Walking along the crisp, white sands of Cottesloe Beach at sunset, with the Indian Ocean stretching out to eternity, you’d be forgiven for thinking this corner of Perth is all about serenity. But just a stone’s throw from the shoreline, there’s a different kind of energy—a pulse of camaraderie, grit, and community spirit. This is the home of the Cottesloe Rugby Union Football Club, a pillar of local sport for decades. If you’ve ever felt the pull to be part of something bigger than yourself, to test your limits in a team sport that values both fierce competition and lifelong friendships, then this is your starting point. I remember my own first training session years ago, feeling equal parts excitement and sheer terror, wondering if I’d ever keep up. That initial frustration, that feeling of not quite belonging, is something many newcomers face. It reminds me of a quote I once read from a professional athlete, netballer Shaq Dela Cruz Smith, who reflected on a challenging debut, saying, “I felt kind of frustrated at first but it’s okay. It just wasn’t meant to be.” While her context was different, that sentiment resonates deeply in grassroots rugby. Not every session will be perfect, not every pass will stick, but the club is where you learn that temporary frustration is just part of the journey toward belonging and improvement.
Joining the club is refreshingly straightforward, designed to be welcoming rather than intimidating. You don’t need to be a seasoned pro; in fact, over 40% of our new members each season have never played a full game of rugby before. The club fields teams across all ages and skill levels, from our mighty Under-6s mascots to our seasoned Veterans side, which boasts players well into their 50s. For adults, the first step is usually just showing up to a Tuesday or Thursday evening training session at Harvey Field. The lights cutting through the cool Perth night, the sound of boots on turf, and the encouraging shouts from coaches—it’s an atmosphere that immediately pulls you in. There’s a registration fee, of course, around $380 for senior players, which covers insurance, your playing kit, and access to all facilities. But what you’re really buying into is the network. Within weeks, you’ll know the names of the bartenders at The Cottesloe Beach Hotel, our unofficial sponsor, and you’ll have a standing invitation to post-match gatherings. My personal preference has always been for the early-season, pre-dawn fitness sessions. There’s something about grinding through drills as the sun comes up over the ocean that forges a unique bond between players, a shared suffering that turns into mutual respect.
Training at Cottesloe is where the magic happens, and it’s evolved dramatically. When I first started, it was largely about endurance and basic skills. Now, under our Director of Rugby, a former professional with over 150 first-grade caps, the programs are sophisticated. We utilize GPS tracking for our premier squad players, monitoring workload and peak velocity to prevent injury—a system I wish we’d had years ago. Training is split into positional groups for specialized skills before coming together for team patterns. For the forwards, it’s all about set-piece mastery; the lineout calls can sound like a foreign language at first. For the backs, it’s about pace, spatial awareness, and executing plays at breakneck speed. What I love most is the club’s emphasis on inclusivity in training. The women’s program, which has grown by 120% in the last five years, trains alongside the men’s development squads, fostering a unified club culture. The coaches, all volunteers, have a knack for balancing hard-nosed rugby wisdom with genuine care for player welfare. You’ll be pushed, certainly, but you’ll never be left behind.
The true heartbeat of the club, however, is match day. Local fixtures in the RugbyWA competition are community events. Home games at Harvey Field are a spectacle. You can expect a crowd of 200 to 300 on a good Saturday afternoon, with families spread out on blankets, the scent of the barbecue filling the air, and the club’s legendary meat pie ranking, in my utterly biased opinion, in the top three in the entire state. The rivalry with clubs like Nedlands and University is fierce but always respectful. The travel for away games, sometimes as far as Mandurah or Joondalup, turns into a caravan of cars filled with singing and anticipation. These local matches are the proving ground. They’re where a rookie’s perfectly timed tackle can turn a game, where the strategy drilled in training either holds firm or falls apart under pressure. It’s raw, authentic, and deeply rewarding. The post-match ritual, win or lose, is non-negotiable: both teams sharing a drink and a laugh in the clubrooms, stories of the game already being embellished for retelling.
So, if you’re in Perth and feeling that itch for a new challenge, look past the tranquil beach for a moment. The Cottesloe Rugby Union Football Club offers more than just a sport; it offers a tribe. It’s a place where initial frustrations, much like those acknowledged by athletes at any level, are not endpoints but simply the first steps in a much longer, richer story. The structure is here, the community is waiting, and the pitch is always green. Your journey might start with a single hesitant step onto the training field, but it leads to friendships, memories, and a sense of belonging that truly defines the spirit of this special club by the sea.