By Mark Cashman (Rugby News Round 4 Edition)

Last Saturday at Chatswood Oval, The Friends of Gordon Foundation and the Friends of Warringah Foundation came together to recognise the contribution that Grant Andrews had made to each rugby club in a decorated career spanning 20 years, 1970 to 1990.

From his start in grade Rugby with Gordon in 1970, through to the 1990s as a coach and mentor at Warringah, the defining quality that Andrews projected was that of considerable influence.

At Gordon, his visionary flyhalf play and an immaculate boot dictated much of the way the club played and was a big part of a famous premiership in 1976.

At Warringah he was something of a pied piper. From the day he joined them his poise and control as a playmaker quickly sent out a message that the club was on the rise.

When he joined the then fledgling club in 1978 he became the fulcrum of a great leap forward that quickly established Warringah as a power in Sydney Rugby. They were battlers when he turned up. A mere four years later he led them to a grand final.

Grant was still a high school student when he joined Gordon but through his entire playing career he had a subtle game that was all maturity. His strength was control.

Andrews played more than 150 games with Gordon, 99 of them in first grade, and he played an important part in a team that was near the top of the competition throughout his time.

He joined Warringah when Tony Miller was coach, and together they were a force to be reckoned with. He played 149 first grade games with Warringah, giving him a Shute Shield total with the two clubs he served so well of 248 games.

He played 21 lower grade games with Warringah as well, largely late in the day as he mentored some of the club’s up-and-comers. He coached Warringah’ s senior side in 1990.

When Andrews started with Warringah he was a substantial player at the top of his game. He had toured the world with a representative Sydney side the previous year, and his effect on the club was immediate.

Before he was done he was helping out with the Colts, advising and encouraging and passing on hard lessons learned through his experience with two great clubs.

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RATS TALES, THE WARRINGAH CLUB’S pithy and informative newsletter, is always a good read and its Editor at Large Jon Geddes tells a great story this week about the double agents that have played in the Battle of the Beaches over the years.

John Hearn and Matt Skene had their feet in the two camps over their playing careers.

Hearn is a Rats’ stalwart who spent one season captaining Manly in 1999 before returning home.

“It was very difficult, I was always a Warringah guy and found myself playing for Manly which was hard to believe,”  he told Rats Tales.

And beating the Rats convincingly at Brookvale Oval that year was a bittersweet moment for the big lock forward.

“We put quite a few points on them which was a bit upsetting,” Hearn admitted.

“If you are travelling badly in a year and you can win a couple of derby games, that justifies your season,” he said. 

“And whatever position either team is, it’s always a good game of football. You still talk about games from 30 years ago, it is part of your life.”

Skene who played in eight derbies for Manly and six for the Rats, vouched for the intensity of these games.

“It was pretty special playing against mates and the crowd was just crazy,” he said. 

“And knowing that the people you were playing against were the people you were going to have a drink with at the end of the day. On a fine Saturday afternoon, you couldn’t ask for much more.” 

Skene now works as a real estate agent in Byron Bay.

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What a weekend it’s going to be in Cowra when Eastwood host Northern Suburbs for what is looking like one hell of a contest.

Lots of work goes into pulling these weekends in the bush together and the Woodies have 

certainly put their hand up for the hard yakka that make events like this seem seamless.

Woods patron and former long term president Rob Millner has been one of the lifters on that front in Cowra helping get the ground ready for the huge Anzac round game.

Since the Woods were last in the beautiful central west of NSW the Cowra Eagles boast new lights, a new gym and the ground is looking fantastic.  

The finishing touches included whacking up a few seats … so a few of the boys spent some time proving they’ve still got it. 

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While we are in the bush, Sydney Uni and the Hunter Wildfires are off to Mudgee this weekend to play their fixture and you won’t find a better surface for footy than the ones they will play on at Glen Willow Stadium.

The pitch is an absolute beauty and the fact that a number of NRL clubs have taken games there says something about what is on offer in and around the area.

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A couple of wins would certainly help with the momentum but a lot of things seem to be coming 

together at the Western Sydney Two Blues.

Eric Tweedale Stadium, or ‘The Eric’ as it has been affectionately named, is proving to be a huge asset hosting a number of representative games including the Super W semi-final between the NSW Waratahs and Queensland women’s teams.

Crowds have been good so far and hospitality packages are available for a number of games.Four match tickets and a host of goodies all for the princely sum of only $128 – it’s a bargain.

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Good to see Yool Yool taking the first steps back from a leg injury that struck him down just as he was starting to make his mark with the Australian Sevens set-up.

Yool has been selected in third grade for this weekend’s games against Manly and if the gas is still there you can see him climbing the grades in coming weeks.