Everything old is new again at Wauchope Thunder as they prepare to re-join the lower Mid North Coast rugby union competition.
The club hopes a disrupted last four years can finally be put behind them in 2023 when they help the zone return to a five-team competition.
Wauchope fielded a team in 2019, 2020 and 2021 before they had to withdraw from the 2022 season.
Marc Minor returns to the Thunder as president while Peter Daley will again be head coach as the foundation duo return to where it all started.
Minor said it came about because of a push from the community to have a rugby union team again and the pair had no choice but to answer the call.
"It's a bit of a resurrection," Minor said of the club's return.
"As founding members of the club, neither of us wanted to see it fold so it was very important for us to come back.
"The driving force was the Wauchope community who deserves to have a rugby team and they have shown a real appetite for it. The support over the last few weeks from sponsors since we've been back has been wonderful."
Minor acknowledged the growth of rugby and how he and Daley wanted to play their part in continuing the code's upward trend.
There is a sense of belonging again at the Wauchope Thunder which hasn't always been the case after they didn't field a senior team in 2022 or 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic.
Change is happening at Andrews Park - and it's for the better.
"When you look at the sociology of any sport and what makes people go to play sport, there's a couple of critical things that were missing from the Thunder," Minor said.
"Hopefully we can put those back in and show people that it's a worthwhile competition and if you come along and play there's going to be a good club behind you with good leadership."
Wauchope will field teams in both the senior men's and women's competitions where being competitive is the only goal for the season.
Things are looking strong both on and off the field.
"At the moment the amount of people willing to come in and help off the field is probably as good as what we're getting on the field," Minor said.
"That's been a bonus as well as sponsors; people have been on the phone saying 'we want to be involved in sponsorship of the club'."
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