Tough as gold boots: How rugby league is keeping Eugowra's heart beating

Among gutted homes, washed-away roads and flooded fields, golden eagles are starting to soar in the Central West town of Eugowra – providing hope and comfort to a community that was brought to its knees.

The Eugowra Golden Eagles – the club that produced rugby league legend Ian Walsh and premiership-winning forward Bryan Norrie – has been the lifeblood of the New South Wales country town for more than a century. 

But after recent floodwaters tipped cars and moved houses entirely, about 80 percent of the 1000 people who call Eugowra home were displaced from their homes – leaving many without the basic necessities and the Golden Eagles facing the real prospect of an end to their 102-year history.

Enter the rugby league club's "old boys" group, the Olden Eagles, who started to light up the town with a jersey that holds a special place in people's hearts.

“We thought it would be a good idea and provide a little bit of hope to hang up some old jerseys because we had so many left over from playing back in the day,” Olden Eagle Andrew Barnes said.

“It was received really well. There were people finding jerseys among all the mud and crap and putting them out the front of their place.

“I even got punched on the arm by one of the old tough blokes who played in the 80s who said he had a tear in his eye every time he saw a jumper.”

“People are going to be living in caravans for the next 12 months so if you can distract anyone on the weekend to watch some footy, I think the Golden Eagles are going to be more important than ever.

Whilst they might go head-to-head on the football field, Barnes said neighbouring communities have also rallied around Eugowra the past month, flying their Woodbridge Cup rivals’ colours in their own hometown.

“Cargo, one of the teams that we play against, they actually won one of the jerseys we were raffling off to raise money," he recalled.

“Some bloke won it and then a bloke we played against bought it off him and he hung it on the Cargo sign. So that was their way of showing support for us.

“The Binalong rugby league club, a town about two hours away also drove up to help out, handing out gift vouchers around the town.”

Eugowra Golden Eagles President Casey Jones, who has been playing league tag on Ian Walsh Football Field for 11 years, will be running the club from a caravan next year after floodwaters gutted her home in November.

Less than a month ago, she was "the mum with the two-year-old on the roof."

“I call it a tsunami, not a flood," she recalled. "It sounds silly, but that’s what it was.

"I lost my house, my car, then went down to the footy oval and lost my footy.

“I’m living in a caravan at the showground at the moment. I’m just waiting for insurance on my house to see what they’re going to do there but it’s unliveable at the moment.”

After clinging to her daughter on a roof for six hours, watching everything she owned wash down the Mandatory Creek, Jones said seeing a Golden Eagle jersey hanging above the ruin reminded her Eugowra was a team, united through it all.

“Our goal posts have been washed away, our shipping container full of all our gear that we use at training and game day, we still haven’t found it. It’s somewhere down the creek I suppose," she said. "But the following day after the floods went through I saw jerseys hanging there among the bare town.

“Someone found some of mine about six kilometres down the road that had been washed away. I had them returned yesterday so now I can hang mine up too.”

It was a sign of unity – we’re the only sporting group in town and the jerseys are a symbol of something we all believe in, a common ground.

Casey Jones

NSW Nationals Member of Legislative Council Scott Barrett, who was born and raised in the Central West, said he surprisingly "felt better leaving than arriving" after witnessing the resilience shown by the community in the wake of the floods. 

“I was driving around the town and in all sorts of strange places, there were these Golden Eagles jumpers hanging up," Mr Barrett said.

“How symbolic is that. They’ve shown their resilience and said ‘we're Eugowra, we’re going to come together as a community and we’re going to get through this'.

“'Yes, my house is gone but I’ve got my footy jumper and I’m going to put it out the front and show how proud I am in my town'.”

Growing up playing cricket and football in the Central West, Mr Barrett said rugby league continues to give Eugowra "something to hang their hat on".

“In all our regional communities, particularly our smaller teams, the focal point is often local clubs. In Eugowra, it’s the rugby league club," Mr Barrett said.

“It’s such an important outlet for the town. It’s the thread in which our community fabric is built.

“There’s a risk we’ll lose people out of the town but the people I’ve spoken to and the resilience they showed gives me great confidence that the eagle will once again soar."

Olden Eagle Andrew Barnes is leading a walk from Forbes to Eugowra on December 23 to raise much-needed funds as the community helps to get back on its feet. Their goal is to raise $50,000, with funds raised going directly to the residents of Eugowra and the surrounds surrounds to help in their rehabilitation efforts.

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