

The team wore black jerseys and white shorts that day, not by choice, but necessity, as they waited for more than a year for the illustrious red, white, and blue kits to arrive by ship from Britain.

Within just a few years, greatness was stitched into the fabric in the form of some now very

distinguished alumni. In 1901, the backline featured Stanley Rowley, an Olympic sprinter who’d brought home three bronze medals from Paris the year before. Not long after, a young Dally Messenger announced himself in Reserve Grade, a boy who had such wild talent he probably deserves a Grandstand named after him, or at least an annual medallion.

In 1949, Woollahra Oval became the fortress and forever home for the Beasties. There, the Beasts hosted a lineage of legends. From Ted Jessep, the only man to play for both the All Blacks and the Wallabies, to players like Perc Newton, who never once dropped out of First Grade in an 18-year career, racking up 264 games and earning the honour of captain in Easts’ Team of the Century.

The 1960s and ‘70s marked a period of dominance and innovation. Tony Madigan was the catalyst of novelty, a rugged forward who stepped off the rugby field and into the boxing ring to become another Olympic bronze medal beastie, only falling short to a recognisable semi-final opponent of a young Cassius Clay (later known as Mohammed Ali).

In 1967, Easts continued their pioneering ways, becoming the first Sydney rugby club to tour Japan, developing the globalisation of club rugby. This same era saw history-breaking supremacy with Reserve Grade reaching six consecutive grand finals under the steady hands of Lenny Martin and Dave Marr.

From their inaugural match at the SCG in 1900 to the polished clubhouse opened in 1965, Easts have carved out a legacy defined by resilience, excellence, and evolution. Along the way, they’ve sent Olympians to Rome, water polo champions to Helsinki, and trailblazers like Ted Jessep to wear both the black jersey of the All Blacks and the gold of the Wallabies.

And across 125 years of proud and rich history, only one position has stood above the rest: the last three of Easts’ First Grade Premierships have been captained by fearless, unyielding second-rowers, from the unshakable Perc Newton in 1947, to Peter Crittle in 1969, and most recently, Josh Bokser lifting the Shute Shield in 2024.

Today, Woollahra still echoes with the legacy of those 125 years. And what better way to mark a century and a quarter in the Shute Shield than by currently holding four of the possible eight shields.

Proof that the past is never far from the present at Easts.

Celebrate 125 Years of Easts Rugby at our Anniversary Ball on 31st May 2025.