Paul Smith’s lifelong passion for rugby league led him to create the annual Shellharbour Stingrays Masters Carnival. Held in October, the two-day event brings together ‘old blokes’ - aged over 35 - for a game of modified footy, fostering a sense of comradery and nostalgia

Words Emma Smith

Images Leanne Crilly

Paul Smith is a rugby league tragic. He grew up in country NSW in the small village of Murringo, around 24 kilometres east of Young. He played his very first game of footy with the Young ‘Cherrypickers’ in the Under 11’s side and would go on to win two First Grade premierships with the same club, many years later.

Paul still talks about the glory grand final days of 1984 and 1991.

“The ‘84 team was full of locals. We had a couple of sets of brothers playing together and we were all amateurs, no one was paid,” said Paul.

“In ’91 we had former NRL hooker, Mal Cochrane, and former NRL winger, Chris Kinna join the side. To this day, we are the last First Grade team to have won a premiership for the club.”

Paul would go on to be recognised in the Cherrypickers Group 9 ‘Team of the Century’ for his skill in the centres. He retired from footy at 29, but little did he know, he would pick the boots up again some 16 years later.

NRL Masters Rugby League was born in 2006 after numerous studies were undertaken to develop a modified form of the game that would appeal to mature aged players. No scores are kept in Masters footy, and players wear different coloured shorts to indicate what level of contact they’d like to play in. White shorts mean full contact, red shorts for hold, and yellow for touch only.

The first official national event was held at the Runaway Bay Seagulls Rugby League Club on the Gold Coast in March 2007 and attracted 15 teams. Two years later, Masters fever hit Young and the Cherrypickers planned their own annual carnival. Paul’s mates convinced him to play in the ‘Cherryatrics’ side.

“It was so hard. The body was too sore.”

“It was everything I had missed about footy…the mates and the comradery. It brought back a lot of good memories.”

Paul says he only lasted a couple of years in the white shorts before making the humble switch to red and eventually yellow.

“It was so hard. The body was too sore.”

In 2019, life moved Paul and his wife Jacqui to Shellharbour. Once things opened back up post Covid, and with retirement approaching, he started volunteering with the Shellharbour Stingrays Rugby League Football Club to meet people. It wasn’t long before he was asking about a Masters carnival.

“I got my mate to introduce me to the Stingrays President at a Men’s Luncheon, where I pitched the idea to him. I went along to their next meeting and the ‘Golden Rays’ Masters team was officially born.”

“I started talking to people about the carnival at home games and enlisted a few people to put the feelers out there. We ended up getting the names of 60 local men who were interested, so I knew it was a winner from the start.”

Wet weather meant the inaugural carnival scheduled for October 2022 had to be postponed and was instead held in March 2023 with six teams from across the state signing up.

The carnival gives older and former players, who often help their local clubs with coaching and administration, the chance to have a run around, reconnect with their mates and most importantly, return to their normal roles on Monday.

Word spread fast and when the second carnival in October 2023 rolled around, ten teams had come on board. It attracted players of all abilities, with the youngest being 36 and the oldest 84! Paul estimates the carnival injected around $130,000 into the local economy, with around 190 people utilising local accommodation and hospitality venues.

“Alan from the Central Coast Bulldogs, aged 84, played his first ever game of Masters footy at the ripe old age of 80, after his son signed him up as a birthday present. The smile on his face all day was phenomenal.”

Paul says the highlight of the carnival was watching the Shellharbour Sharks premiership winning Under 18’s side of 1995 and 1996 re-connect after 30 odd years.

“Seeing the old team get back together after all that time apart was pretty special. That’s what Masters is all about.”

The two-day event ended with a representative game between the ‘Dragons’ and ‘Steelers,’ made up of participants from every team, with the Dragons coming out on top.

Paul says local men should add the event to their calendar for October 2024 and get a team together.

“Us men need to get better at coming together and talking to our mates. The carnival is a great way to do that and look after our mental health.”

Paul Smith also happens to be my dad, and I’m so proud of him and what he’s done for the community.