AUSTRALIA'S newest rugby club roared to life on Friday night, with Marc Minor announced as coach of the Wauchope Thunder Rugby Club for the inaugural season in 2015.
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Good humour and passion for the game were abundant from the start, as more than 100 guests enjoyed canapes and drinks Billabong Koala Wildlife Park with Australian rugby boss Bill Pulver and Wallaby Stephen Moore and NSW?Waratah Stephen Hoiles.
There was entertainment of a different kind before the main meal, with resident saltwater crocodile Shrek eliciting shrieks and gasps as he lunged at tasty meat treats.
The menu by the Hastings Hotel's Kylie Fletcher had mouths salivating, but the real treat came when Wauchope Thunder patron and former Wallaby Reg Smith regaled the crowd with tales of touring Britain in the mid 1970s.
A lively panel discussion featuring Pulver and the two Stephens drew applause when the ARU boss said the game's future hinged on the participation of more young girls and boys.
"That's why I'm quite keen to develop a non-contact Sevens form of the game as an entry point for those who might be scared about the physicality of it," Pulver said.
The crowd weren't afraid to question the powerful, with members of the Thunder and Port Pirates drilling Pulver on the visibility of women's rugby and funding for deaf rugby.
The loudest laughs went to Hoiles when he described his former Randwick teammate, and current Port Pirate, Tim Farnsworth's affection for mirrors.
"I'm fairly certain he's a back who was born in a forward's body," Hoiles said.
After the formal part of the night had concluded, Moore reflected on the importance of supporting grassroots rugby.
"I grew up in a small regional town in central Queensland, and rugby was a way of getting out of the house and getting active.
"Rugby was what I chose, and I've never looked back."
The man whose tenure as Wallabies captain was cut short after just 90 seconds by a devastating knee injury said he'd not been distracted by the team's recent off-field concerns.
"As a player I'm a bit old school, I guess. I play rugby because I enjoy it and I always have.
"I enjoy watching it, and the values of the game mean a lot to me and my family. I think we can never lose sight of that."
Thunder president Peter Daley was "ecstatic" when reflecting on the night's success, which he said augers well for the club next year.
"It was an excellent evening, with top calibre guests who participated beautifully and the engagement with the audience was great," he said.
