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ASSOCIATES R.U.F.C., INC
“SOAKS” - Where did this name come from?
The following has been extracted from “A Brief History” written by Richard Trend in 1987 and from other Club documents.
The Club was formed in 1948 as the University Associates (an offshoot of the University Club) by a group of ex-servicemen (Athol Gibson, Dan Davies-Moore and Hilary Morton). Their initial aim was to form a team as the University old boys’ team. As new graduates of UWA continued to play for the University, the Associates found that they needed to recruit from outside that arena and chose the Aldephi Hotel. Club members met regularly in the Saloon Bar after Saturday morning work. Quite a few players had their first game for the Club just because they happened to be in the Bar at a time players were needed.
The Club moved from playing at the University grounds to the Nedlands foreshore. Teams were selected on Thursday nights in the lounge bar of the Captain Stirling hotel. They were then written on the back of brown paper bottle bags and were never again seen by the administrators of the Club!
The President of the Club during the period up until 1957 was David Cruickshank. He became Mayor of Nedlands and was of great assistance to the Club in later years. David’s wife, Shirley remains a Vice Patron to the Club and is a keen supporter of our Colts teams.
It is probably evident how the nick name SOAKS came about. The early players were renowned for their parties and love of rugby. Not much has changed in the ensuing years as Associates has grown to become the one of the largest and most successful Clubs in WA.
THE NEED FOR A CLUBHOUSE
While originally using the University grounds Associates used facilities at the following:
1953 – 1959 - Captain Stirling Hotel
1959 – 1962 - Nedlands Park Hotel
1962 – 1963 - Mounts Bay Sailing Club
1963 – 1983 - Nedlands Park Hotel
1983 – 1986 - Swanbourne Sportsman Club
1986 – 1987 - Ocean Beach Hotel
From 1979 – 1882 several proposals were put to the Council for the building of a clubhouse at 7 different locations, including Allen Park. The use of hotels as Club rooms (for nearly 40 years!) finally came to an end in October 1986 when the City of Nedlands gave approval for the current Clubrooms to be constructed at Allen Park, Swanbourne. The Clubrooms were completed in 1988.
Since then the Club has:
Added floodlights in 1998
Added a storeroom and verandah in 1998
Extended the storage and meeting areas in 2005
JUNIORS GET STARTED
The Associates Juniors was formed in 1986 by Roy Hart and Richard Trend. There had been earlier failed attempts to form a junior section to Associates. As a consequence some junior players played with other established Clubs such as Western Suburbs, Cottesloe and University. Roy and Richard decided that with their sons and the sons of other senior players they had a nucleus to try again. Roy delivered fliers to school from Fremantle to Scarborough in preparation for the 1986 registration day. What started with this very small group has now grown to over 300 Junior members. Many of those players are still playing today in the Senior ranks and representing W.A.
The Associates Colts (U19’s) have been an integral part of the success of this Club and have been winning championships since 1966, wining many premierships (12 in the past 18 years). The Senior section of the Club has always been very competitive - first reaching the finals in 1949 and first Premiership in 1952. The “A” Grade Premiership was won in 1959, 60 and 63 through to 1967. Associates won the Club Championship in 1965.
SINCE 1960
Whilst Associates continued to be in the top of the Colts ranks throughout the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s, it appears that the lack of a Clubhouse affected the results tables at the senior level. The grades continued to grow in strength and in 1992 Associates won the Club Championship which is awarded by Western Australian rugby and is based on results from all grades. The Firsts won their next premiership in 1997 and 1998. 2002 is the last year Soaks 1st grade held the Premiership flag. From 1992 to 2007 Associates has won the Club Championship 5 times.
On the Administration side of the Club, Soaks was the first Rugby Club in Western Australia to elect a woman to the position of Club President. Edna Rovira was the Club President for four years from 2004 to 2007 inclusive. The Rovira family has a long association with the Club. Edna’s husband Tony played and coached and their sons are currently playing for the Club.
(Updated April 2008) | 
