Nickname(s) | The Emus | |
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Founded | 1961, Recess 1988, Reformed 1997 | |
Location | Burnie, Tasmania, Australia | |
Ground(s) | Upper burnie sports centre | |
League(s) | Tasmanian Rugby Union | |
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Official website | ||
burnie |
Burnie Rugby Union Club is a rugby union club based in Burnie, Tasmania, Australia. It was established in 1961, was dormant in the late 1980s and reformed in 1997. [1] The club is a member of the Tasmanian Rugby Union, affiliated with the Australian Rugby Union, and plays in the Tasmanian Statewide League men's First Division.
The club's home ground is at Upper Burnie sports centre in the Burnie. Known as "the Emus", the club colours are blue and red. The club fields a team in Men's First Division along with a Women's team in the statewide competition.
The club was reformed in 1997 after a seven-year absence from competition. With the encouragement of Ron Willet, a prop forward and Northern Tasmanian President from Launceston, meetings commenced with Ken Allan & Shane Bentley at Burnie’s Beach hotel. Former Burnie president Brett "Crusty" Kershaw came on board as player and treasurer. Peter Letcher was recruited as coach for the side. Warren and Robbie Taylor came on board as manager and secretary respectively.
Past player Fergie Baird assisted in locating some lost funds that had been set aside for future club use. Kershaw paid for the club's first insurance bill and the Emus were reestablished.
The Northern Competition at that time comprised Burnie, Devonport, two Launceston teams, Georgetown, and the West Coast Miners (the last two are now defunct). The Emus played in the Acton Rugby and Softball ground which they shared in and developed. In 2003, the club moved to the Montello Sporting Grounds, the home of the Burnie United Soccer Club. After six years the club parted ways with Montello and moved to the McKenna Park Regional Sporting Complex in early 2009.
Burnie has played in three Northern Grand Finals since 1997, winning one in 2003 defeating Launceston at Montello Sporting Ground in a memorable 14 -10. Big Willie Johnson scored the winning try under the posts with Josh Baldwin converting to secure the victory on the day. Burnie had narrowly lost in two grand finals to the Devonport Bulls.
In 2008, after its first season of the Statewide Second Division, Burnie won the championship with a more than convincing victory over Glenorchy.
In 2009, the Emus participated in the revised Statewide First Division Competition. Burnie is back in the Statewide First Division after a 20-year absence.
The current President is Isabella Hardy, the first female and youngest person to ever take on the role. Women's coach Brett "Crusty" Kershaw is Vice President. Vanessa Davies is the current Secretary and Melissa Coull is the Treasurer.
Senior Team
Burnie is a port city located on the north-west coast of Tasmania, Australia. It is the fourth largest city on the island, located approximately 325 kilometres (202 mi) north-west of the state capital of Hobart, 147 kilometres (91 mi) north-west of Launceston, and 47 kilometres (29 mi) west of Devonport. As of the 2021 census, Burnie has a population of 19,918, with a municipality area spanning 600 square kilometres (230 sq mi), administered by the City of Burnie. Founded in 1827 as Emu Bay, the township was renamed in the early 1840s after William Burnie, a director of the Van Diemen's Land Company, and proclaimed a city by Queen Elizabeth II on 26 April 1988.
Football Tasmania (FT) is the governing body for soccer in the Australian state of Tasmania. The federation oversees competitions across Tasmania, Tasmanian representative teams, and development of the sport in the state. The federation was known as the Tasmanian Soccer Association until 1996, when it was renamed to Soccer Tasmania. In line with national changes in March 2006, it became Football Federation Tasmania. In February 2019, the organisation became simply Football Tasmania.
The Tasmanian State League (TSL), colloquially known as the Tasmanian Football League (TFL) (formerly known as the Tasmanian Australian National Football League (TANFL) and several other short-term names) was the highest ranked Australian rules football league in Tasmania, Australia.
The North West Football League is an Australian rules football competition in North West Tasmania. The league was previously known as the "Northern Tasmanian Football League" from its inception in 1987 until the end of the 2014 season.
In Tasmania, Australian rules football is a popular spectator and participation sport. It has been played since the late 1860s and draws the largest audience for any football code in the state. A 2018 study of internet traffic showed that 79% of Tasmanians are interested in the sport, the highest rate in the country. It is governed by AFL Tasmania and according to Ausplay there are 13,927 adult players with a participation rate of 2.5% per capita about a quarter of which are female playing across 12 competitions.
Metro Tasmania, commonly called Metro, a Tasmanian Government business enterprise, is the largest bus operator in the state of Tasmania, Australia, with operations in three of the four largest urban centres of Hobart, Launceston, and Burnie. Urban services in Devonport are provided by a private operator, Kinetic. Services are provided by Metro under a range of urban and non-urban contracts with the Transport Commission, a division within the Department of State Growth.
Devonport City Strikers Football Club, or the "Strikers" is a soccer club based in Devonport, Tasmania. It competes in the National Premier Leagues, the second-tier of Australian football.
The New Norfolk District Football Club, nicknamed The Eagles, is an Australian rules football club currently playing in the Southern Football League, in Tasmania, Australia.
Burnie Dockers Football Club is an Australian rules football club in Burnie Tasmania, Australia. The club currently competes in the North West Football League (NWFL).
Sport is a significant aspect of the culture on the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Outside general recreational activities such as walking, gym or bushwalking, the most popular sports in Tasmania are swimming, athletics/track and field, cycling/mountain biking, golf and Australian rules football. Netball ranks as the most popular team sport for female participation, while cricket leads among male participants. The most widely played team sport is soccer, with an estimated 36,773 Tasmanians, comprising 6.8% of the state's population, participating annually.
The Tasmanian Rugby Union, or TRU, is the governing body for the sport of rugby union within the state of Tasmania in Australia. The TRU was established in 1933. It is a member and founding union of Rugby Australia.
West Park Oval is an Australian Rules football, cycling and athletics venue located on the shores of Bass Strait in Burnie, Tasmania. It is the current home of the Burnie Dockers in the Tasmanian State League and previously in the NTFL and in the original TFL Statewide League.
Devonport Football Club is an Australian rules football club based in Devonport, Tasmania. The club currently competes in the North West Football League (NWFL). The club previously competed in the Northern Tasmanian Football League, but from 2009 it joined the newly reformed Tasmanian State League, where it played until withdrawing before the 2018 season.
The Tasmanian State Premiership was an Australian rules football tournament which was contested at the conclusion of the season, initially between the reigning Tasmanian Football League (TFL/TANFL) and Northern Tasmanian Football Association (NTFA) premiers, and then from 1950 also by the NWFU premiers, to determine an overall premier team for the state of Tasmania. The state premiership was contested 57 times between 1909 and 1978.
The South Launceston Football Club is an Australian rules football club currently competing in the Northern Tasmanian Football Association. They were formed through a merger between City-South and East Launceston in 1986, clubs in the former Northern Tasmanian Football Association. South Launceston was in the TFL Statewide League from 1986 to 1997, then the Northern Tasmanian Football League until 2008, then in the Tasmanian Football League until 2013.
The Winfield Statewide Cup was an Australian rules football tournament held in Tasmania, Australia between the top twenty-one (21) major football clubs across Tasmania from the three major footballing bodies across the state, the TANFL, the NTFA and the NWFU.
Devonport Rugby Club Est. 1964 is a Rugby Union club at the Don in Devonport, Tasmania. The club is a member of the Tasmanian Rugby Union and Tasmanian Rugby Union Juniors, affiliated with the Australian Rugby Union and plays in the Tasmanian Statewide League.
Launceston Rugby Union Football Club is a rugby union club based in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia. Established in 1998, the club is a member of the Tasmanian Rugby Union and Tasmanian Rugby Union Juniors, affiliated with the Australian Rugby Union and plays in the Tasmanian Statewide League.
The 2009 AFL Tasmania TSL premiership season was an Australian rules football competition, staged across Tasmania, Australia over eighteen roster rounds and six finals series matches between 4 April and 19 September 2009.
Statewide Australian rules football competition has been played in Tasmania, Australia under the umbrella of the Tasmanian Football League from 1986–1998, Football Tasmania from 1999–2000 until the competition was disbanded in December 2000 and AFL Tasmania from 2009 when a new ten-club competition, this time known as the Tasmanian State League, was formed.