Hi, it’s Adrian Bo, and today, I’m back at the Coogee Oval. A few months ago, I recounted the story of when the visiting All Blacks played the mighty Galloping Greens here on the 22nd of June, 1988. Last weekend, the great rivalry between Randwick and Eastern Suburbs served us another chapter when they met here in the Anzac round of the Shute Shield. Eastern Suburbs got up by 31-22, and I thought it deserved a revisiting of the history of these two fantastic rugby clubs. Randwick District Rugby Union Football Club was formed in 1882 and originally played at what was known as the Randwick Reserve, now known as Alison park on Alison Road. The threat of Rugby League from 1907 caused serious competition for players, and once World War I had begun, all rugby in Australia was stopped. The club reformed in 1919 based from a small Randwick oval, which is now part of the University of New South Wales on the corner of High Street and Wansey Road. In 1926, Randwick’s base moved here to the Coogee Oval, and in 1928, the club adopted the myrtle green colours chosen due to the fact it was the colour of the destination signs on the Coogee trams. This led to the nickname, the Galloping Greens.

That famous match against the All Blacks in 1988 was an absolute humdinger, Randwick going down 25 to nine, which was closer than the Wallabies got against them on that same tour. Randwick have won 32 Shute Shield titles, yet have endured 17 long years without adding to that tally. Easts have won nine titles, but the stretch between drinks has now lasted for 51 years. The Eastern Suburbs District Rugby Club was born in March 1900 and was initially established at Rushcutters Bay Oval until 1935, then at Waverley Oval until 1948 and from there finally, at their current base of Woollahra Oval, though in 2018, home games were played at Centennial Park Oval. 105 Randwick players have played for the Wallabies, and six have been inducted into the IRB Hall of Fame, being David Campese, Ken Catchpole, Mark Ella, Bob Dwyer, George Gregan Sir Nicholas Shaehadie. The club has, in recent times, produced an extraordinary amount of world class coaches, including Michael Cheika, Eddie Jones, Ewen Mckenzie, and Gary Ella, who all played in that All Blacks match in 1988, as well as Bob Dwyer, Glen Ella, Alan Gaffney, and several other world class coaches. I’ve been selling real estate in this area for 32 years, and I’m proud to call the Cheika family close friends of mine, and I’ve sold many properties in this local vicinity, including last month, apartment 2 at 174 Coogee Bay Road, a one Bedroom apartment in Coogee for $685,000.

Then just before Christmas, I sold 4 at 88 Bream Street, a two Bedroom apartment. A month before that, I sold 6 at 67A Bream Street, a two Bedroom unit in Coogee for $900,000. A few months earlier, I sold 56 Bream Street, a four bedroom bungalow for over $2.2 million, and just before that, I sold 28 at 14 Kidman Street, another two bedroom apartment in Coogee for $1,070,000. The Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, including Randwick, is probably one of the world’s epicentres of Rugby Union, and with the NRL Rabbitohs soon moving into Heffron Park in Maroubra, we’ll really need to take stock and accept how lucky we are to have these great institutions steeped in history on our doorsteps. Enjoy the rugby as always, and remember, your home is worth more with Adrian Bo.