WAUCHOPE Thunder have risen from the depths of last winter, when they failed to muster sufficient players, to become the men's Lower Mid North Coast rugby union premiers.
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Wauchope diehards and stalwarts worked tirelessly in the off-season to reform the club.
In the process of recruiting and rebuilding, they managed to sign as many as 36 players whose quality was plain to behold as the Thunder outclassed the Manning River Ratz, five tries to one (29-7).
The longer the game on the Ratz home ground progressed, the better the Thunder performed.
To waves of chants of "Up there, Thunder!" and "Go you good things!" coach Peter Daley transformed the game in the second half.
The Thunder extended their half-time lead of a fragile 7-0, by running in another four tries; eclipsing the Ratz as no other club has this season.
The Ratz dominated the lineout in the first half, but Daley overcame this deficiency through the slick rotation of three line-out men.
Where the Ratz dominated rival packs through the season was by fielding three or four heavyweight forwards in their scrum and pulverising opposition packs.
But Wauchope's forwards' fitness enabled them to survive the battering and run out comprehensive winners, claiming eight line-outs in succession after halftime.
Taree Rugby Park could not have been presented in finer order by the Manning River club for the double-header which also saw the Gloucester Cockies claim their first major premiership shield in the women's 10-a-side competition, 17-10.
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