Pat Walsh at McLean Oval on Tuesday.
For those who don’t know, Harden Murrumburrah will always hold a special place in the history of Group 9.

The group was formed after a meeting at the Grand Hotel in Harden in 1923. The four hour gathering concluded in the early hours of the morning and one can only guess how each town’s representatives fought for their point of view to be heard.

Fast forward to today and it has been 14 years since Harden last played Group 9 senior football.
In that time, Harden Murrumburrah has carved out its own piece of history in the George Tooke Shield.
The closure of the abattoirs coincided with Harden leaving Group 9 as they were unable to field the proposed number of sides. Rules may have relaxed a little now in Group 9 but it doesn’t look like the maroon and whites will be returning any time soon.

 Harden have always been competitive in George Tooke. They have made 6 grand finals in that time and won 2 of them. The first in 2009 under current President Jason Pollard and the second in 2017 under Matt McLay with  Luke Brown skippering the 2017 side. Brown will coach the Hawks in 2021.
Harden came up against formidable Binalong sides in 2010, 2013 and 2014  and came up short against Brahman teams littered with Yass Magpies players and very capable players from Canberra. To Binalong’s credit, recruitment during those years was very well executed by the small village.

The home of the Harden Hawks will always be McLean Oval. There has been ‘talk’ over the years of houses going on there and the Hawks having to find a new home. ‘Talk’ that never went too far and never held much weight. That ‘talk’ will cease to exist now with Harden set to enjoy some of the best Rugby League facilities anywhere in country NSW.


The Times caught up with Pat Walsh at McLean Oval on Tuesday. Pat retired about 18 months ago after working for the NRL in referee development for 14 years. He was always able to be based in Harden and has been coaching referees for about 45 years in total. He coached them in Group 9 and across different parts of NSW for over 20 years. He finished up refereeing at McLean Oval in a junior league match in the late 90s. He is still involved on a casual basis helping referees.

He said, “It’s very hard to walk away from something you have been involved with for so long. I’ve been very fortunate with my career I’ve been very lucky.”
 Pat and a small army of volunteers have been coming up on afternoons and weekends helping with the construction of the white picket fence around the perimeter of McLean Oval. They have been completing between 10 and 15 panels each weekend.

He said, “We are very lucky to have Chris Whybrow and Scotty Chesworth come up as builders and help the labourers out. It has been great.”
This Sunday coming Pat hopes to have a final push to install the rest of the fencing.
“We want to complete the whole fence right through. It’s been a big task, it is a lot bigger than first anticipated. We have had a lot of help and volunteers.”

With the Hawks holding 100 year celebrations for the club in 2021, Pat is looking forward to the facility being tested out in February.
The first opportunity the club has is when McLean Oval will host round 3 in late February, of the Laurie Daley and Andrew Johns, 16s  and 18s championships. Riverina will be playing Central Coast over the weekend with the date yet to be confirmed. The games will showcase the finest junior talent the Riverina and Central Coast has to offer.

Pat said, “It will be a big challenge, it will be round 3, it will be interesting to see how Riverina go. It will be great football, it will be magnificent football. It will be a big boost for the town and this complex.”
NSW Rugby League representatives inspected McLean Oval a couple of weeks ago and were impressed with the ground. Pat said, “As long as we can keep the water on it and keep it nice and lush it will be a show piece.
We need to maintain this level the whole way through.”

The ground has now been ‘squared up’. Pat said, “It’s 7 metres from the touch line the whole way around and 5 metres from behind the dead ball line. “There is plenty of room.”

He said, “The idea of it is that on the eastern side, the old fence will stay where it is and the cars behind that and the parents and the little ones can come down and sit closer on the grass.”

Pat said the club has now sold 150 plaques and Pat asked that those who had put their names down for plaques to go on the fence panels finalise their accounts. He said, “We have 170 all up so we are very close now.”

Pat made special mention of a plaque for Nick Rawlins from Binalong when they won 3 premierships in 1920, 21, and 22 seasons. The family is recognising their family member from way back then.

Pat also made special mention of Kai Steele and how he has managed the McLean Oval project and kept everyone on track and guided the volunteers.

When some of the areas finest players hit the ground in February the canteen takings will be kept by the Harden Hawks, which means that if the locals turn out and support the Laurie Daley and Andrew Johns Cup, it will also go a long way to support the Harden Hawks during their 100 year celebrations.