Tony with his family, Jackson, George, Lorraine, Adam, Georgia, Tony, Wendy and Tia.
The Yass Magpies celebrated one of their favourite sons on Saturday and he didn’t disappoint with a meat pie early in the game. Tony Worthy ran out for his 300th Magpies game after closed grounds and wet weather made the veteran wait a couple of weeks longer. The try saw the ball retired to be re presented to him after the match in a glass case.
President Tim Clayton said, “Tony Worthy’s 300th game and presentation went really, really well in the Magpies Clubroom. It was fantastic. He had all his family there. His mum, his dad, his brother, his wife and his kids and there was a big group of extended friends that came to it and there was a lot of the reserve graders and the room was full of Magpies. It was really good.
“He was presented with his jumper that had 300 on the back of it and he was very excited about that.
“He was very pleased and thankful that he had the opportunity to play 300 games for Yass.
“The girls did a real good job. There were t-shirts done with Tony Worthy 300 and there was quite a few people wearing them.
“They organised a video of montage of people wishing him the best and that was well received. That was from Binalong through to Yass, through to his friends, through to people he played with over the years, including Matt Ford. It was really good.
“He led the side out onto the field for his 300th, which was pretty good. All his family was once again there again. He actually scored the first try of the game.
“For his 300th game he scored the first try. They got beaten 30-24 but we took that ball out of action. At the end of the game we presented him the ball in a display case and that was the ball he scored the try with in his 300th game.
“Post game we had an on-field presentation that people came onto the ground and then all the sides came onto the ground and wished him all the best and his family were out there again. It was really good.
“We have had three milestones. Sid Harrison played 100, Ellie Beck played 100, and Andrew Smith played 100, as well as Tony 300.
“Tony’s mum mentioned that he started playing for Yass when he was five.
“Tony is good to have around. There’s not a lot of ego. He just gets in, gets his job done and away he goes. He tries to mentor the younger guys when he can. When he first started he was a half back and he has finished up in the front row as the years progressed.
“You can’t knock what he’s done and how big of an achievement he’s made by reaching 300. If you take in the six years he was at Binalong, he could be pushing 370.
“Being the first one for us, it’s very special and certainly can’t be taken away from him.
“We are really excited for him and everyone around him there was just great and he was really good and really humble and really thankful and certainly showed everything that is why he got the 300 and why he’s so respected in the club.
“Will Mihaljevic made his debut on the wing in first grade and they went down by a field goal 25-24. He went well, especially when he’s come out of the 19s.
“He’s a very promising young player and we are hoping he will develop into a full time first grader.
“He’s on the fringe of the Raiders system. I don’t know if he made it, but he was down to the final cuts for the Raiders, and plays for Monaro.
“It’s good for a young guy and he’s real keen to step up too and that’s half the battle as well.
“He would have been nervous and all that sort of stuff, but he handled himself well and didn’t seem overawed.
When asked if Yass can make the first grade finals, Clayton said, “It could be close. It’s a pretty tight field, but it certainly puts us on the back foot a bit. It makes it harder than what it would have been if we’d won, but mathematically when things go our way and all that sort of stuff were a chance, but the one point loss to those guys, the four point loss to Blues at Blues, there tight games we’ve lost where we put ourselves in a position to win, but we didn’t and they are coming back to hurt us now.
“It is one of the better seasons Yass has had in a decade. It is probably the most competitive we’ve been since 2020. We have really only been blown off the park twice. And that was one day where we just didn’t turn up and the other game was once again we just didn’t turn up. But other than those two games where for some unknown reason, we just haven’t played to how we can play. Every other game we’ve been in, and that’s good.
“Reserve grade we’ve had Smithy come up, Mari come up, Timmy, Paddy, Pofo, Liam. We’ve probably had eight reserve graders flow through the 1st grade system this year. And then we’ve had an Under 19 sit on as our 18th man to get them around the group and then we’ve had Will’s debut on the weekend, so from a Club perspective, things are certainly on an upswing.”
Yass sit in 7th position in league tag with two wins and seven losses and a finals appearance looks unlikely.
The South West Slopes Times covers an area approximately the size of Fiji in country NSW. We look after a population of more than 50,000 people with our staff servicing 7 major towns and dozens of villages with our story telling footprint.
We offer weekly print editions at $3 a copy and we also offer digital subscriptions across 3 months $30, 6 months $60 and 12 months $120.
We are one of the last truly local independent family run newspaper businesses in the state.
Contact us today to find out how we can promote your business or organisation across our huge network by emailing ads@thetimes.net.au or by calling 0413 763 216.
If you have a news tip, lead or scoop for us please make contact as we love celebrating our communities. You can contribute articles via our South West Slopes Times website.