Lovelocks club profile: Avalon Wolves

The Avalon Wolves are holding their Old Timers’ Day this coming Saturday with a club lunch and couch session with SKY TV personalities Scotty “Sumo” Stevenson and Mark Stafford and all its teams playing at home on the newly re-laid Fraser Park artificial and surrounding fields. Read a bit more about the club below.

Club: Avalon Wolves Rugby Football Club

Team name: Avalon Wolves

Team mascot: Alpha Wolf

Competitions currently playing: Premier, Premier Reserve, Colts, Women’s U85kg Division 1, Presidents

Social Media: Avalon Wolves Rugby Football Club  on Facebook, @AvalonWolvesRFC on Twitter

Home ground: Fraser Park (Wellingtons newest artificial turf)

Club origins: Avalon was formed when Naenae and Taita rugby clubs joined in November 1979.

Biggest rivals: in the past we have always had tough physical battles with Upper Hutt RFC and that seems to have continued on to modern times, possibly due to the fact we are the two Premier clubs at the top of the Hutt Valley and their closest rival.

The big matches: Now that the club is back in Premier rugby every game is a big game, for our Women’s team it is Now HOBM who have joined the competition in the Hutt Valley and compete for players so both teams are looking at out doing the other to claim the right of being the best team in the Valley.

Magic moments: In the past our women’s team have won the Club competition, our U85kgs have gone from the 3rd division to one of the top teams in the grade in the past two years. For our Premiers, winning the swindale shield early in 2000s was a huge moment for the club and one of the biggest nights in the club, Recently having Kat Simpkins selected into the New Zealand 7s team has been a great achievement by a club member.

The club's experienced players: This weekend will see five players presented their blazers for their 30th Premier game. For some this might not seem like many but for Avalon who have spent the past three years as part of the Senior 1st grade it shows commitment and longevity at the club to achieve this when others quickly moved on to other clubs. They are Solomon Tuiano, Shanon Bradbrook, Finau Segi, Daniel Sione and Shane Fawcett. We also have a large amount of experience in the form of Cameron Cross who has played well over 100 games for Avalon.

The club's personalities: There are some fresh new faces in the club and with them brings some real characters, our Colts team are very young and always having a laugh between them and this comes from the likes of new guys, Ale Peni, Donell Aune, Danny Yandall and Jerry Taufua.

The club's famous players: Avalon has had many famous people come through its ranks and some go unknown. Besides on-field success by people like the Waldrom Brothers, Chris Tregaskis, Dallas Seymour and Mo Schwalger but also Rodger Clark a former player who is now GM of the Highlanders Rugby team, since 2010.

On player retention and rejuvenation: The last 2 years has seen a massive boost in facilities and equipment available to the players to help develop them as sportsman through the good work of the Avalon Committee. This continues to grow and will reach first-class with the completion of the Fraser park Sportsville in the coming years, with a good connection with local colleges Naenae and Taita, it is an area rich with potential and the facilities are now there to help bring out these talents.

Old Timers’ Day: This weekend is the Avalon Old Timers’ day and begins with a lunch at 12pm and includes an on the couch session with SKY TV personalities Scotty “Sumo” Stevenson and Mark Stafford, after the action outside with all club teams playing at home there is plenty of action in the clubrooms and include the Hurricanes semi-final on the big screen for those that can’t get to the stadium and a chance to win a Hurricanes signed jersey.

This is the first year the club has played under the new name of the Avalon Wolves and it looks forward to seeing the faces from past and present to remember those that have represented the area in the Past and ensure that the future is a bright one.