The Emu Plains JRLFC, colloquially known as just Emu, is a Rugby League

Rugby league

Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...

 club in the Penrith, New South Wales

Penrith, New South Wales

Penrith is a suburb in western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Penrith is located west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of the City of Penrith...

 District. The club fields both Junior and Senior teams with players starting as early as 4 years old. The club colours are red, white and blue.

History

Although officially formed in 1967, the club was around as early as 1912. The first evidence of rugby league in Penrith comes from newspaper reports in April 1912 of a match between ‘Glenbrook Rovers' and a combined ‘Penrith and Emus' team at the Penrith Showground. Known as the Emu Wanderers, they joined the Western Districts Junior League. It included teams from Parramatta, Auburn and Lidcombe. In 1913, the Western Districts entered a team in the Presidents Cup competition. The majority of the team was made up of players from Emu Plains and Penrith, the first time players from the district competed in a competition run by the New South Wales Rugby League

New South Wales Rugby League

The New South Wales Rugby League is the governing body of rugby league in New South Wales and is a member of the Australian Rugby League. It was formed in Sydney on 8 August 1907 and was known as the New South Wales Rugby Football League until 1984 when forward thinking marketing managers decided...

.
By the 1920s, the Western Districts League had a sub-office in Blacktown and the competition included teams from Auburn, Lidcombe, a number around Parramatta, Wentworthville, St. Marys, Blacktown, Riverstone, Windsor, Emu Plains and Penrith.
The Western Districts Junior Rugby League was gaining strength, as Emu Plains took A and B grade teams to Riverstone where they won 47-0 and 5-0 respectively.
In 1927 Emu Plains decided to field a private team in the Blue Mountains competition - under the banner of "Emu Gravel Company". "They were big buggers, tough as bags" said Jack Lack.

Modern Day

The club prides itself on its family values providing a solid platform for its on-field successes. With more than 30 teams from Under 6's through to A Grade, the club is one of few in the area that accepts four year olds. Emu Plains has a very competitive rivalry with Penrith Brothers, every year since 2009 the two clubs have a "retro day". The Emu club has had varied success, with teams in the finals most years, and the Emu Plains A Grade team defeating St Mary's Saints

St Mary's Saints

The St Mary's Saints are an Australian Rugby League Side who were formed in 1908. They were the founding Member of the Penrith District Rugby League. They have previously competed in the NSWRL Jim Beam Cup, winning three titles in the 1990s and in the NSWRL Premier League/State League as a former...

 to win the 1st Division A Grade competition in 2009. In 2010, Emu's A Grade found themselves in the Grand Final for the 3rd year in a row. In a nail-biting match the St Mary's Saints

St Mary's Saints

The St Mary's Saints are an Australian Rugby League Side who were formed in 1908. They were the founding Member of the Penrith District Rugby League. They have previously competed in the NSWRL Jim Beam Cup, winning three titles in the 1990s and in the NSWRL Premier League/State League as a former...

 led 12-6 at half time, then extending their lead to 18-6 4 minutes into the second half. With a few minutes to go Emu were down by 6, and then in the last minute of the game, Emu Plains scored to take the game into Golden Point. After 22 minutes of extra time and with each side having about a dozen field goal attempts, the Saints kicked a successful field goal to win the game 19-18. After an exhausting 102 minute Grand Final, Emu Plains had been defeated by one point.

Colour Origins

Emu Plains' colours were originally blue and white and because of this they were commonly known as the Emu Blues. By the 1960s, there were multiple teams in blue and white, including Newtown, Canterbury and a number of Junior League clubs such as the Penrith Warratahs. So Emu added red to their uniform, and this is the tri-colour the club has today.

Notable people

Emu Plains JRLFC has produced multiple top grade NRL players. Luke Rooney

Luke Rooney

Luke Rooney is an Australian professional rugby union footballer for RC Toulonnais in the Top 14 competition as of 2012. His previous teams include Melbourne Rebels and the Penrith Panthers.-Rugby League:...

 (1989–1995), Trent Waterhouse

Trent Waterhouse

Trent Waterhouse is an Australian professional rugby league footballer for the Penrith Panthers of the National Rugby League . He has also represented City Origin, New South Wales and Australia...

 (A Grade 2001), Tulsen Tollett

Tulsen Tollett

Tulsen Tollett is an ex-professional rugby league player who played for Penrith Panthers and Parramatta Eels in Australia's elite ARL competition, and also for London Broncos in the European Super League....

 (1988–1990), Andrew Ryan (C Grade 1995), Shane Rodney

Shane Rodney

Shane Rodney is an Australian professional rugby league footballer for Harlequins RL of Super League. He previously played for the Penrith Panthers, winning the 2003 NRL premiership with them. and the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles whom he won the 2011 NRL Grand Final with...

 (U/17 2000), Danny Galea

Danny Galea

Danny Galea is an Australian professional rugby league player for the Canberra Raiders in the National Rugby League competition.-Biography:...

 (A Grade 1996-1998) Chris Levy (1990–1995) and Hilton Sheens (cousin of George Sheens, grandfather of Tim Sheens

Tim Sheens

Tim Sheens is an Australian professional rugby league football coach and former player. He currently coaches the Wests Tigers of the National Rugby League and in 2009 was appointed coach of the Australian national team, the Kangaroos...

) can all claim an Emu Plains JRLFC origin. Former top grade players that have coached/trained/played in a side at Emu Plains include Barry Walker, Colin van der Voort

Colin van der Voort

Colin van der Voort is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer of the 1980s and '90s. He played in the New South Wales Rugby League's Winfield Cup Premiership with the Penrith Panthers from 1986 to 1994 and was a member of the club's grand final-winning team in the 1991 season.He...

, Peter Kelly

Peter Kelly (rugby league)

Peter Kelly is an Australian former professional rugby league player of the 1980s. A New South Wales State of Origin representative front-row forward, he played in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership for Canterbury-Bankstown, with whom he won the 1984 and '85 premierships...

 and Peter Lewis

Peter Lewis (rugby league)

-Early years:A junior from Wellington's Upper Hutt, Lewis was signed by the Auckland Warriors in 1998 and moved to Auckland. In Auckland he played for the Warriors unbeaten reserve grade side in 1998 and was good enough to be selected for the Junior Kiwis. He attracted some interest from Australian...

. Also "Bluff" Colless, relative of former Penrith

City of Penrith

The City of Penrith is a Local Government Area in Sydney, located about west of Sydney's central business district.- History :The Municipality of Penrith was incorporated on 12 May 1871 under the Municipalities Act 1858. On 3 March 1890, St Marys was separately incorporated, and on 26 July 1893...

Mayor Alfred Colless is thought to have been linked with Emu Plains.

Footnotes

1.http://www.rl1908.com/Clubs/Penrith-Panthers.htm

2. http://penrith-press.whereilive.com.au/sport/story/big-things-ahead-for-emu-boys/