Old Sydneians’ Newsletter - Volume 37

There has been great engagement amongst our Old Sydneians throughout Term III.

On 3 August, we celebrated 50 years of Sydney Grammar School Football (Soccer). This was a great day at Weigall featuring a number of the 1974 First XI reminiscing the struggles to establish the Sydney Grammar School Football Club. The day was one for celebration with the Grammar First XI's emphatic victory against Newington College.

On 10 August, we celebrated 150 years of rugby at Sydney Grammar School. It was incredible to see support from Old Sydneians across the decades. Following a victory from Grammar against Sydney Boys High School, the day turned into an evening of celebration for the Sydney Grammar School Rugby Club as the School and the OSU jointly held a dinner in honour of the occasion. The School Gymnasium turned function venue for over 300 attendees, including previous coaches John Warr, Bob Egerton, Lachlan Fear and Bob Farrugia. The night hosted by current Sportsmaster, Mr Mark Philp, featured two esteemed panels; David Ross (OS 1965), Daniel Baffsky (OS 1990), Tony Crawford (OS 1973), Laughton Hegarty (OS 1967), Timothy Clark (OS 1996), Cam Crawford (OS 2006), Bob Egerton (First XV Coach 2005-2010). These speakers all paid significant tribute to their time with Grammar and in particular the rugby played. 150 Years of Sydney Grammar School Rugby commemorative merchandise is still available for purchase. Please contact alumni@sydgram.nsw.edu.au

On 21 August, the Annual Great Debate was held in the Alastair Mackerras Theatre. The topic, "that age no longer adds value" attracted a huge crowd. The Old Sydneians, represented by James Hooke (OS 1988), Dr Oliver Watts (OS 1994) and Nick Beaumont SC (OS 1988), opposed the topic as they debated against Sydney Grammar School’s dream team comprised of Will Ellis (VI), Jason Lin (VI), David Guo (VI), and captained by Daniel Lloyd-Hurwitz (VI). The School emerged victorious and the debaters enjoyed a post-debate dinner.

The next few months will be busy as the OSU has a number of upcoming events:

Grammar in Finance Networking Event

We are hosting a series of free to attend networking events. The keynote speakers are Old Boys from a range of areas in finance. The sessions will be followed by an opportunity to network and share drinks.

Date: Tuesday 15 October
Venue: Hickson House
Time: 6:00pm - 7:30pm 

Any questions or queries please contact the host:
Tim Lindley (timlindley13@gmail.com) 0424181309

Register your attendance here.

Annual Golf Day

The OSU Annual Golf Day will be held on Thursday 24 October at the Coast Golf Club, Little Bay. The challenge is on again this year for the J.A.T. Buckle Shield – a coveted and illustrious prize and one that will definitely take up a large portion of the winners’ trophy cabinet. There will also be prizes for nearest the pin, longest drive and best scratch score. We welcome fathers of Old Sydneians to this event as well. If you would like to form a father-son or mother-son team (or take your father or mother on) they are most welcome.
Tickets available here.

Mentoring Recruitment

We encourage an expression of interest for both mentors and mentees for the launch of our 2025 program. We hope as many of you as possible register your interest as we look to formalise this program connecting penultimate-year university students and emerging in industry (1-3 years experience) with mentors who have anywhere from 10+ years in their respective fields. More information to come.

Farewell Celebrations

On Friday 22 November, there are farewell celebrations for both Greg "Sarge" Bulger and Wendy Scotter who both complete their time with Sydney Grammar School. I know both of these individuals have engaged and interacted with many of you during their tenure and I hope you can take some time to celebrate these individuals as their respective chapters with Sydney Grammar School come to a close. For more information, please email alumni@sydgram.nsw.edu.au

Finally, under the OSU Constitution we can have a committee with up to twenty-five members in total. We encourage you to engage with an existing OSU committee member and explore being part of this esteemed organisation. Simply put, we are a group of individuals who love the institution which gave so much to us. As a committee, we strive to serve our community, create engagement with year groups around you and close the gap between you and Sydney Grammar School in a variety of ways. We also love to harness Old Sydneians who are already doing great and wonderful things in their respective year groups and offer support where needed. Please reach out to info@osu.com.au for an introduction to a committee member to discuss what the nomination process looks like.

Nick Manettas (OS 2009)

Rugby

Celebrating 150 years of Sydney Grammar School rugby was wonderful and the Firsts had a successful season. We played Shore in the final game of the season with the winner to be crowned as Third Grade GPS Premiers. With a rowdy home crowd cheering them on, Shore won by two points, and we had to settle for second place. The 14As was our standout team finishing unbeaten. They should provide some strong players in the years ahead.

Football

It was a great season for our footballers. With three minutes to play, the Seconds scored the all-important goal against Shore to secure the premiership. After a slow start to the season, the Firsts finished with three strong wins against fancied opposition in their last three matches and came third.

GPS Rifle Shooting

The GPS Competition consists of three matches for the Firsts and one for the Seconds.

Day One – The first match of the day for the Firsts Team was the Rawson Cup shot over 500m and 600m with seven counting shots at each range. The boys won the match with a score of 541.49, beating Sydney Boys High School by one point. After lunch, the Firsts then shot the NRA Shield at 600m with ten counting shots. They won this match with only four points separating first to fourth!

Day Two – The Seconds match consisted of seven shots at 500m and seven shots at 300m. The boys posted very respective scores and finished on the podium in third place – only four points off the winners The King’s School. In the afternoon the Firsts competed for the Buchanan Shield. This is a match at 300m with eight counting shots and then eight shots at Snap – a target on a lollipop.

The boys won the match by five points over their nearest rivals, King’s.

By winning all three Firsts matches, Sydney Grammar School won the Premiership and were crowned as a Champion Team. It was the first Premiership in ten years and a fantastic achievement! Three boys went on to make the GPS Combined Team.

Term IV Music Concert

The Term IV Music Concert is scheduled for 6:30pm on Thursday 14 November in the John Vallance Hall.

On Saturday 3 August, the School acknowledged 50 years of Sydney Grammar School Football at Weigall. Several members of the original 1974 team and former players and coaches watched the current Firsts defeat Newington College 4-1. They all then proceeded to the Weigall Pavilion to hear speeches and mingle with food. The ‘Originals’ proceeded to a Paddington pub for the afternoon and the stories got bigger and better! Such was the enthusiasm that a WhatsApp Group was immediately created and photos were swapped.

Members of the inaugural First XI with Coach Mr Don Schumacher reenacting their original photo from 1974

Friday 18 October

1984 40-Year Reunion Lunch, North Bondi Surf Club (Convenors: Matt Toll, Jon Isaacs)

Friday 18 October

1994 30-Year Reunion, School Tour, The Rawson at the Rocks (Convenors: Jon Tindall, Guy Keller)

Saturday 19 October

2004 20-Year Reunion, School Tour and Big School Cocktail Party (Convenors: Leon Dier, Harry Lehmann, Theeban Rubasingham)

Saturday 26 October

2014 10-Year Reunion, Big School Cocktail Party (Convenors: Joshua Kovoor, Harry Godber, Sonat Erozan)

Friday 15 November

1979 45-Year Reunion Gathering, The Phoenix Hotel at Woollahra (Convenor: Paul Whelan)

Saturday 16 November

2009 15-Year Reunion Gathering, Adria Bar Restaurant in Cockle Bay 2:00pm-5:00pm (Convenor: Nick Manettas)

Saturday 23 November

1969 55-Year Reunion Dinner, Royal Automobile Club (Convenor: Doug Wood)

2019 5-Year Reunion Gathering, Venue TBC (Convenor: Peter Taurian)

Class of 1964

60-Year Reunion on Friday 30 August in the Weigall Pavilion

The Class of 1974 celebrated their 50-Year Reunion on Saturday 7 September with a School tour and a gathering in Big School and the Alastair Mackerras Theatre. They then proceeded to Hyde Park House but unfortunately photos were not taken.

Izac Carracher, who left Sydney Grammar School in 2017, represented Australia in the recent 2024 Paris Olympics. He competed in the beach volleyball with his playing partner, Mark Nicolaidis, making them the second youngest male beach volleyball team to ever contest an Olympics.

Chris Oakley (OS 1975) is descended from Edward Pratt, who in 1857 was the first Mathematical master at Sydney Grammar School. Chris, a retired veterinarian, in accordance with his late mother’s wishes, kindly presented the School with a teapot set that dated back to Edward’s time. The sterling silver teapot hallmarks show it was made in 1803 in Dublin and embossed with the Pratt family crest. It was passed down to Chris by his mother Nance and his uncle Colin Sefton (OS 1938), who held the GPS 100-yard sprint record for many years.

L-R: Rod Mitchell, Chris Oakley and Steve Gonski

Otto George (Tony) Fox, who played one rugby Test for Australia in 1958, is our School’s oldest Wallaby and currently the third oldest rugby international. He attended Sydney Grammar School from 1944-46 but had to leave school early due to family circumstances. 

Jim Cattlin (OS 1961) presented Tony a copy of his book A History of Sydney Grammar School Rugby and a replica Waratah cap which Steve Johnson (NSWRU) provided.

Old Sydneians who have passed away since our last OS E-Newsletter:

John Walter SHOESMITH (OS 1940)

Richard Rodney ULLETT (OS 1943)

Barry Alexander QUIGLEY (OS 1946)

Maxwell Otto BROWN (OS 1946-7)

Stanley EDWARDS (OS 1948)

David MORGAN (OS 1948-1949)

Dr Alan Arthur DAY (OS 1946-1947)

Dr John Hubbard McKESSAR (OS 1947)

Dr Alastair McClelland MERRICK (OS 1950)

Salim (Sam) Michael BASHIR (OS 1954)

Ian Edward FIGTREE (OS 1950-1951)

David ROSSELL (OS 1953-4) Former Master 1970

Henry William Gordon (Peter) CAVILL (OS 1956-7)

Robert (Bruce) WOOD (OS 1958)

Lionel WARAT (OS 1961)

John Fortescue MCMAHON (OS 1962)

Brian Roderick Raud O'BRIEN (OS 1965)

Ambassador Martin INDYK AM (OS 1968)

Peter Morris HARTOG (OS 1968-9)

John COULTER (OS 1970)

Peter Malcolm HOWARD(1973)

Paul Emil Alexander VRISAKIS (OS 1975)

Nicholas John DONOVAN (OS 1979-1980)

David John Farquhar McKENZIE (OS 1986)

Theo Powers WHITMONT (OS 1986)

Also, two former Sydney Grammar School masters passed away.

Don Craig (Sydney Grammar School Master 1962-1993 and 2005-2006)

Don was appointed Laboratory Manager/Technician in the Science department at Grammar in January 1968, and he joined the coaching staff of the Boatshed in the same year. He provided thirty-one years of service to Grammar. In 1972 Don was appointed Audio-Visual Director to develop resources for classroom use. He thrived in this area and was regarded as an AV guru. He also provided lighting and sound for many theatrical and musical productions at Grammar and for his Church Fellowships. In 1976 Don became a Rowing master, a position he held until 1983. In 1978 he coached the Grammar VIII to win the Head of the River (the first time in twenty-three years).

Ken Saxby (Sydney Grammar School Master 1961-1966 and 1969-1994)

From 1948–1953 Ken attended Sydney Grammar School as a boy. Later in 1961 Headmaster Colin Healey appointed him Assistant Master. He initially taught Mathematics and Economics but later switched to History and General Studies. In 1973 he was appointed Master-In-Charge of the Library and General Studies and he became Registrar in October 1989. Ken was also a Tutor of Group 7 from 1970 until the end of the tutorial system in 1993 and he joined PGB House under the new House system as a Tutor. In addition, for many years he edited The Sydneian, coached cricket and assisted with the Endeavour Club. He was also a Commander of the Cadet Corps from the mid-1970s and reached the rank of Major in the Army Reserve. He retired in December 1994. 

The latest edition of SGS magazine, Edition 18, Autumn 2024 is available in an online electronic format here.

A vast number of hard copy magazines are ‘returned to sender’ each time the School sends a new edition out to subscribers through the post. If you are regularly on the move and would prefer to receive the SGS magazine online via email, or would no longer wish to receive a hard copy of the magazine via post, please kindly notify the Alumni Office on (02) 9332 5843 or alumni@sydgram.nsw.edu.au.

You are able to view most editions of SGS magazine anytime via the School’s website.

The School’s Archives would appreciate some assistance from the Sydney Grammar School community in identifying names in the following AFL photo that was taken around 1977. Any information can be passed on via sgsarchives@sydgram.nsw.edu.au and please let us know whether you do not want your name to be acknowledged as a contributor in the next newsletter. 

Thank you to Philip Johnston (OS 1964-65), Rob Cartwright (OS 1965), Stuart Murray (OS 1963-4) and Peter Read (OS 1964) for helping identify the boys in the photo of the 13B 1959 Cricket Team.

Back Row: Alan Terrey, Peter Terrey, Graham Player, Jon Wintraaken, John Parker, Coach Mr Brown (2R Upper Master)
Front Row: Ken Ward, Graeme Watkins, Ian Lever, John Lomas, Robert Cartwright, Jonathan Goodman

13B 1959 Cricket Team

Alligator Grammar! A History of Sydney Grammar School Rugby

Jim Cattlin (OS and First XV 1961) has published Alligator Grammar! A History of Sydney Grammar School Rugby. The book delves into the 150-year history of rugby at the School, with 440 photos of teams, action shots and illustrations. Purchase here for $65.. 

In Gallant Company

Dr Philip Creagh’s (OS 1965-1966) book honouring the Old Sydneians who died in World War I is available, at a cost of $65 plus postage via the following link. This book includes short biographies of each Old Sydneian who didn’t make it home, comprising details of their school career, the circumstances in which they found themselves during the war and events leading to their untimely demise.

Old Sydneians’ Newsletter

Editor:

Mr Steve Gonski

smg@sydgram.nsw.edu.au

Alumni Office 

Ms Wendy Scotter
Ms Charlotte McColl

alumni@sydgram.nsw.edu.au

Publications Office

Ms Dimetra Skondras-Silva

publications@sydgram.nsw.edu.au