WELCOME TO Western Districts Rugby Football Club Ltd
ABOUT WDRFCL
Western Districts Rugby Football Club Limited is the commercial arm as distinct from the playing entity of the organisation commonly and collectively referred as 'Wests" or "the Bulldogs".
A rugby club originally called Western Districts Rugby Union Club was founded in 1951 and commenced playing activities at Marist Brothers College Ashgrove and later at the Normanby Oval on Gilchrist Avenue. In 1961, the club amalgamated with the Toowong Rugby Club and found a permanent home at Toowong Memorial Park, Sylvan Road Toowong. A modest clubhouse
was erected in 1968 and extended from time to time thereafter. Incorporated as a Company in 1974, the Club won it's first Hospitals Cup Premiership in 1977.
The advent of a new commercially based and financed clubhouse in 2017 occasioned an operational restructure in 2018 which saw the club assume responsibility for the leasing and management of the clubhouse and grounds and divesting itself of control of all playing activities in favour of a new entity to be known as Wests Bulldogs Rugby Club Inc.
Coincidentally with the restructuring, the constitution adopted on incorporation in 1974 was revised to reflect on the change administrative arrangements. The principal change was to restrict membership of WDRFCL to the existing Life & Permanent Members at the time of the change whilst offering ordinary Membership in return for a once only subscription of $1000.
The club, founded as nothing more than a single team without any assets in 1951, has become a significant joint venture between the inextricably linked commercial and playing entities with assets in excess of 15 million dollars, WDRFCL membership of around 150 and catering for the rugby activities of almost 1000 players.
DIRECTOR BIOgraphies
Henry Brown
Henry represented Wests as both a Junior & a Senior player starting in 2003 and playing until 2014, during this time he spent a number of seasons as a fixture in the premier grade team. Additionally Henry captained the colts side in 2009.
Whilst completing his studies at QUT, earning Bachelor of Property Economics, Henry started his professional career at Taylor Byrne & LMW (now Acumentis) where he
rose to his current position of Director commercial Valuations. In this role, Henry is responsible for the strategic direction and performance of the Commercial Valuation team within Queensland, whilst his work in previous roles included providing special valuation services across abroad
range of assets classes for major financial institutions, Government authorities as well aa variety of private and corporate clients.
scott harrison
Scott has over 30 years’ professional experience including being a former Registered Company Auditor with ASIC and former Registered Tax Agent.
Scott is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Public Accountants, a Graduate with the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and holds a Bachelor of Commerce. He has also attained a Certificate in Strategic Leadership from Harvard University, Massachusetts.
Over the last 20 years, Scott has held leadership positions in the Education sector in business management, finance, governance, assurance, risk and policy. He currently delivers a Financial Literacy Program to school Principals.
Scott is a Life Member of Wests and has been an assistant coach with the Premier Grade squad since 2022.
tony hawkins
Tony was for 19 years CEO of WorkCover Queensland which provides workers compensation insurance to over 160,000 businesses across the state covering 2 million workers - a $1.5 billion insurance business...
Prior to this, Tony spent 15 years with the AXA group in customer service roles and 15 years in the coal mining and building construction materials divisions of CSR. He was awarded an AM in the 2019 Australia Day Honours list.
Tony is a Life Member of Wests having served as a coach, manager and committeeman of both the junior and senior clubs since 1992.
Cullum Hughes
Cullum Hughes is the founder and sole director of CGH Constructions which was established in 2005 and specialises in high-end bespoke architectural homes. Cullum studied at the University of Technology, graduating in 2000 with a Bachelor of Applied Science, majoring in Construction Management. After graduation Cullum worked for large constructions firms in Australia, and also worked internationally, including Aspen (USA) and Japan.
Cullum was previously on Western District Rugby Football Club Limited board from 2019 to 2021. Cullum represented Wests and was club Captain from 1998 to 2000.
PETER SCHMIDT
Peter is a Senior Consultant at international law firm Norton Rose Fulbright, having recently stepped down after nearly 25 years as a partner. Peter was the head of the Brisbane office of NRF for 5 years.
Peter has mostly worked in litigation and commercial disputes, specialising in restructuring of solvent and insolvent companies. He also advises large public and private companies on risk management and corporate governance. Peter was recently appointed by the Qld Attorney General as a member of the Council at the Queensland Law Society. He sits on the board of the Australian Restructuring Insolvency and Turnaround Association which is the peak industry body for lawyers and accountants that practice in that field.
Peter's association with West's extends back to when he played intermittently with the then lowest senior team at the club, when training was optional or at the Regatta. Peter's three sons all played junior rugby at Wests. Peter was the president of the junior club for a number of years and was part of the working committee that obtained funding to install irrigation on the second oval for the first time.
DEVYN SMITH
Devyn holds a Bachelor of Business Management degree from the University of Qld and has worked in the property sector for the past 10 years with Colliers International, Jones Lang LaSalle, Geon Property, CBRE and Real Asset Management.
Devyn is currently a Director of Asset Advisory Group, an independent real estate agency focusing on leasing, property management, asset management and occupier services.
Devyn's playing career at Wests began when he joined the Wests Colts program in the late 2000's where his performances earned him selection through to Premier Grade where he enjoyed a number of years as a stalwart of the team. Along with his time at Wests, Devyn spent time in the UK playing rugby and refining his game.
GEOFF WESSLING
Geoff has been connected with Wests since 1970. Initially playing with the U15 to U19 teams and then from 1976 - 1982 in 1st grade. In 1977 he was appointed captain of 1st Grade who went on to win West's initial first grade premiership. Over many years Geoff has kept a keen interest in the Club, taking on coaching responsibilities as well as serving as a Director on the Club's Board over 5 years. During this period he held the positions of President, Treasurer and Secretary.
Other governance responsibilities include directorships for Jigsaw Training Group Pty ltd, Professional Counsellors Association Australia and as a committee member of the Lang Park PCYC. Geoff is currently the CEO of TCCW Consulting Pty ltd, a company specialising in international educational management & partnerships. As a consultant he has acted in leadership positions for the PGA International Golf Institute, Russo Business School, Careers Australia & Royal Brisbane Institute of Technology. He has also brokered successful partnerships between Australian & overseas universities and colleges.
Prior to the mentioned responsibilities, he held the position of COO for C Management Services, an international education management company and was the CEO of the International School Suva. His qualifications include a Master of Educational Administration, a Graduate Diploma of Strategic Leadership, a Graduate Diploma of Project Management, as well as other qualifications. He is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Managers and Leaders and is also a certified carpenter and joiner.
LIFE MEMBERS
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Rev Bro Cryrian*
Jim Rennie*
Ron Hayward*
Bert Bickley*
Wally Hammond*
Alby Taylor*
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Gerry Murphy
Frank Wright*
Lyn Crowley*
Paul Mooney*
Merv Jervis*
Stan Pilecki*
Arthur Gough
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Frank Wecker*
Phil Stoneham
Lyle Deen*
George Pippos*
Jack Hinsbey*
John Ryan
Ken Swanson
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Roger Gould
Trevor Davies
Linda Bennetts
Tony Hawkins
Wayne Carter
Scott Harrison
Michael Malouf
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Tony Buckley
Graham Brown
Geoff Wessling
Phil Mooney
Felicity Bennetts
John Hurwood
David Atley
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* Deceased
ORDINARY MEMBERS
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Craig Anderson
William Anderson
Col Archer
Blair Atthow
Stuart Bale
Scott Barton
Richard Bell
Kate Bell
Adrian Belotti
Andrew Bourke
Julian Bristow
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Dan Brown
Henry Brown
Lisa Brown
Matthew Brown
Liv Brown
Brian BrumbyJack Buckley
Lindsay Callaghan
Alex Campbell
Bill Campbell
Greg Campbell
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Tony Chadwick
Mark Chisholm
Megan Clifford
John Clifford
John Corry
Angus Cottrell
Tom Coulter
Michael Cross
Daniel J Crowley
Chris DaviesGareth Davies
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Daryl Dawes
Catalin Draguceanu
Lew Draper
John Dun
Richard Ebbott
Matt Farr
Mark Frawley
Chris Garrard
Erin Geary
Tegun Geary
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Tim Geary
Brett Gillespie
Bob Greasley
Nathan Grey
Lester Hampson
Peter Harris
Scott Harris
Rod Hawkings
Kirk Hawkins
Gareth Hedges
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Andrew Hewlett
Scott Higginbotham
Graham Higgins
Bill Hind
Andrew Hinz
Bob Holland
Tim Hudson
Cullum Hughes
Claire Hurwood
Nicholas Huth
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Brenden Jones
Peter Jones
Steve Keys
Patrick Knapp
Geoff Kricker
Ron Leth
Peta Lilley
Boyd Lochran
Sam MacGillivray
Greg Masters
James Masters
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Alan McCoy
George Mellick
John Miller
Shannon Moore
Damien Morrissey
Joe Nowak
Chris Oatley
Brian O'Hara
Amy Pilecki
Bart Pilecki
Clarissa Pilecki
Gus Porteous
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Jock Raynor
Tom Reardon
Luke Richardson
Shaun Richardson
Stu Richardson
Dennis Riley
Gary Russell-Sharam
Finn Ryan
Julie Ryan
Nicholas Ryan
Tom Ryan
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Ben Sanders
Matt Sanders
Thomas Saunders
Ivan Schmalkuche
Penny Schmalkuche
Peter SchmidtPeter Schofield
Andrew Scifleet
Cooper Scifleet
Greg Shaw
Russell Shields
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Joe Shopland
Giovanni Silanesu
John Sloman
Petrea Sloman
Devyn Smith
Adrian Stanton
Tony Steel
Jim Stewart
Mike Swenson
Brad Thomas
Hunter Thomas
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Oscar Thomas
Rod Towner
Jim Tucker
John Tynan
Pat Van Rooyen
Jonathan Walker
Chris Watson
Bill Watt
Grant Williams
Evan Willis
Bruce Wright
Rick Younger
APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP
To apply for membership, please follow the link below, print the "WDRFCL Application for Membership" Form, fill it out and submit it to admin@wdrfcl.com.au
NOMINATION FOR LIFE MEMBERSHIP
To nominate for Life Membership, please follow the link below, print the "WDRFCL Nomination For Life Membership" Form, fill it out and submit it to admin@wdrfcl.com.au
notice of 2026 agm
The WDRFCL 2026 AGM will be held on Sunday 6 December 2026.
More details will follow closer to the time.