St John's Junior Rugby League is gearing up to celebrate their 50th anniversary in a big way next month.
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The club will host an anniversary gala dinner on August 13 at Dubbo Regional Theatre and Convention Centre to celebrate the rich history they've had over the past five decades.
Former president and club spokesperson John Walkom said the club has come a long way since being formed.
"It was formed at the time to give boys rugby league, now it's evolved to what it is today," he said.
"I think we had five teams back then, we had an 8s, 10s, 12s, 14s and 16s to today where we have 39 teams."
After being formed in March 1972, the club has gone on to produce countless NRL players as well as NSW, Australia and Wallabies representatives over the past 50 years.
Two of those players featured in Brad Fittler's NSW State of Origin side in 2022 with Matt Burton and Isaah Yeo both playing their junior football with the club.
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Walkom admitted he is unsure as to exactly how many of the club's former players have gone to achieve great things in sport but knows there will be more talented juniors in the future.
"I've lost count of the number of NRL players we've had but it all started off with Martin Meredith way back in 1978 or 1979 when he went to Manly," he said.
"Since then we've had quite a healthy procession over the 50 years of players going into the NRL, which has been quite good.
"We've had quite a few players play State of Origin, I don't know of another local club in regional NSW that has had two players play in the same game as we have in game two or three this year.
"That's pretty special, we've had a number of players go on to represent Australia and I think out of the current crop we will have a few more go on to play for Australia."
While it is a rugby league club, Walkom opened up a bit more on their connection to the Australian rugby union side.
"We've had some Wallabies as well, we've had a number of them come through the club and play their junior rugby league at St John's," he said.
"Then they've gone to school and eventually play for the Wallabies, the first one was Mark Bell.
"His son now Angus (Bell) is playing for the Wallabies, there is a bit of tradition there."
The weekend will be at its best on Saturday evening with the gala dinner, something Walkom hopes will bring back some familiar faces from across the years.
"It will be (great), to be honest, I'm unsure of where the ticket sales are at currently but I believe they are quite healthy," he said.
"If anyone is even contemplating going then they need to get in and buy their tickets before they miss the boat.
"We'll have people there from all the last five decades of the club, we've got some special moments captured which will highlight the evening.
"We are hopeful that we will have both our State of Origin players (Burton and Yeo) at the dinner.
"There are few logistical hurdles to jump over but I think we can do that."
While the gala dinner is the big event of the weekend, Walkom said the festivities will begin the day before and should continue until Sunday.
"It's just going to be a special weekend for everyone," he said.
"We are going to have an informal social gathering at the Castlereagh Hotel on Friday night then Saturday is a big day for the club with the junior league followed by the dinner.
"Sunday will just be an informal catch-up at the Garden Hotel.
"Thank god we've got Dry July because we are getting ready for a wet August."
Tickets for the gala dinner are available via www.drtcc.com.au or the club's Facebook page.