​I am sad to inform the passing of former Bronco Phil Boland
Phil was the premiership coach of Box Hill Rugby (2nd Grade) in 1970 and then coached 1st Grade in 1971.
Sadly Phil passed away suddenly Tuesday 15th March 2022 at his home in Keilor aged 79. He is survived by his wife Julie and sons Gerard and Damian.

It it with heavy heart we mourn the passing of Doug Hughes.
Doug was a long time Unquenchable, and being a North Welshman, may well have penned the "Quenchies Lament" (see old Photos on this website)

Wear your Unquenchables emblem (yes the Bull and the Beer) with pride and in memory of Doug, for it he who designed it. 

When his health meant he was unable to pull his bots on, he organized and managed a fantastic tour to California, and other parts of the new world too.  He didn't teach us to drink beer, but he certainly made sure we got home just in time for the next morning's games.  He also scouted out dens of iniquity, just to save our souls, so we no longer wonder why he used the email moniker, 'huntingdoghughes'!

In the current times Covid19 times, a gathering of the clan at the club's bar may be uncertain.......  in the shport term

Condolences to Doug's wife, Leslie, and Family.

It is with sadness we learn that Gary passed away last month after a long illness (cancer).
Gary played for the Quenchies in the late 70s.

RIP  Mate

Liz has been a champion of the Box Hill Rugby Club, managing teams from the First Grade, all the way up to the Unquenchables. We knew if we were late or otherwise letting the team down. Nevertheless, she also made an ice pack available when needed. There’s more than one of us who she drove to an Emergency Room with broken bones.
A Kiwi who preferred not to drink is rare, but Liz tolerated us all and kept us in line when we did.
Liz has been ill for some months and let the pain go last month. She will be missed.
​
RIP.

It is with great sadness that we announce the loss on Thursday 21st November of one of our own. Taken from us at touch football on Thursday November 21st 2013. An Unquenchable through and through since 2010 missed by Team,Club and all who knew him.

It is with regret we announce,after a long illness, the passing of another of the original Unquenchables. Graeme was winger and a flyer in his time, some say a very unconventional winger. We pass on our condolences to his family and friends.

It is with sadness that we note the sudden passing of Jeff Reilly's dad Peter. Peter has been over to the Club many times to watch Jiff run around, but he always said that the beer after was more stimulating & enjoyable.

Peter was a noted sport's journalist and an intimate friend of Hori Bop.. our thoughts a sympathies go out to Jiff and family.

The Club records with deep regret the death of Edna Headberry on 7 September.
Edna was the much loved wife of former President and Life Member Mick, one of the longest serving members of the Club.

They lived close to the Surrey Park ground in the ‘sixties and it was a second home for many of the young players of the fledgling club. She not only gave total support to Mick in his various administrative tasks but arranged many of the early social events as well as later taking on the job of manager of the Unquenchables in the late ‘seventies and early ‘eigthties.

Edna, renowned for her unflappable good humour, was known to countless members of the rugby community and her loyal support of Box Hill Rugby will be long remembered.

Tom Wilcox, who died on Wednesday,13 July 2011 after a prolonged illness, was the longest serving member of the Box Hill RUFC, having joined what was then the Eastern Suburbs RUFC in 1960, a year before adoption of its present name.

Born in Sydney in 1931 Tom learned his rugby at Fort Street High, incidentally, as the Club history records, the school which founding member Ken Shortridge had attended a generation earlier. While still playing for Petersham Juniors Tom was member of that club’s team which toured Victoria in 1948 and, before tearing a knee ligament at the age of twenty, possible harbinger of much later problems, was several times selected for NSW State teams.

Not long after W.R.Grace Ltd., Tom’s first and only employer, had transferred him to Victoria, word that he was living in Box Hill came to the ears of the fledgling Eastern Suburbs Club and Ken Shortridge wrote to him on New Years Eve 1959 inviting him to attend the AGM the following February. This he did and was duly appointed Club coach for 1960, a position he retained in 1961 and during which time he organised the Club’s first tour, to Wagga Wagga.

In 1962 he had to return to Sydney for six months then spend another two months in the Far East. In fact, up until his retirement in 1993 Tom’s work commitments frequently required him to travel interstate or overseas and for two years, 1986 and 1987, he was based in New Zealand. While enthusiastically promoting Box Hill on visits to countries such as South Africa, Canada and Japan he got involved more directly with the Club when back home in Victoria.

He turned out for Club teams whenever possible, breaking a leg in a second grade match against Quins in 1968 but later returning for occasional appearances up until 1972. He then took on refereeing and for three years served as President of the VJRU. In 1979 he was appointed Chairman of the Club’s Selection Committee and in the following three years, 1980 to 1982, was Club President. While gratifying to him to secure Box Hill’s fifth VRU Club Championship before the end of that term Tom’s most significant achievement was the first extension of the clubrooms, which virtually doubled the upper floor function area (now named after him) and added a kiosk to the western end of the new building. This required the commitment of what in today’s values would be more than $80,000, an amount which, when one considers the difficulty of extracting individual subscriptions, might well have daunted the fainter hearted but which Tom set out to obtain in typically positive fashion.
He remained on the Club Committee as Vice President in 1983 and was then elected to the VRU Executive for the next three years, taking up the post of VRU Assistant Secretary, left vacant on the death of Griff Hunt.

The Club elected Tom a Life Member in 1985 and in subsequent years he undertook various executive tasks including Directorships in Marketing and Media and in 1990 was prevailed upon to once again serve as President at a time when the Club was in need of a strong hand at the helm.

In 2003 he was awarded an Australian Centenary Medal in recognition of his contribution to sport and up until 2006 he wrote the match reports for the Club and ensured, with his customary diligence, that his copy met the deadlines of the local Press. The latter, if not actually badgered, were strongly encouraged by Tom to attend special Club functions and to assign photographers to Sparks Reserve as often as possible on Saturday afternoons.

Under the age dispensation which then applied Tom had played his first game for the Club as a member of the Under 19 Colts team which in April 1960 travelled down to play Navy at what is now called Cerberus but was then the Flinders Naval Depot. He last took the field in Club colours at Sparks Reserve fifty years later, in September 2009, when an Over Sixties match had been arranged as part of the Club’s Golden Jubilee celebrations. As deteriorating health caused him to arrive a little late for that match he was once again granted dispensation and with characteristic enjoyment played instead in the Over Fifties match which followed.

Tom Wilcox contributed a great deal to the Club and to the Union over many years and was rewarded by seeing his sons and grandsons follow him in playing for Box Hill; one regret being that he was unable to get to the ground to see them play in his final year. But while Tom, together with stop watch and explicit commentaries, will no longer feature at Sparks Reserve, it is there that his legacy will long remain.

It is with great sadness that we announce the loss on Saturday 8th May of one of our own ... Kevin Heath... larger than life.. a great character.. a good mate to all and a true Unquenchable. Will be missed by the Team ,the Club and by all who knew him.

We are saddened to announce the passing of team member Greg. Greg loved the camaraderie and mateship of the Club and the team, Now playing in the highest grade possible. We will miss his quite demeanour and genuine friendship... a gentleman and a true Unquenchable.