Lakes United 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 based in the Newcastle

Newcastle, New South Wales

The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...

, New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

 region of Australia.

Known as The Seagulls and wearing Royal blue

Royal blue

Royal blue describes both a bright shade and a dark shade of azure blue. It is said to have been invented by millers in Rode, Somerset, a consortium of which won a competition to make a dress for the British queen, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz....

 and Gold

Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...

, they have been a member of the Newcastle Rugby League

Newcastle Rugby League

The Newcastle Rugby League is a rugby league competition in Newcastle, Australia. It is one of the oldest rugby league competitions in Australia, founded in 1910...

 since 1947.

History

Lakes United were successful in their first year in the Newcastle competition winning the competition in 1947. It had players selected to represent Newcastle and the Country Rugby League

New South Wales Country Rugby League

-2011 Tier 2 Championships:-History:Newcastle was the first city outside Sydney to start a league competition, being involved in the Sydney Premiership in 1908-09 and then starting their own competition in 1910....

. The Central Coast Division of Country Rugby League was part of Lake United's junior division in 1947 and subsequent years before expanding.

Allan Thomson was selected to play for the Australian national rugby league team

Australian national rugby league team

The Australian national rugby league team have represented Australia in senior men's rugby league football competition since the establishment of the game in Australia in 1908. Administered by the Australian Rugby League, the Kangaroos' are ranked number one in the RLIF World Rankings...

 while playing for the club in tests against New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 during 1967 and France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 in 1968. Thomson was also selected for a Kangaroo tour in 1968 where tour manager Ken Arthurson

Ken Arthurson

Kenneth Richard "Arko" Arthurson AM is an Australian rugby league football identity. Affectionately known as "The Godfather of Manly", he played, coached and was later an administrator at the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles club of the New South Wales Rugby League premiership...

 signed him to play for the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles

The Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based on the Northern Beaches of Sydney. They compete in the National Rugby League's Telstra Premiership, the premier rugby league competition of Australasia...

 in 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...

 competition.

Thomson returned to play for Lakes United in 1973. The club then won two premierships in the Newcastle competition in 1974 and 1975. The club won three premierships in a row in the mid-1980s when a young Paul Harragon

Paul Harragon

Paul "The Chief" Harragon OAM is an Australian rugby league football identity. A retired Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative forward, he played his club football for the Newcastle Knights whom he captained to the 1997 ARL premiership...

 played for the club. Harragon joined the Newcastle Knights

Newcastle Knights

The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. They compete in Australasia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League premiership...

 in their first year in the NSW Rugby League competition and went on to represent Australia. Brett Kimmorley

Brett Kimmorley

Brett "Noddy" Kimmorley was an Australian professional rugby league footballer for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs of the NRL. He has previously played for five other clubs and has also represented his country and state on several occasions...

 was a Lakes United junior and made the Australian schoolboys side before going on a successful career in the National Rugby League

National Rugby League

The National Rugby League is the top league of professional rugby league football clubs in Australasia. The NRL's main competition, called the Telstra Premiership , is contested by sixteen teams, fifteen of which are based in Australia with one based in New Zealand...

 including playing for Australia. Lakes United won the Newcastle premiership in 1996 and 2001. In 2006, they won another Newcastle premiership with four players being selected in a Newcastle team to play Great Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

 in a practice match for the 2006 Rugby League Tri-Nations

2006 Rugby League Tri-Nations

The 2006 Rugby League Tri-Nations was hosted for the second time by Australia and New Zealand. Sponsored by Gillette the tournament followed the same format as in 2004 and 2005, with each team meeting the other two teams twice, and the top two teams at the end of the group stages proceeding to the...

.

Premiership titles

Years Won

1947

1974

1975

1985

1986

1987

1996

2001

2006

2007

International representatives

Paul Harragon

Paul Harragon

Paul "The Chief" Harragon OAM is an Australian rugby league football identity. A retired Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative forward, he played his club football for the Newcastle Knights whom he captained to the 1997 ARL premiership...

 Brett Kimmorley

Brett Kimmorley

Brett "Noddy" Kimmorley was an Australian professional rugby league footballer for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs of the NRL. He has previously played for five other clubs and has also represented his country and state on several occasions...

 Willie Mason

Willie Mason

William Marshall "Willie" Mason is an Australian professional rugby union footballer for Toulon in the Top 14 competition, having previously being a rugby league footballer for Hull KR in the European Super League.Mason signed a 3-year contract with Hull KR in September 2010, pending a successful...

 Adam Muir

Adam Muir

Adam Muir is an Australian former rugby league footballer of the 1990s and 2000s. An Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative forward, he played his club football with the Newcastle Knights , North Sydney Bears, Northern Eagles, and the South Sydney...

 Albert Paul Allan Thomson