Bathurst Charlestons was once one of Group 10's most iconic clubs, however, first grade success was hard to come by.
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Charlestons competed in every Group 10 season from 1948 to 1989, before its amalgamation with the Bathurst Leagues Club to form the Bathurst Penguins Football Club.
However, the club did manage one premiership, in 1979, while they were runners-up in another four premiership deciders.
The club can trace its history back to 1926, when the club was formed, taking its name from a popular dance called the Charleston, which was in turn named after the harbour city of South Carolina.
Prior to the 1979 premiership-winning season, Charlestons had gone through some lean years.
For the four seasons prior to 1979, the club had managed just one finals appearance in 1977, however, they were knocked out in the first week against Blayney.
Besides that, 1975, 1976 and 1978 were tough years, where the club finished closer to the bottom of the ladder than to the top four.
In that four-year stretch from 1975-1978, Charlestons played 77 games, for just 27 wins, five draws and 45 losses.
But 1979 was going to be a different year and the opening round of the competition was a sign for things to come. Charlestons thumped Orange Ex-Services 44-0 to go top after week one.
Royce George, who was a Charlestons junior and was a member of the 1979-premiership winning side, remembers his teammates fondly.
"We bought players from here, there and everywhere, like our captain-coach Keith Cook, who had played for Balmain," he said.
"Mike Fish was a centre and winger, he came up from Balmain too. He played Western Division.
"They bought Kerry Morrison, this front rower that was about six foot four and 17 stone back then. Giant of a man. He came from Western Suburbs.
"We had a bloke by the name of Neil Rees, who came from Canowindra originally and he had played for St Pat's before coming over to Charlestons.
"Second rower was Gary Taylor from Portland and he had played for Workies, Oberon, Railway. He was blind as a bat.
"Alan Latham, the hooker, he came over from Railway. Next year, he went down to Western Suburbs. He was faster than a rattlesnake at striking and he flogged Royce Simmons in the scrums.
"Gerry Sullivan was the halfback, a local junior and only 20, while Geoff Hay was our halfback who went down to Penrith.
"Centre was Wayne Lewis, 20-year-old local junior. Lasted 10 minutes before busting his knee in the grand final, with Mal Fitzgerald coming on for him. Darryl Milligan the other centre.
"We had Geoff Thorne, a legend from Walgett. Mike Fish was on the other wing and then we had Paul Sams at fullback."
With such a recruitment-drive, Charlestons became known as the 'Million Dollar Club', with their big Sydney recruits - Cook and Fish - the pick of the bunch.
Cook played four seasons for Balmain and had a run for NSW City in 1976, before he headed west over the Blue Mountains to Bathurst for the 1979 Group 10 season.
Fish also came from Balmain, having spent time in the top grade with the Tigers for the past five seasons and he had played 17 games in 1978, before signing for Charlestons.
The Bathurst club fared well in the first half of the 1979 competition, having won seven games and only losing three.
Mudgee were the clear leaders, having won all 10 games. In fact the Dragons, who were playing in their second Group 10 season, would win their first 13 matches, before falling to St Pat's 19-18.
Charlestons' run home in the second-half of the season was tremendous, the club winning nine out of 10 matches to finish the regular season in second, four points behind a dominant Mudgee, who lost only two games all season.
In fact the Dragons had only lost four regular season matches in their first two years, however, Mudgee did get bundled out of the finals in straight sets in 1978, so the 1979 minor premiers were keen on not repeating that feat again.
While the top two had the week off, Cowra and CYMS did battle in the minor semi-final, with the Magpies progressing with a 14-7 win.
Up next was the Charlestons-Mudgee showdown at Jubilee Oval and it was a classic.
The teams couldn't be separated at the break, with the scores locked at 7-all and then they were locked at 14-all at the end of normal time.
A 20-minute period of extra-time would be required but Mudgee were outclassed by the Bathurst team, with Fish scoring a try, which was converted by Thorne, before a field goal from George and a penalty goal from Thorne settled it. Charlestons won 22-14.
Mudgee would suffer a repeat of its embarrassing 1978 finals campaign after a 24-21 loss to Cowra a week later at Wade Park. The Dragons had won 35 games in 40 regular season matches in two seasons, but they couldn't qualify for the grand final after losing consecutive games in the finals two years running.
On September 23, a crowd that paid $6348.50 from gate takings at the Bathurst Showground witnessed a tough match between Charlestons and Cowra.
The Magpies took an early 2-0 lead after Cowra captain-coach Bill Hilton scored a penalty on the 14th-minute mark.
It wasn't until the dying stages of the first half that Charlestons opened their account with a penalty goal from the boot of Thorne.
Eight minutes into the second half, Cowra's Greg Fearnley had to have a gash to his head bandaged after a clash with Fish. The Magpies received a penalty over the incident and Hilton kicked his side ahead 4-2.
The next 12 minutes saw Thorne turn three penalties into six points to give Charlestons the lead 8-4.
In the 65th minute, Morrison came onto the field to replace the injured Merv Cain, with Neil Rees moving back into the second-row. With the arrival of a fresh forward, Morrison seemed to lift the Charlestons' mood and they began to stretch the already overworked Cowra defence.
Paul Sams would score Charlestons' only try of the match, after a 35-metre run. Thorne missed the conversion from out wide, but up 11-4, the Bathurst club could sense victory was in sight.
But it was far from over, with Magpies winger Ian Burns crossing five minutes out from full time. Hilton converted.
Charlestons played the tackles out until the final hooter rang. Charlestons had won their maiden Group 10 first grade title.