Category: WMS News

Seagulls Seeking New Board Member

Board Appointment Independent Director

The Wynnum Manly Seagulls are a Rugby League Football club based at Kougari Oval, in Brisbane’s bayside suburb of Manly West, which neighbours the suburb of Wynnum. Our catchment and presence extend to the surrounding regions of Redlands and Beenleigh; and is complimented by a formal association with the Queensland Rugby League and the Brisbane Broncos National Rugby League Football Club. We have a comprehensive; professional and high-profile football program competing at all levels including the top level QRL Host Plus Cup for men and the BMD Premiership for women.

Wynnum Manly Seagulls Rugby League Football Club (Wynnum Manly Seagulls) is seeking a Non-Executive Independent Director to join our Board. You must be an independent thinker, contributing constructively to our Board’s decision-making process and adding value to the board through your independence and experience. This role is initially for a two-year term, with extensions up to a maximum of 6 years.

The Role
The successful candidate will ideally have financial; legal; or marketing expertise – or other relevant skills that will complement the current board. As a member of the Board, you may also serve on committees and participate in key decision-making processes, without being involved in the day-to-day running of the football club operations. As an independent thinker, you’ll bring respectful and confident expression of views, contributing constructively to our Board’s decision-making process.

You must be able to assist the current Board and leadership team to successfully fulfil the objectives of our strategic plans. Previous experience with Sporting and/or Community based Not for Profit organisations would be highly regarded.

Qualifications, skills, and experiences
The ideal candidate will have previous board or senior leadership team level experience. You must be able to work in a collaborative environment that is committed to ensuring the ongoing success of Wynnum Manly Seagulls both on the sporting field and with our brand presence in the broader community.

Ideal attributes our Independent Director may include (but not limited to):

  • Experience and demonstrated performance as a Board or Senior Leadership Team member of an organisation, or as a private business owner.
  • Understanding and application of risk; governance; diversity and inclusion principals associated with a high-profile community based or sporting organisation.
  • Marketing and / or financial acumen.
  • Strong interpersonal skills.
  • Excellent analytical and research skills.
  • Excellent written and communication skills.
  • Problem solving and decision-making skills.
  • Able to obtain and maintain an ASIC Director Identification Number
  • Participation in the Australian Institute of Company Directors Course.
  • Abide by and endorse Wynnum Manly Seagulls organisational values of Greatness, United, Leadership, Loyalty, Selfless.

Please include all relevant skills and experience that you feel adequately demonstrates your suitability to contribute to the Board.

Meeting Commitments and Remuneration
The Wynnum Manly Seagulls Board convenes monthly and Board members may also serve on sub-committees as needed. The position is voluntary and as such no remuneration is applicable.

Please forward all enquiries to CEO Wayne Weekes (Wayne.Weekes@wynnumseagulls.com.au)

 

 

Trial Matches Continue This Saturday

The Seagulls will have 5 teams competing in trial matches this weekend with Round 1 right around the corner.

Our BMD Premiership, Mal Meninga Cup, Cyril Connell Cup, Harvey Norman Women U19 and Harvey Norman Women U17 will all be on the field against Norths.

Our junior affiliate club, Redlands, will host all matches on Saturday afternoon. (226 Cleveland Redland Bay Rd)

This will be the second trial for our McDonalds Seagulls Academy juniors, and the first time our grand-finalist-BMD Premiership team will take the field in 2024.

Game schedule:
1:30pm – U17 Women
2:50pm – Cyril Connell Cup
4:10pm – U19 Women
5:30pm – Mal Meninga Cup
7pm – BMD Premiership

Round 1 for our junior teams will take place the following Saturday before our Hostplus Cup team take on the Brisbane Broncos at BMD Kougari Oval.

Broncos Return to BMD Kougari Oval in 2024

The BMD Wynnum Manly Seagulls will once again welcome the Brisbane Broncos to BMD Kougari Oval to kickstart our respective 2024 seasons with a trial match.

On Saturday 10 February 2024, a capacity crowd will again roll through the gates at Wynnum Manly for a first look at the Seagulls squad for the season ahead, and to watch future NRL players on display for the Broncos.

As in previous years, we will have new merchandise, food vans and activations, and celebrate our community with the help of our Principal Partner BMD.

Kick off is scheduled for 4pm, with some McDonalds Seagulls Academy games to be played before the main contest.

Tickets are on sale now and will be $15 for adults, $10 for Seagulls and Broncos members, and free for kids 15 years and under.

We recommend purchasing your tickets early as this event will sell out. You can purchase tickets here.

 

Women In Sport Lunch A Success

Thursday saw the Seagulls Women In Sport Lunch take place at the Wynnum Manly Leagues Club, proudly presented by Joan Pease MP.

A good crowd gathered to support both female athletes and women working in sport, as everyone from eager to hear from our special guests.

Our attendees were lucky enough to hear from NRL Comissioner Kate Jones, Ex-Matilda Elissia Carnavas, Head of Broncos Women’s Program Paul Dyer, NRLW Player Romi Teitzel and Seagulls BMD Premiership Head Coach Ron Troutman, as well as QRL Lead Content Producer Jorja Brinums who was our host.

Our panels discussed the importance of continuing to enhance women’s sport and to maintain the momentum of the recent FIFA Women’s World Cup and NRLW seasons, as well as just how big the Olympics will be for South East QLD and the development of sport in the state.

We’d like to thank our special guests and everyone who attended the lunch last week.

We’re looking forward to the addition of an U17 Women’s team in 2024, which will bring the Seagulls team’s to an even split for the first time with 3 Men’s and 3 Women’s teams.

Given the recent immediate success within our Women’s program, we’re expecting some great results in 2024.

#UpTheGulls

Women In Sport Lunch

The excitement is building for our 2023 Women in Sport Lunch, proudly presented by Joan Pease MP.

On Thursday 2 November at the Wynnum Manly Leagues Club, guests will come together to celebrate women both playing and working in sport.

Hosted by Jorja Brinums, QLD Rugby League’s Lead Content Producer, special guests for the lunch include NRL Commissioner Kate Jones, Head of the Brisbane Broncos Women’s Program Paul Dyer, as well as some of our very own Seagulls Women.

After the success of last year’s event, we are eager continue our momentum and shine the spotlight on Women’s sport in Australia, with a bit of a Seagulls twist.

Tickets can be purchased at the link below and include lunch and some prize giveaways. We’d love to see you there!

Get your tickets here!

Seagulls Presentation Gala

The BMD Wynnum Manly Seagulls held our Presentation Gala on Friday night to conclude our 2023 season.

Players, coaches, staff, sponsors and guests arrived at the Wynnum Manly Leagues Club, eager to see the winner of numerous Seagulls awards, in particular the Hostplus Cup and BMD Premiership Player of Year.

A few special awards were announced on the night, including Daryl Short being awarded the Mitch Cronin Medal as the Club Person of the Year. In 2023, ‘Shorty’ coached our Hastings Deering Colts to the Top 8, managed the football operations and player welfare at the club, and was also the groundsman at BMD Kougari Oval. Safe to say he’s a valued member of the Seagulls community and the club would struggle to run without his input.

Josh Rogers was recognised for setting a single-season points record (241) for the Seagulls, and Matt Milson won the Anthony ‘Chook’ Schweitzer Memorial Trophy as the supporter’s best player of the season. Our Volunteer of the Year was announced as Jason Salisbury who was stationed in the Chook Pen this season. Our supporters have Jason to thank for their smooth experience at the Chook Pen bar during 2023.

Matthew Milson won the Hostplus Cup Player of the Year after returning to the club he played 4 games for across the 2018-19 seasons. Milson had 12 tries, 11 try assists, 11 linebreaks, and ran for 3,313m, while playing in all 23 Hostplus Cup game this season. He was electric at fullback, reliable under the high ball, and heavily involved in the Seagulls attack as his impressive stats show.

Julia Robinson won the BMD Premiership Player of the Year after a fantastic debut season at the Seagulls. Robinson played 8 games and scored 2 tries, had 2 try assists, 6 linebreaks, made 70 tackles and ran for nearly 1000m across the season.

Full list of Seagulls award winners:
Hostplus Cup Player of the Year (Presented by Wynnum Manly Leagues Club) – Matt Milson
Hostplus Cup Players’ Players (Presented by BMD) – Ollie Pascoe

Mitch Cronin Medal (Club Person of the Year) – Daryl Short

BMD Premiership Player of the Year (Presented by Joan Pease MP) – Julia Robinson
BMD Premiership Players’ Player (Presented by BMD) – Jayda Lofipo

Hastings Deering Colts Player of the Year – John Radel
Hastings Deering Colts Players’ Player – John Radel

Most Diligent Player (Presented by Wynnum Manly Old Boys) – Cooper Page-Wilson
Arch Geary Shield (Volunteer of the Year) – Jason Salisbury
Anthony Schweitzer Memorial Trophy (Supporter’s Award – Presented by Sean Oliver) – Matt Milson
Single Season Points Record – Josh Rogers (241 points)

Trevor Niebling Shield (Best Junior to Senior)
Male – Blake Anders
Female – Destiny Mino-Sinapati

Cyril Connell Challenge U16s Player of the Year – Chaev Kolone
Cyril Connell Challenge U16s Players’ Player – Tyler Pereira
Mal Meninga Cup U18s Player of the Year – Kylem Vunipola
Mal Meninga Cup U18s Players’ Player – Beni Allen
Harvey Norman Women U19s Player of the Year – Destiny Mino-Sinapati
Harvey Norman Women U19s Players’ Player – Sienna Lofipo

Vale Lionel Morgan

Rugby league icon and Seagulls legend, Lionel Morgan, has passed away aged 85.

Lionel was a pioneer of rugby league and is widely recognised as the first Indigenous player to represent Australia in any major sporting code.

Representing the Wynnum Manly Seagulls from 1959-68, Lionel also played for QLD 12 times and Australia 3 times. In 2008, Lionel was named on the wing in the Indigenous Team of the Century.

He still holds the club record for the most tries in one match – six against Souths at Davies Park in 1964. He was Wynnum Manly’s captain-coach between 1965-67.

The 4 Morgan sons, David, Brad, Earl and Chris, all spent time playing for Wynnum Manly throughout their rugby league careers.

Lionel left a significant legacy at the Seagulls, and we tried to honour him through the introduction of the Lionel Morgan Medal for our Player of the Match on North Stradbroke Island in recent years. Lionel was also the first player to appear on our Seagulls ‘walk of fame’ at our front entry gate, given his incredible contribution to the game and the inspiration he has provided to Indigenous youth.

The Seagulls express our condolences to the entire Morgan family at this time.

Colts Finish Season In Elimination Final

Our Seagulls Hastings Deering Colts finished their season in the first week of finals football last Sunday.

After finishing the season 7th on the ladder, they travelled to Redcliffe to play the Sunshine Coast Falcons (6th) at midday on Sunday.

Coached by Daryl Short, our Colts were confident of causing an upset given the open nature of the competition.

They had started their season with 3 wins in a row and sat atop the ladder.

Following that, our Colts only spent 2 weeks outside the Top 8, and generally fluctuated around the middle of the 8.

We’d like to thank our major jersey partners BMD, Bartons, Lipke Motors, TFH, Place Estate Agents and Moreton Island Adventures, as well as McDonalds Bayside as our Seagulls Academy Partner.

With the Colts competition not going ahead in 2024, a lot of the these boys will move up into the Seagulls Hostplus Cup system.

The Seagulls have enjoyed a very successful period in the Hasting Deering Colts competition, including a Premiership and two Minor Premierships in the last 3 years, and we’re proud of our 2023 group for another finals finish.

 

Statement Re: Kitchener Park Redevelopment

I write to all our passionate fans, supporters, and the wider Wynnum Manly community today to address an issue that has been a sticking point within our community for the past 18 months.

There was a concerned group of supporters who were misinformed, and led to believe that we would be abandoning our post at BMD Kougari Oval, and moving to a state of the art stadium built at Kitchener park.

While there is some truth to these rumors, we were never intending to leave BMD Kougari Oval.

We were however looking to increase our available space with a facilities upgrade to Kitchener Park, and only if we found a suitable new home for the Wynnum Manly Juniors to settle and grow into.

As the latter did not progress past ideas, there was never anything concrete put in place for this project to go ahead.

We, as your club directors, are always looking for improvements within the rugby league community, and it was never our intention to cause division, but to look for strategic avenues in which we could expand our presence and our reach within the community.

We will continue to explore our options to do so, but at this time, the Kitchener Park redevelopment is no longer viable, and will not be taken any further.

I want to assure everyone that Kougari Oval will remain the home of the Wynnum Manly Seagulls for years to come, and that the aforementioned Kitchener Park project has now been put behind us.

In saying that, I would like us, as a community, to unite once again, and what better time than going into a Hostplus Cup semi final. Thank you for your support of the Seagulls, and please stick by us for the remainder of the finals series.

Regards,

Tom Solah

Chairman – Wynnum Manly Seagulls

Knockout Final At Home

Thank you to everyone that attended on Sunday in what was our biggest crowd of the Hostplus Cup season.

The support for our Seagulls was incredible and we have appreciated it all season.

Unfortunately, we couldn’t get the win on Sunday, but that means we will now host an elimination final on Sunday at 4pm against the Northern Pride.

In a battle of 6th vs 7th, the loser of this match will see their season end, while the winner will progress to face the loser of Souths Logan (2nd) vs Brisbane Tigers (3rd).

Our Hastings Deering Colts finished the season in 7th position and will take on the Sunshine Coast Falcons (6th) at Redcliffe’s Kayo Stadium on Sunday at midday.

This will be the last home game of our season and we’d love to see a huge crowd again this weekend.

Come down to BMD Kougari oval on Sunday at 4pm and support our boys in a knockout final!

#UpTheGulls