# New South Wales Country Eagles

The New South Wales Country Eagles is an Australian rugby union football team competes in the National Rugby Championship (NRC). The team was founded by a group of patrons associated with country rugby in New South Wales. The Eagles team plays home matches in regional centres of New South Wales including Armidale, Goulburn, Orange, and Tamworth.

## History

The ARU announced in December 2013 that the National Rugby Championship (NRC) would commence in 2014. Expressions of interest were open to all parties, with the accepted bids announced in early 2014. A group of rugby patrons headed by businessmen Rick Hutchinson and Peter Tonkin (son of former Wallaby Arthur Tonkin) founded the bid for a New South Wales Country team. On 24 March 2014, it was announced that New South Wales Country would be in the new competition.
The first general manager of the NSW Country Eagles, former Wallabies player James Grant, stated in 2014 that the team would be based in Sydney but travel to regional centres in New South Wales to play home games. Cities including Orange, Dubbo, Mudgee, Lismore, Tamworth, Moree, Armidale and Newcastle expressed an interest in staging matches.
Originally it was thought that the NSW Country team for the NRC would be wholly composed of city-based players of country origin, but a goal of recruiting between four and eight players that were country-based was announced. In the early years of the competition. Sydney clubs Easts and Randwick had a direct link as feeder clubs for the NSW Country team in the NRC. Ahead of the 2016 season, the Sydney University club took a 25% stake in the team and provided many Eagles players from that season onwards.
Darren Coleman was appointed as the first head coach of NSW Country team in 2014. Coleman had previously guided Japanese team Toyota Shokki to Top League promotion for the 2013–14 season. Prior to that, he was also the assistant coach of the Central Coast Rays team which won the ARC in 2007. Coleman continued as head coach through to 2018.

## Name and colours

2014–2015 NSW Country Eagles kit and logo :
The Country Eagles are named for the wedge-tailed eagle, the largest bird of prey found in Australia. The team logo features a wedge-tailed eagle and, as the bird's feathers are mainly black with deep golden coloured highlights on the neck and wings, black and gold were adopted as the team's original colours. The logo and mascot, “Wedgie”, were chosen in consultation with the NSW Country Rugby Union to differentiate the team from the existing Cockatoos representative side. The Eagles colours, however, remain similar to the traditional black and gold (amber) colours worn by NSW Country.

## Sponsorship

Elders Limited formed a partnership with NSW Country Eagles in 2015, and has been the team's main front-of-jersey sponsor since 2016. The major naming sponsor of the Country Eagles for the 2014 and 2015 seasons was Charles Sturt University (CSU).

## Grounds

The NSW Country team plays its home matches in regional centres of New South Wales. In previous seasons, the team has also hosted some games in Sydney. The team has its training base at the University of NSW in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, the same facility used by the Waratahs.
The team has scheduled home matches at the following locations:
| City | Venue | Capacity |
| Home venues for the current season |||
| Dubbo | Caltex Park | 12,000 |
| Port Macquarie | Regional Stadium | 10,000 |
| Wollongong | WIN Stadium | 23,000 |
| Home venues for previous seasons |||
| Armidale | Bellevue Oval | 3,000 |
| Bathurst | Ann Ashwood Park | 3,000 |
| Camden | Camden Rugby Park | 3,000 |
| Gosford | Central Coast Stadium | 20,059 |
| Goulburn | Simon Poidevin Oval | 3,000 |
| Lismore | Oakes Oval | 10,000 |
| Mudgee | Glen Willow Stadium | 10,000 |
| Newcastle | Sports Ground No. 2 | 5,000 |
| Orange | Wade Park | 8,000 |
| Tamworth | Chillingworth Oval | 3,000 |
| Tamworth | Scully Park | 11,000 |
| Tamworth | Magpies Rugby Park | 3,000 |
| Sydney | Concord Oval | 20,000 |
| Sydney | Coogee Oval | 5,000 |
| Sydney | University Oval No. 2 | 5,000 |
| Sydney | Woollahra Oval | 5,000 |

## Current squad

The squad for the 2019 NRC season:
| NSW Country squad – NRC 2019 |
| Prop Angus Bell Archer Hall  Harry Johnson-Holmes Rob Lagudi Tom Robertson  Matt Sandell Chris Talakai Cody Walker  Hooker Aaron Blacklock Tom Horton Andrew Tuala  David Vea Lock Nathan Den Hoedt  Jed Holloway Tom Nowlan  Tom Staniforth Connor Vest Backrow Nick Champion de Crespigny Ned Hanigan (c) Will Harris Michael Icely Maclean Jones Patrick Tafa | Scrum-half Jake Gordon Jack Grant Henry Robertson Fly-half Mack Mason Connor O'Shea Centre Nigel Ah Wong  Ofa Manuofetoa  Joey Walton Ben Woollett Wing James Dargaville James Kane Mark Nawaqanitawase Triston Reilly Fullback Tim Clements James Turner Bold denotes player is internationally capped (c) denotes team captain $^1$ denotes marquee player |
| Notes: The initial squad was named in late August. Players joining in subsequent rounds were: 1 2 3 4 5 6 Den Hoedt, Walker, Nowlan (Rd 1), Ah Wong, Manuofetoa (Rd 2), and Hall (Rd 3). 1 2 Robertson and Tuala (Rd 4). "NRC Team Hub - Round One: All the teams, times and RUGBY.com.au stream details". Rugby.com.au. 29 August 2019. "NRC Team Hub: All the lineups, kick-off times and broadcast info for round two". Rugby.com.au. 5 September 2019. "NRC Team Hub: All the teams, kick-off times and broadcast info for round three". Rugby.com.au. 12 September 2019. |

## Records
### Honours

* National Rugby Championship
** Runners-up: 2016
** Playoff appearances: 2014
* Horan-Little Shield
** Season winners: 2016

### Season standings

National Rugby Championship
    Year Pos Pld W D L F A +/- BP Pts  Play-offs 2018 7th 7106140280−14026  Did not compete 2017 5th 8413219217+2220  Did not compete 2016 1st 7601280190+90428  Grand final loss to Perth Spirit by 20–16. 2015 5th 8404225260−35319  Did not compete 2014 2nd 8602251202+49327  Semi-final loss to Brisbane City by 26–32.

### Head coaches

* Robert Taylor (2019)
* Darren Coleman (2014–2018)

### Captains

* Ned Hanigan (2019)
* Paddy Ryan (2016–2018)
* Jono Lance (2015)
* Matthew Carraro, Cameron Treloar (2014)

### Squads

    2016 NSW Country Eagles squad – NRC The squad for the 2016 National Rugby Championship season:   Props Cam Betham Jed Gillespie Samuel Needs Tom Robertson Paddy Ryan (c) Sonny Suatala Hookers Folau Fainga'a Tolu Latu Locks Tim Buchanan Ned Hanigan Ryan McCauley Dean Mumm$^1$ Will Munro   Loose forwards Mark Baldwin Sam Croke Tom Cusack Rohan O’Regan Rowan Perry Jake Wainwright Sam Ward Scrum-halves Jake Gordon Nick Phipps$^1$ Mitchell Short Fly-halves Tayler Adams Andrew Deegan Bernard Foley$^1$   Centres Samuel Figg Kyle Godwin Tom Hill David Horwitz Apakuki Ma’afu Wingers Charlie Clifton Christian Kagiassis Andrew Kellaway Reece Robinson Ernest Suavua Joel Brooks Jarome McKenzie Tom Merritt Fullbacks Alex Newsome Angus Roberts (c) Team captain Bold denotes internationally capped players at the time $^1$ Allocated national player additional to the contracted squad.
    2015 NSW Country Eagles squad – NRC The squad for the 2015 National Rugby Championship season:   Props Andrew Collins David Feao Dashville Kuate Dane Maraki Jerome Vaai Hookers Ryan Dalziel Peter Nau Tom Sexton Locks Jock Armstrong Sam Carter$^1$ BJ Edwards Tom Staniforth Ned Hanigan Nicholas Palmer   Loose forwards Mark Baldwin Sam Croke Sam Lousi Will Miller (vc) Beau Robinson Pauli Tuala Tyrone Viiga Scrum-halves Michael Dowsett Jock Merriman Fly-halves David Horwitz Jono Lance (c) Matt To'omua$^1$   Centres Samuel Figg Brogan Roods Ed Stubbs Wingers Joel Brooks Charlie Clifton Andrew Kellaway Jarome McKenzie Tom Merritt Fullbacks David Harvey Will Fay (c) Team captain Bold denotes internationally capped players at the time $^1$ Allocated national player additional to the contracted squad.
    2014 NSW Country Eagles squad – NRC The squad for the 2014 National Rugby Championship season:   Props Michael Alaalatoa Duncan Chubb Jake Ilnicki Sekope Kepu$^1$ Max Lahiff Tim Metcher Ben Suisala Hookers Ryan Dalziel Billy Johnston Josh Mann-Rea Will Weeks Locks Mitchell Chapman Kane Douglas Ben Matwijow Cameron Treloar   Loose forwards Sam Croke Tala Gray Stephen Hoiles Will Miller Pauli Tuala Ita Vaea Scrum-halves Darcy Etrich Brendan McKibbin Michael Snowden Nic White$^1$ Fly-halves David Horwitz Matt To'omua$^1$ Sam Windsor   Centres Adam Ashley-Cooper$^1$ Matthew Carraro (c) Apakuki Ma’afu Ed Stubbs Chris Tuatara-Morrison Samu Wara Wingers Ethan Ford John Grant Andrew Kellaway Misieli Sinoti Malakai Watene-Zelezniak Fullbacks Patrick Dellit (c) Team captain Bold denotes internationally capped players at the time $^1$ Allocated national player additional to the contracted squad.

## Gallery

* NSW Country Eagles Round 1
* NSW Country Eagles Coogee Oval
* NSW Country Eagles Coogee Oval
* NSW Country Eagles Coogee Oval
* Sam Figg runs the ball against the Rams in 2016