President's Update - Apr 2026

Hi Onka Family,

This is the President's update for April.

The season has well and truly started, with some great games played in the first round against Old Collegians and preparations being made for the next two weeks, which are home games against Barossa and Woodville. The Woodville game is also our Past Players’ Day so we’re hoping to see lots of our club legends down for the games – if you know any past players, please spread the word.

Our juniors had a great start to the season, with solid performances against Old Collegians and good player numbers.

Unfortunately, some of the other clubs are struggling with U16s and U18s numbers and have pulled their teams out of the competition (or merged). This would normally mean more Byes for those age groups, however we have been working with RUSA to ensure that our older juniors get games each week – more info to come through the coaches shortly, but rest assured we will make sure that our juniors get game time.

Seniors have had strong attendance and solid performance at training and on the field, and are looking forward to big games against Barossa this weekend.

Cameron Puplett and I have been working on weekly match reports that we will post up with match results each week – hopefully you saw the one for the Old Collegian’s game. Any feedback or suggestions for future reports are most welcome.

Off the field, the committee has been busy. The old Honour Boards, which were relocated to the player’s race last year, have now been covered with Perspex to protect them, and new Honour Boards for the club are expected next week – so keep an eye out for them, they look great! At the same time we are updating and replacing our sponsor signs at the front of the club.

The gear shed roller door has been ordered and we’re expecting it to be installed in around four weeks’ time. This will make getting equipment in and out of the shed much easier (and safer) and open up that area. We’ve also purchased more rope and poles to allow us to rope off both fields in line with RUSA regulations – please stay outside of the roped areas on game day.

We are looking at some upgrades to fridge space for both the canteen and the BBQ, which will make buying and prepping food and drinks for Thursdays and Saturdays a lot easier.

We had a power issue last Thursday night (2 April), which caused the club to be shut down early. The Power company have repaired the fault, and we now have all the fridges and cool-rooms up and running. Thanks to members who stored the food in their home freezers until we could get the canteen up and running again.

The club website has now been updated with all the current news, as well as fixtures, coaching lists and other details.

One thing that I feel is very important is to remember and respect the club history. As part of the working bee – we cleaned and sorted the old documents that were stored in the office, some from the very early days of the club. I have scanned over 800 files, including old newspaper articles, pictures, team lists, minutes etc and plan to purchase a club network hard-drive to store these on. I have also added a big section to the website on club history. Based on an original document by Colin Talbot (that I believe Matt Whitton added to), as well as some of the old documents, RUSA paperwork and other snippets I located, it captures the birth of the club including pictures, newspaper reports and other facts. Check it out at [https://www.onkarugby.com.au/club-history](https://www.onkarugby.com.au/club-history) and feel free to provide any feedback, updates or suggestions.

I am also intending on adding a section to the website on our named club awards with details on who they are named after as well as what the criteria are for winning them.

There was also a requirement put on us to update the club constitution to bring it in line with the Sports and Recreation templates and guidelines, which give it a more professional look. I have made these updates and hope to send the updated constitution out to the wider Onka club community for feedback. Once we are happy with it, I will call a Special General Meeting to get it approved. I have captured a list of all changes and mapping between the old and new to show how they line up. More on this shortly.

As always, if you have any questions, concerns or suggestions please message me or talk to me at the club.

Match Report - Onkas vs Old Collegians - 28 Mar 2026

Onkas keep fighting in tough battle

The A grade were put to the test against last year’s undefeated minor premiers and fought to the final whistle in a game that could have gone either way.

The boys started with the physicality that they have been training. With a great take by Ryan Evans from the kick-off, Onkas crashed the ball forward eventually drawing a couple of penalties that pushed Old Collegians back deep into their half.  A rare mistake at the line-out by Onkas gave Colls the chance to push forward and despite some great defensive lines from Onkas, Old Colls finally managed to break through for the first points of the game just after the 6-minute mark.

Onkas 0 – Old Colls 7

Onkas hit back hard at the kick-off, forcing Old Colls to lose the ball over the side-line. After another great lineout, Onkas crashed the ball forward, breaking the defensive line before drawing a penalty right in front of goal. Dusty Loffler slotted the penalty.

Onkas 3 – Old Colls 7

Some great pressure by the Onkas forwards drew a penalty a few hits after the kick-off but the ball was turned over from a knock on in the lineout. Onkas defended strongly with some big tackles, eventually drawing a penalty for Old Colls holding on.

The game seesawed back and forth for the next 10 minutes, with Onkas defence holding strong and drawing multiple turnovers and penalties from the Colls attackers. Onkas played territory, kicking the ball long and forcing Old Colls backwards. An Old Colls penalty gave the visitors a chance to advance and the Onkas defence held until a number of Old Colls phases drew Onkas in and Old Colls managed to break the line on the far side wing in the 21st minute.

Onkas 3 – Old Colls14

For the next ten minutes, Old Colls continued to pepper the Onkas defensive line, but Onkas held and eventually a dead-ball kick by Old Colls led to an Onkas scrum. A long kick was knocked on by the Colls defender, and a strong Onkas scrum put the Red Devils back into attack. The rest of the half was back-and-forth with the defence for both sides holding out.

HALF TIME: Onkas 3 - Old Colls 14

Onkas started the second half, hard chasing down the Old Colls kick receiver and crashing into the defensive line with some big hits. Just before the second minute of the half ticked over, an Onkas maul crashed over the line with Jack Robins scoring the try and Dusty Loffler converting.

Onkas 10 – Old Colls 14

A fight broke out from the kick-off after Ryan Evans was taken out in the air by the Old Colls defender, leading to a yellow card for the Collegians player. The penalty put Onkas back on the offensive and a defensive penalty by Colls allowed Dusty Loffler to slot another 3 points from the 40m line.

Onkas 13 – Old Colls 14

Onkas continued hit hard against a shocked Old Colls team using a series of penalties to push deep into attack. A missed catch from Colls and a kick through looked promising for Onkas but trickled over the line before it could be recovered, and a break by Troy Wilkins was called back from an earlier offside. Despite some strong defence, Old Collegians broke through the Onkas line stretching their lead.

Onkas 13 - Old Colls -21

Old Collegians attacked hard on the restart, but Onkas held them, eventually drawing a penalty and pushing back. But a Collegian runner managed to break a few tackles and scored.

Onkas 13- Old Colls 28

With 10 minutes remaining, the Onka boys kept up the pressure attacking from within the 5m line, drawing multiple penalties and looking to score on the far wing, before the referee called that the ball had gone dead. Old Collegians managed a quick turn-around, breaking down the field for a try.

Onkas 13 – Old Colls 35

Onkas finished strong, never dropping their heads. With three minutes to go, Dusty put a kick deep into attack and Collegians returned it to just outside the 22. Some strong drives from the line out and big hits from the backs pushed Onkas forward, drawing a penalty 5m out. The ball was kicked out and the Onkas lineout led to a good set of hit ups, with Kaedan O’Neill crashing over for the points.

Onkas 20 – Old Colls 35.

Onkas never looked out of the game and their physicality and defensive line work showed some real positives for the start of the season.

Best Player: Marios Theodosi

 

Onka Women get big win over Old Collegians

With good squad numbers and some great ball work, the Onkas women came away with a 74-14 win, with tries to Ashley John (3), Caitlin Purton (2), Jade Pilkington (2), Danielle Paenga (1), Caity Williams (1), Leah Chothia (1), Grace Fitzsimmons (1) and Cheyenne Chilton (1) and conversions to Ashley John (7).

Best Player:  Caity Williams. Voucher: Danielle Paenga

 

Onkas Reserves have a rough day

The depleted Reserves fought hard but ultimately went down 57-5 with a try to Dylan Mostyn.
Best Player: Taylor Marangavis

 

Onka Third Grade defeat Old Collegians

Onkas Third Grade started the season well with a solid 24-14 win over Old Collegians. Tries to Ben White (2), Noel Taylor and Nicholas O’Brien and conversions to Noel Taylor (2).

Best Player: Ben White. Voucher: Tom Puplett

President's Update - Mar 2026

Hi Onka Family,

This is the President's update for March.

The start of the season is drawing closer to the first game. We start the season with three home games against some good teams, so it will be a massive start. First game is 28th March vs Old Collegians.

Our touch football season has finished up with some big finals and some great games. Congratulations to the winning teams, thanks to all who refereed, played and supported and a huge thanks to Bob, Terry and Matt for organising it.

Our team numbers are looking great, the women's team now has 22 registered players, with more to come - a huge increase from 14 last year. We currently have 120 registered seniors and 170 juniors, but this will increase as we get closer to the first game. If you're not registered yet, please get it done, as it covers you for insurance and lets us confirm numbers. If you're not registered we can't add you to team lists.

Last weekend we played a trial match from U12s-Premier grade with some great results and some awesome rugby played. Our premiers are looking sharp and fit after a tough pre-season.

We also welcome Ross to the the coaching group with Rhys for premiers. They have been working the boys hard, but the results are showing on the field. We also welcome Tom Davies to the team, over from the UK and filling a much needed spot in the back line.

We also now have a HUDL camera, which will record most of the games played through all grades. We are just making the final setup changes and then should be able to make the game videos available.

In off-field news, we have now placed the order for the new panel roller door for the equipment shed, which will make storage of training equipment much easier (and safer) and expect that in the next 4-6 weeks. I have been working on a business plan, which captures our club goals and the actions we need to achieve them and this is something we will be looking into - including improving player depth, recruitment and retention, adding to club finances and building the success of the club. RUSA and the presidents group have also been meeting to finalise the U12s and women's competition structure as well as locking in the setup for the year. RUSA have really been on the ball this year, looking at ways to build and improve the competition.

We have a working bee this weekend (14th) to get the club in order for the start of the season and many hands make light work, so lets get as many out to help as we can. We also have a few more trial games for juniors lined up.

Its been a great start to the season and my next update will be after our first game. As always, if you have any questions, concerns or suggestions please message me or talk to me at the club.

Onkas vs Woodville Trial Game Results

Some great rugby at Onkas today to shake off the cobwebs and get ready for the start of the season.

Thank you to all of our amazing volunteers, coaches, players and supporters who made the day a huge success.

Some great wins and some gutsy losses, made for a great day of rugby with some really positive signs moving forward and highlighting some areas where we can improve over the next few weeks before we kick off the season proper.

Thanks to Woodville for some great games.

Bring on the season!

Premier Mens:
Onka def Woodville - 28-5

Premier Women:
Woodville def Onkas - 32-12

U18s:
Woodville def Onkas 53-19

U16s:
Woodville def Onkas 42-12

U14s:
Onkas def Woodville

U12s:
Onkas def Woodville

Matt Cockbain visits Onkas

Exciting times are ahead for Onkas as we start to gear up for the World Cup.

With cooperation of Rugby SA, Onkas are getting a visit from 1999 World Cup winning Wallaby, Matt Cockbain - player of over 60 international tests for the Wallabies and now coach of GPS Rugby club in Brisbane.

Due to the tempo of these World Cup events, we have a bit of a short notice - The event is this Friday 6th Feb, starting at 6pm down the club.

We're opening the bar, canteen and hosting a BBQ as well as running some junior touch games and trainings.

Matt Cockbain will be available for photos, informal chats with kids, coaches and players and may even host a Q&A.

We hope to see as many people there as possible to celebrate the countdown to the World Cup and make Matt welcome to our club for the evening.

President's Update - Feb 2026

Hi Onka Family,

This is the President's update for February.

This month has started with a bang - we've had Rhys out running the A-grade with Haggis, the boys are looking sharp and I'm excited to see what they can do this season. We also have Tom Davies joining us from the UK later in the month who will add some extra pace to the backs. We have a few other player recruitments in the works to fill the gaps.

We also named our last couple of coaches - welcome Cam and Wazza to the B-grade.

The juniors have started training, and it's awesome to see so many kids out and keen for the start of the season. We've got good numbers across all of the grades and some strong teams. Its been a great effort from players and coaches.

The women's team has also started their training with some good numbers. We are currently working with a Canadian team to look at doing an exchange of players. We are hoping to bring in two players at the start of May and are working on the possibility of sending a few of our players over there at the end of the season.

Touch football restarted well and is looking towards the finals in the next few weeks.

World Cup Fever has hit us as well - with World Cup Wallaby, Mat Cockbain, visiting the club for an impromptu training session and meet and great and Kaeden, Jade and junior Charlotte taking part in a photoshoot with the Webb Ellis Cup at Semaphore on Saturday. With 6 games announced for Adelaide its looking to be a big boost for South Aussie rugby.

In other news, we have been working on replacing the door to the gear shed, and have gotten quotes in as well as looking into some other upgrades for around the club, including the internet and canteen.

Our season kicks off with a trial match for U12s, U14s, U16s, U18s, Women, Bs and As on the 7th of March against Woodville - keep an eye on socials for more details.

Its looking to be a great year for the red and black and I look forward to our first kick off.

President's Update - Jan 2026

Hi Onka Family,

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year and are keen to get started on the 2026 Season.

This is the President's update for January.

The Committee focus over the last month has been to get the coaching team and season draw finalised. We were excited to announce Rhys Davies joining us as our new A grade coach. Rhys brings a wealth of experience and some new approaches to the game that are making us very excited for the new season. With Liam Smith assisting him and organsing our preseason, we're looking good moving into 2026.

We are still looking for our B grade coach - wanting to finalise our A grade selection first. Our C grade is in good hands with Seb, Daddles and Ollie continuing in their role and Owain and Tony Fitzy will be leading the Women's team for 2026.

All junior coaches have been assigned and we will be working with RUSA to ensure that they are registered and recieve any training they need to support our kids moving forward.

Our touch season continues to be a success, thanks to the leadership of Matt Whitton and Bob Aitken - we've had some great numbers out to games despite the hot weather.

Some of the ongoing tasks we are looking at are updating the gym equipment, replacing the gear shed doors with a roller door that will open up space in that area much more, and looking at replacing the wooden posts on the south end of the field with fencing to be more compliant with RUSA regulations of spacing around the field.

The work on the constitution updates continues, with the committee reviewing the draft. The intent is to put it out to the club for comments and feedback in February and then look at a Special General Meeting to approve or reject it once any comments have been addressed.

With the season draw now locked in, our social events team has finalised the social calendar and we should have a post on that very soon, it should be a good year for socials and we hope to see everyone down the club for some of the exciting events this year.

Overall it has been a busy end of 2025 and exciting start to 2026. We're looking forward to a great year and to welcoming Rhys and his family to the club.

As always, feel free to give me a yell or catch me at the club if there are any questions or issues.

President's Update - Dec 2025

Hi Onka Family,

One of the things I am wanting to do this year is to provide an update on what the committee is doing: the things we’re working on, what we have achieved and our focus points. It’s come to my attention that a lot of people don’t really know what the committee is up to and I thought this would be a great way to keep up communications.

As you may have seen on the Facebook page, we have started with our new committee in preparation for the 2026 Season. We’re still finding our feet, but we have been busy since the AGM, getting things in line for next year.

We have interviewed and assigned all our junior coaches, except for U18s and U7s, which we hope to announce soon with Seb working to set up a Junior Committee. With Chris stepping down as A grade coach to pursue some work opportunities we offer him a huge thanks for everything he has done for the club and are chasing up some options for a replacement coach who has some big shoes to fill.

We are also excited for the new U16s Girls comp which Rugby SA are hosting this year and are looking at getting a team organised.

We have been working with Rugby SA to finalise the draw for the year, and we have received the draw early this year, allowing us to look at our social calendar – which Grace, Troy and Daniel have been working on finalising. Heather has been chasing up lots of new sponsorship opportunities and working with our existing sponsors to see what we can do to better work with them.

Tracey and Mick have a few grant applications in process, including a big one for solar batteries which will greatly reduce our power costs. Ryan has organised upgrading our club internet, giving us a much faster connection and has set up a guest connection for member use. We're also looking into updating the club website.

Mooka has been working with the council on getting the potholes in the road fixed as well as some all the maintenance tasks around the club and grounds.

Kaedan has been set up as our treasurer, with access to all the accounts. A huge thanks to Sally for her massive effort in the role over the last few years.

Ollie has been looking into our new merchandise options for next year, including our Members Shirts, and Gemma is continuing with her awesome work in the Canteen, preparing meals for Thursday nights and passing her council check with flying colours.

I have been working on the important task of updating the Club Constitution. Because of recent changes to laws and regulations from the Department of Sports and Recreation, Rugby SA are updating their constitution and requesting all clubs to do the same. I have been working at keeping the same rules for the club, while fitting to the new template. As this develops, the new constitution as well as a list of any changes made, will come out for members to review and will be voted on in a Special Meeting to be called next year.

Currently going on at the club we have:

  • Tuesday night pre-season training – for all grades, and inclusive for U16s and U18s.

  • Sunday morning pre-season training – C grade led, but open to all

  • Thursday night Touch Football, and canteen meals.

Some of the junior grades, such as the U16s have also started training – so keep an eye on the Facebook page for details.

We have a great committee this year and I believe we are looking really good heading into the start of 2026.


If there are any questions feel free to give me a yell online or catch me when you see me down at the club.

Keir Puplett
President – Onkaparinga RUFC, 2025/2026