Last Friday a gathering of the faithful black and gold jersey wearers caught up with new and old mates at The Old Kirk, Yamba Museum. The event was the start of the Yamba Rugby Buccaneers season and their 50th anniversary. Graham Mackie curated the Exhibition; it will be on display during Museum hours until Sunday April 27. A crowd of 90 inspected jerseys, photographs, newspaper articles, memorabilia, a slide show and film collected over the years. Beaming faces of weary winners and hard tackles caught in action. Honour and recognition of the local lads who went on to represent Yamba on the world stage, Conor Young played for Canada, Wallabies Kane Douglas, and Jed Holloway. Yamba Rugby Club started in 1975 when Doug Anderson, Kev Durkin and Bob Clark decided to enter a team in the Far North Coast RU competition. In 1981 Steve Miller took over as coach and the results became positive – Steve was guest speaker on Friday describing in detail the early years of struggle to get players, humorous tactics on the field and sang the Club song. In 1983 Mark Burns gave the name ‘Buccaneers’ to Yamba Rugby as he had played for Pirates in Tamworth – that year the newly named Buccaneers were finalists and in 1984 were defeated in the grand final against Byron Bay. In 2025 a strong Junior troop of 10 teams play on a Friday night and Seniors first game last Saturday at Mallanganee. They went down by 5 points in a seriously tough game. The Yamba Buccaneers have an impressive spirit and strong following, and we wish them much success in the coming months. Yamba Museum is open Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday, Saturday and Sunday 10am to 2pm. Admission $5, children under 15 free. Gai Pritchett