Toby Shelley
Toby and wife Susie, sons Charlie and Harry arrived in the Highlands in 2017 from the UK. Originally born in Stowmarket, Suffolk.
Toby absolutely Loves beer. Everything about it. Whether it’s the finer points of ferming yeast, the intricate design of beer labels, the rise of micro breweries or simply straing off into space, glassy eyed, just dreaming about it… he loves beer. He is also fond of that game that must not be named, you know the round ball one (no not Quiddich, the other equally silly one with a larger ball). So if you cant talk ball, you talk to him about that other thing.
In conjunction with his partner in crime, Nick Cleary, Toby has the role of re-vitalising the social activity in the club. He and Nick have a bunch of really great social events that they hope to roll out over the season and going into next year, Covid permitting!
Its hard to find a more welcoming and friendly personality than Toby Shelley, making him perfect for the role of social co-ordinator. Please do go and introduce yourself.
Nick Cleary
Nick Cleary is another Blue blood local, born in Burrawang, raised in Burrawang and he can occasionally still be found tied to a post at Burrawang (i.e. sitting on a stool at the Burrawang hotel)! You’ll know when you see Nick at the club, he’ll have the broadest smile and inevitably be entertaining a large group with his stories and anecdotes, probably about how he was… born and raised in Burrawang!
Nick and wife Erin and five children (yes they have an awful lot of black outs in Burrawang) William, Jemima, Sammy, Paddy and Tommy are stalwarts of the Bowral rugby club and we welcome their involvement in …well almost every age group that we have! Nick went to school at Chev, played rugby at Chev, and at St Gregorys college and later at the mighty Bowral Blacks. He is once again playing, this time on the side lines, vicariously through his sons.
Nick is CEO and founder of CLARA a visionary organisation looking to build a high speed rail network between future regional cities in NSW and Victoria. Consequently, Nick loves talking about politics, the environment, the future growth of our great nation and rugby…so I’d probably steer away from all of those topics! Well known for enjoying a yarn , albeit with his very softly spoken voice, Nick will warmly welcome you to the club.
In conjunction with his partner in crime, Toby Shelley, in the role of Social Co-ordinator, Nick has the task of re-vitalising the social activity in the club. He and Toby have a bunch of really great ideas and social events that they hope to roll out over the season and going into next year, Covid permitting!
If you haven’t already, be sure to introduce yourself to Nick, you’ll soon be embraced by a warm and entertaining personality and a very large grin. But remember, he is very hard to hear so you will need to stand very close.
Sam Jones
Sam is the father of two rugby mad boys, was born and bred in the Highlands and was one of the earliest graduates of Oxley College, making him a true-blue thoroughbred local. In fact, Sam claims that his English ancestors arrived in the highlands “sometime around 2 or 3 years prior to the first fleet arriving in Sydney cove”, which means that none of us can claim to be a true local, like Sam, unless we have lived here continuously for about 300 years.
Sam represented Oxley in the first XV and subsequently played club rugby in Sydney. By his good looks and neatly parted hair, it’s quite clear he played somewhere in the backline. Sam’s prior career as a high school English and Drama teacher has equipped him with an enormously valuable and rare set of talents as a rugby coach & administrator. He now comes equipped with; a vast array of very stern looks, the ability to stare silently off into space in mid-sentence, raise one eyebrow whilst keeping the other perfectly still and seemingly at random, waive his arms around in a highly animated manner. Perfect credentials for a role at the mighty Bowral Blacks.
In 2018, Sam was Junior Rugby Director at the Bowral Blacks and coach of the u10’s team. With wife Jacqui and his two boys in tow, he took off 2019 to travel to England and Wales on a sabbatical. Having made it to Lismore (yes, he took a rather circuitous route) the Jones’s ran into COVID-19 lockdowns at every turn and spent the rest of last year sneaking in and out of Queensland. We warmly welcome him and his array of stern looks back in 2021.
Renowned for his endlessly good humour and warm demeanour as well as his ability to chat with all and everyone, even himself, we invite you to get to know Sam. If you have had a bad day at the office, you will soon feel much better in a short space of time.
As Junior registrar, Sam’s prime job is to promote rugby in the highlands and to help the club to build a larger community of players and supporters. He is also responsible for ensuring players are appropriately registered and that coaches have all of the qualifications and meet all of the requirements of the ARU and Illawarra Rugby regulations.
Cam Francis
Cam was raised in warm and sunny Queensland and played rugby at high school and later, in sub districts in Sydney. From his (nearly) straight nose and perfectly formed ears it is clearly evident that he played in the backs, way out back, a long way from the ball and all that rough stuff. Nonetheless, he is absolutely passionate about rugby and is renowned for his in-depth rugby analysis and tactical knowledge such as knowing the shoe size and favourite breakfast of every Wallaby since 1930.
Cam, his wife Sharon and four children arrived in the highlands from Singapore in January 2016 and he has been frozen to the bone ever since. On a cold windy winters day in Bowral, Cam can be found running back and forward across a rugby field, with a clipboard in hand, yelling and muttering … usually on his own. Alternatively, he will be at the local Woolworths buying out the entire stock of thermal underwear.
As Junior Rugby Director Cam is keen to build a strong and vibrant rugby community at Bowral Blacks. He and the team of junior volunteers want to make the Blacks a home away from home for all of our players, their families and supporters.
As a Psychologist and a father of four, he is particularly passionate about teaching the junior players the valuable life lessons that can be learnt through involvement in rugby; the importance of collaboration and teamwork, the sense of belonging to a community, working hard to achieve results, helping each other out when we need to, learning to win and lose gracefully, getting back up after you have been knocked down, constantly striving to grow and improve yourself and most importantly of all, knowing how to run away really fast when someone much bigger than you is chasing you.
Cam is also passionate about, and will be focused on, recruiting more female players, coaches and volunteers and building a vibrant women’s rugby community at the Blacks.
He would be eternally grateful if you would introduce yourself and volunteer to take on a role at the club or failing that, offer him a really warm coat.
