OBERON Tigers will put the finishing touches on months of planning in the coming days before a massive celebration of their rugby league history at their home ground on Saturday 31st May.
As part of the 2008 Centenary of Rugby League celebrations, the Tigers will be presented with a commemorative plaque before their Mid West Rugby League match against Lithgow Bears.
In conjunction with the presentation, the Tigers will host a junior league extravaganza of five junior matches, and hold a massive parade of past players from their golden era during the 1960s and 1970s.
For anyone unfamiliar with the Tigers’ achievements of that generation, the easiest explanation is simply to call them the St George of Group 10.
The Oberon side entered Group 10 in 1958 and lost the grand final to CYMS in their first season.
They claimed the minor premiership the next year but bowed out in consecutive matches during the playoffs.
Oberon claimed their first title the next season (1960) and won every decider up until 1968 – when they lost by a solitary point to St Pat’s.
They reclaimed the title the next season, and the following two.
Their final title came in 1975.
Club official Kerry Gibbons said as far as records could show, during that entire period the Tigers managed to maintain their success – incredibly – having played just a solitary home final out of over 35 played.
It’s for these gargantuan contributions to the sport that the Australian Rugby league will present the club with their plaque.
“Unless you lived through it you can’t really understand just how big it was,” Mr Gibbons said.
“I can still remember sitting around the wireless when I was a kid listening to Don Elwin kick a goal in 1958 to beat Cowra and make the grand final.”
Many of the legendary players from that legendary team will be paraded around the ground ahead of the main match on Saturday, and the current Tigers incarnation will be presented with their jerseys by the same group of legends.
Light refreshments will be served throughout the day, and the youngsters will have plenty of fun on the jumping castle and Play On Wheels.
Following the daytime activities a social evening will be held at Oberon Leagues Club, which will include the screening of a 1980 Tigers game which involved current Melbourne Storm and NSW coach Craig Bellamy – one of the most famous of all Tigers.
“All the players who are deceased or unable to be there will hopefully have family members on hand to represent them, and we will be releasing a number of gold and black balloons and holding a minutes’ silence for those who have passed away,” Mr Gibbons said.
“We are expecting between 1500 and 2000 people.”
Anyone who has an interest in the club or the sport is welcome to attend, with things kicking off from 9am on Saturday 31st May.
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