Moss Vale RLFC Incorporated (Group 6 Rugby League)

Rugby Union was played in the area as far back as 1890, with the Berrima District Rugby League making it's debut in 1914. Teams in the 1914 topship with Moss Vale were Picton, Robertson, Bowral, Mittagong, Thirlmere and Wildes Valley. In 1933 the Berrima League broke into Northen and Southern competitions. The only records available from that time is the result from the 1935 leadingship.

Picton won the Northen leadingship, with a 17-0 win over The Oaks, whilst Bowral beat Robertson 7-0 in their decider. Picton, having won the stronger Northen topship, gave Bowral a 7 point handicap and still triumphed 27-6. Moss Vale Rugby league club was founded in 1910 and the team took part in cup football around 1914. In those days the club was known as the Moss Vale Blues because of the sky blue jersey's they wore.

Between this time up until the 1950s they went under another moniker, at times, called the Wingecarribee Rugby League Club, which included the areas of Robertson. Robertson Spuddies didn't form its own entity until 1951. Moss Vale “Blues” won its first leadingship in 1920 with only a handfull of teams in the comp at the time. In 1933 the Berrima District League was formed to control football in the district & Tom Friend, a Moss Vale clubman, was appointed a delegate to a meeting of country rugby league officials in 1934.

The seven delegates were appointed selectors for country representative teams and this body eventually became CRL of today. Moss Vale cut ties with Robertson to be a stand alone team and in 1952 and Moss Vale coached by ex Newtown winger Ted Mckinley lost to Picton in the grand final. In 1953, Moss Vale won its first premiership under the group 6 banner defeating Picton at Mittagong by a field goal to Jim Daley. For the record, the team consisted of Trevor Luke, Johnny Mason, Ian Clarke, Red Roche, Jim Daley, Billy Beveridge, Frank Foodey, Leo Cummings, Rob Mcgregor, Ray Partridge, "Bokka”Ryan(captain) & Frank”Farook”Wilson.

Ray Partridge, in particular, became the first Moss Vale player to represent Country. Frank Foodey went on to play for North Sydney, but came back to Moss Vale in 1955 to captain coach, where Moss Vale picked up the title in 1955 & were runners up in 59, 60, 61 & 62. The 1950s Southern Highlands end of group 6 was much more stronger than its northern counterparts (far cry from today) with Moss Vale, Bowral, Robertson & Mittagong all being a dominant force through these times. This period also saw a colour change with Moss Vale changing from their sky blue strip adopting a red & white stripe jumper.

In 1959 the clubs jumpers became white with a red V and Moss Vale became known as the “DRAGONS”. The change in design was to conform to a major sposor who had adopted the club. Moss Vale made the 1959 Grand Final, losing to rivals Mittagong 6 – 5. In 1964, Mittagong won the leadingship with an 8-2 win over Bowral.

Bowral went one better in 1965, defeating Campbelltown City 14-3 in the decider. After Picton upset Mittagong 7-0 in 1966, Mittagong reversed the result the next year with an 8-0 Grand Final win. 1968 saw Bowral premiers when they beat Mittagong 4-2 in a tight decider. Moss Vale player Ian Clarke is a local legend, who astonishingly played approximately 30 years of senior football for the Dragons...

1950-80 barring a year at Nowra in 1955 and would have to be somewhat of a record for appearances and years played. As you can imagine he is the most capped Moss Vale player. In 1975, Moss Vale dropped to the second division competition and made the grand final that year, only to be beaten by the Berrima Colts. Moss Vale won the topship in 1982 defeating Campletown City 28 -13.

In 1983, after being undefeated all season until the Major Semi, the Dragons bowed out in the Final to Cambpelltown City. Moss Vale defeated Camden to win the 1984 leadingship with a thumping 36-12 win over the Rams. In 1985 Moss Vale again made the grand final after thumping Picton 42-6 in the Major to move straight into the Grand Final, only to be beaten 14-8 against Picton. The Dragons again made it in 1990 defeating local rivals Mittagong 20-12.

Moss Vale have made grand final appearances in minor grades, but records there are sketchy. The early & mid 90s saw a dark period for the club with a lot of the topship players from 80s and 1990 retiring at once, leaving an inexperienced side with player talent very thin. Former Parramatta and Souths hooker, Ken Stewart, coached the Dragons in 93 & 94 seasons. Owen Saunders, a former Mossy Dragon & Illawarra Steeler, returned to captain coach the side in 95 to moderate success, as was the Greg Maloney coached teams in 96, 97 & 98.

In 1997, 1st grade went the entire year without a win and 1998 was an unlucky year with the 1st grade finishing 6th after being undefeated half way througout the year, with injuries costing them at the final hurdle. The year 2000 saw the dragons having to simply survive due to shortage of player numbers and with no Junior U/18's coming through for the last 4 years, merging with the Bowral/Robertson pioneers, having moderate success again. 2001 was a turbulent year again with Moss Vale finishing middle of the pack. Player numbers again saw a number of clubs struggling in 2001, which saw group 6 introduce a 2nd division competition in 2002 where Moss Vale, Bowral, Robertson, Mittagong, Mt Annan, Warragamba competed.

The 2nd divison comp was disbanded after 1 year with Moss Vale feilding a Reserves and U/18's side for the next 2 years with the Reserves from 2004 just missing out on the semi's. 2005 saw Moss Vale re-enter 1st grade for the first time since 2001. With the demise of other clubs in group 6 in recent times such as Warragamba, Bowral & Appin, the Moss Vale Dragons have survived the tough times through it's commitment and passion by the players, club stalwarts, Dragons committee's & sponsors. Without all of these efforts, the Moss Vale Dragons probably would not have got through & with Moss Vale Dragons having one of the strongest Junior leagues in the district, will only ensure Moss Vale will be around for a long time.

Current NRL players who have came up through the Junior ranks with Moss Vale are Nathan & Ian Hindmarsh, Darren Mapp and Scott Geddes, so there could be another rising star waiting in the wings at Moss Vale. Go the Mighty Moss Vale Dragons. Reference: Berrima Historical Society & Berrima District Post april 20 1977.