THEY may not be as fast or agile as they were when playing for the Bathurst Bulldogs and Secret Squirrels, but those who lined up for Saturday's old boys match still had a passion for rugby.
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Held as part of the Secret Squirrels' 30-year foundation reunion, players who represented that club as well as the Bathurst Bulldogs Old Boys Rugby Club played a match at University Oval.
There were plenty of highlights across the three 15-minute periods and Dave Conyers - who watched on from the sideline - said all involved enjoyed the contest.
"I'd say it was probably about third grade standard, nobody was taking it soft. It was pretty full on most of the game, but most of them were pretty excited about playing and no-one really complained about being too sore the next day," Conyers said.
"Rowan Ross was still destroying people at fullback.
"He played a lot with us when we first started and for the Harlequins in particular, and he also played a lot of league. He was a talented young fella and now is still really fit for 40-odd."
"We called it that because Dave Lang was a founding member of our club and then Allen Spencer was a founding member of his club," Conyers explained.
"We're just going to get together every two years now to play for the Lang-Spencer Cup.
"It was just a really good game, would have been 25 years since some of them played together. There were a couple of blokes who had played together in that time, a couple of the forwards meshed up well together.
"A lot of those guys hadn't seen each other for years. It was amazing to see a couple of them come back from Canberra, Newcastle and all over the place who hadn't see each other for 30 years."
As well as enjoying the game, Conyers said those who attended the reunion function later that evening continued to share their passion for the sport.
"That was one of the best things about it, the stories, 30 years of history a lot of guys have gone and done a lot of things. It's amazing to hear what some of those guys have done with their lives and jobs, it blew me away," Conyers said.
"We had a few players go on and play [New South Wales] Country and Lachie Gelling, he married a Japanese girl, moved to Japan and got status ... he ended up playing 32 Tests for Japan and five rugby league Tests for Japan."
