Old Crocs Tours
2008
The Old Crocs ventured off on our second overseas tour – this year to Phuket, Thailand. We specifically went to participate in the Phuket Vagabonds International 10's tournament. We played in the Coffin Dodgers section for the Over 35's and beyond. The carnival was played over 2 days and fortunately we did not make it to the second day. Fortunate, because the weather was unbelievably hot and humid and the ground was hard and bare and the boys had had enough.
Other than that, we had a great time in Phuket, sampling the beer, drinking around the pool, drinking in as many establishments as possible and taking a couple of tours.
2008
This year the Old Crocs have planned a trip to Phuket, Thailand to play in the Coffin Dodgers' Tournament. The trip will take the elite athletes from Cairns into the wonderful tourist mecca of Phuket from around 27 May until 7 June 2008. Unfortunately it will not be all rugby with some time taken to visit the local sites and sample the fine foods. Still putting together final numbers but it looks like it will be strongly supported by the dedicated and fit Old Croc players and their families. Should be fun.
2006
A few of the club members organised their own thing and went on a bit of a camping trip to the Lion's Den (pub) at Ayton near Cooktown. See the gallery for some photos of that trip.
After much saving and agonising over the trip this year, we finally agreed to go to Darwin and what a good time we had. The Darwin Straycats were our hosts and the most hospitable lot they were too. They has entertainment and game organised for us. We were welcomed at their watering hole (happened to be across the road from our accommodation), followed by the game the next day. After presentations and games, we were treated to a barbecue from their well set up trailer. The next day they organised a barbecue/party (again from this well set up trailer) at a beach and some went out on the club boat. A golf game on Monday finally saw a few guys down for the count - a very big day. The president of the club owns the Rugby Shop in Darwin so lots of fellows hung out there during the time. As well as lubricating the guys, he also had to patch up a couple of fellows who decided to have a scrum on the main street of Darwin.
2005
This year we went to Bowen and played the Bowen Mudcrabs. This was a really good day - we played a curtain raiser game to the Mackay Competition round and a Referee from the Defence Force (Townsville) refereed both games. This was followed by a very entertaining night at the Mudcrabs home pub.
2004
Two tours were arranged for this year – the first to Guam for the True Grit Tournament, and the second was the traditional family trip, this time to the Sunshine Coast. Guam was heaps of fun, where we unexpectedly won the Bowl final. Such a great tournament that we would like to return next year. The trip to the Sunshine Coast again involved two games (we are beginning to realise that 2 games on tour is one too many!!). The mid-week game was against the Maroochydore Mudcrabs. They couldn’t find many over 35 players so we played against a mixture of whoever they could get to turn up. It ended up being a ten-a-side match followed by much beer. The second game was against the University over 35’s, however, like the mid-week game, over 35’s were hard to find, so we played against a mixture of grade players and a bunch of guys from Aviation rugby in Brisbane who kindly came up for the night to make up the numbers.
2003
A somewhat local tour was arranged down to Charters Towers where we played the Knackered Bulls. We elected to stay on Magnetic Island – highly recommended. Once again, the time spent between arriving and the game was very enjoyable. The trip out to Charters Towers was an all day affair, but the Bulls were friendly hosts, and a good time was had by all.
2002
This year we travelled down to Airlie Beach to play the Whitsunday Whales. Great tour, hugely enjoyed by all. Again, the game was played with a competitive edge, and we had a great night with the guys telling lies about how good we were. Definitely a town we would like to visit again.
2001
This year saw us travel to the Gold Coast to play the Palm Beach Currumbin Rugby Club. After we arrived, we were contacted by Beenleigh who wanted to play on the Tuesday night – great fun and lots of port to soothe the sore bodies. We played Palm Beach on the Saturday, however they were unable to find a team of over 35’s – actually, they were unable to find ANY players, so we played a combination of their 1st and 2nd grade. It was a really enjoyable game, played with no beg pardons, and we felt we were a little unlucky to lose by around 5 tries to 3.
2000
The Old Crocs first tour was to W.A. where we played two games. One against Nedlands Rugby Club, and the second against Cottesloe Rugby Club. Both games were played in a very competitive spirit. We managed to just scrape home in the first game but were pipped by Cott in the second. Both clubs proved to be tremendous hosts, and there was many a tale exchanged over some cold ones. We would love to have one (or both) teams visit for the tournament next year.
