Last drinks at Port Kembla Leagues Club as Collegians closes the doors

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View Subscription OffersIllawarra Mercury's complete view of propertyHome/News/Local NewsLast drinks at Port Kembla Leagues Club as Collegians closes the doorsBy Connor PearceUpdated May 28

2023 - 9:19pm, first published 4:32pmBy Connor PearceUpdated May 28 2023 - 9:19pm, first published 4:32pmFacebookTwitterWhatsappEmailCopyPatricia Dupille, Donna Flanagan and Doreen Dupille

shared a last drink at Collegians Port Kembla on Sunday. Picture by Adam McLean In 1965, Arthur Holmes was called up to Port Kembla first-grade rugby league.

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50% off EOFY SaleAll articles from our website & appThe digital version of Today's PaperCrosswords, Sudoku and TriviaAll other regional websites in your areaContinue Having played wing all

year, in the semifinals the centre was hurt, and the 20-year-old was asked to come on as a centre.

In what must have been a hard-fought game - the scoreline was just 6-4 with no tries scored - Port Kembla came out on top.

Afterwards, Mr Holmes remembers the celebrations at the Leagues Club.

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Being only 20, he was not normally allowed in, but there wasn't much club management could say to turn away the members of the premiership winning team.

"We came back and we were on people's shoulders and in the air," Mr Holmes said.

At the time, with the steelworks and surrounding industries booming, Port Kembla was the centre of life in the Illawarra.

Shoppers were shoulder-to-shoulder walking down Wentworth Street and the local football club - the focus of a large proportion of the population's attention outside the surfing season - was

on top, winning back-to-back premierships, sometimes as many as four years in a row.

But, 1965 was the last time the Port Kembla Blacks would raise the premiership trophy, as the suburb's later decline mirrored the team's fortunes.

Today, that trajectory came to a certain nadir, with Collegians calling last drinks for the club house on Wentworth Street, seven years after the clubs amalgamated.

Members, former players and regulars showed up for one last drink at the Wentworth Street club. Mr Holmes was one of many former teammates, regulars and members of the club who returned for

a final drink on Sunday afternoon.

Malvis Rodd remembered when men and women had separate bars at the club - and when time was up on that idea.

"Johnny West's wife, Judy, she was a real go-getter with us women, and after a game of football we were shut in a little tight room, and the men were out here," she said.

"Judy said, 'I've had this, come on, we're all going in,' and we did."

In the years since, the club has been the place where celebrations and commemorations were held for the Port Kembla community, as Ms Rodd's daughter Louisa Noakes points out.

"It wasn't where we were going, it was what occasion we were going to Port Kembla leagues club for," she said.

Doreen Dupille's husband Bruce (seated first from left) with the winning rugby league team. Picture supplied Life member Doreen Dupille still comes to the club every Friday. She and her

sister Patricia married brothers Bruce and John and the families were involved in the club up to the board level.

"We used to have lovely dances, and if you wanted to get in the dining area you had to book," Ms Dupille said.

A highlight were the regular acts such as the Southern Starlights.

"It was just wonderful, you couldn't get on the dance floor."

It is unclear what plans Collegians has for the club and the site, but with the business heavily in the red with further losses expected this financial year, a note posted above the sign in

desk told those who showed up on Sunday that there was no turning back.

With the bowling club, RSL and Spanish club already having closed, as the last club in Port Kembla closes its doors, a large hole has been left in the community for many, as Col Jarrett

points out.

"You walk through the door and say you're home now."

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