Just 12 years after the formation of the NSW Rugby League in 1908, the winds of change reached the Hastings.
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Local identity Allan Bain promoted the new code and urged fellow rugby union clubs and players to make a change in the area.
At the time, football clubs were flourishing in Beechwood, Wauchope, Telegraph Point, Rawdon Island, Hamilton (Hibbard) and Port Macquarie.
In a decision taken at a meeting at the Commercial Hotel in Port Macquarie on April 29, 1920, it was unanimously agreed by the clubs competing in the Rugby Football Union, to cut away from Union and adopt Rugby League as their code.
The first match to be played later that year took place at Bain Park, Wauchope.
It involved a Beechwood side and Wauchope.
The competition was called Hastings League and to this day, the competition is still in existence.
It is widely acknowledged as one of the oldest Rugby League competitions in Australia - believed to be the second oldest, continuously named, rugby league competition in Australia
In 2019, that remarkable decision will be celebrated with the Beechwood Rugby League Football Club marking 100 years of participation in rugby league with a reunion to be held on the 2019 June long weekend.
A spokesperson for the Beechwood reunion organising committee says a weekend of functions and events are planned.
We are hoping for up to 200 people to attend the weekend's festivities.
- Beechwood Shamrocks spokesperson
"We are hoping for up to 200 people to attend the weekend's festivities," the spokesperson said.
"This event is open to wives and partners.
"We plan to kick off the weekend with a meet and greet on Friday June 7 at the Beechwood Hotel at 6pm," the spokesperson said.
"Lunch at the football ground on Saturday at 11am will precede a Saturday League game between Beechwood and Comboyne at 2pm."
The game will be followed by a jumper auction at the hotel after the game.
The reunion dinner will be held at the Wauchope RSL Club on Saturday night, commencing at 6.30pm and the final event will be a farewell breakfast at the football ground at 10am Sunday morning.
Entry forms and direct deposit details are available on the Beechwood Football Club’s facebook page or from a number of business in the Hastings area.
Call into M&S Print, Coppy’s Butcher Block, Rocks Motorcycles or phone 0419 696 506 to have one emailed to you.
Because the entry fee of $100 covers the cost of a reunion shirt, entries must be in by Friday March 22.
Entries after this date may not receive their shirt on the reunion weekend.
“We will need numbers well in advance of the weekend, so to be assured of your shirt being available for the weekend, register now," the spokesperson added.
Final registrations will close on Sunday May 26. No entry will be registered without full payment into the clubs bank account.
“So get registered as soon as you can and don’t rely just on telling someone you will be there," the spokesperson said.
