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Club Spotlight: Nanango Stags

By Tallon Smith

In the South Burnett region of Queensland, on the land of the Wakka Wakka people, and the banks of Sandy Creek, lies the town of Nanango.

Home to around 3,500 people, the town lives and breathes rugby league, and specifically its local side, the Nanango Stags.

The club has faced major challenges in recent years though, culminating in the loss of its A Grade side in the local South Burnett Rugby League competition in 2023.

However, despite the disappointment of fielding no senior side, Former Club President Sarah Schloss said that the club is making significant strides in its Junior ranks and Women’s teams.

“We do, and our numbers have increased dramatically this year,” she said.

“The women’s comp is getting stronger and stronger, [and] we had 2 teams in Under 6’s, 8’s and 12’s.

“Our South Burnett competition [overall] is increasing [and] we struggle to fit all the games into one day, [so] we’ve had to put it across the two days [this season].

“It’s a good problem, we’ve got that many people playing.”

At a senior level though, the local competition is struggling while waiting for the reinforcements to come through from their junior base.

“I’ve been on the committee for a couple of years but I stood up after the president stood down,” she said.

“We’ve only got the four teams [in A Grade].”

“We struggled this year due to the fact that a lot of our senior players retired”

One issue has been changes to work patterns in the mining industry, which has resulted in players having less availability for matches on weekends.

“Work’s always been a big thing too,” she said.

“You’ve got the [mining] shutdowns.”

“When five teams are in [the competition], one team gets a bye.”

One initiative that the club has continued is an annual game between Nanango-based players and those from nearby Blackbutt, whose players play for Nanango in senior footy after their junior years with the Blackbutt-Yarraman Timbertowners.

“Every year at the start of the year we have a Nanango v Blackbutt game,” she said.

“The few Blackbutt players, they’ve always played for the Stags, there’s always four or five.”

In addition to this, the club has also drawn upon the support of its old boys, hosting matches and functions to keep them engaged with the current squad.

“We had an Old Boys Day, with a reunion for the 1971 and 1977 teams,” she said.

“We had an unders and overs game.”

Regarding the facilitation of growth in the area, particularly in the Under 15s, 16s and 18s age groups, Schloss says the league’s current model of entering combined sides into competitions in bigger areas has worked well.

“The league is working on that all the time,” she said.

“We think this year we’ll [field] a 15s, 16s and 18s team.”

“The 15s and 16s play in Toowoomba and the 18s play in Bundaberg.”

When asked what it would be like if the Stags were to fold, Schloss said it would be devastating for the entire Nanango community.

“It would not be good for the town or the community,” she said.

“Everybody loves seeing the Stags running around, it’s good for the town.

“It would be a real let down to the town if there was no league.”

But for the moment, all is not lost, and the President expects the team to bounce back next season.

“Our juniors are strong, our future is bright,” she said.

Now all that remains is to wait and see if the club will be back on the A Grade paddock next season.

Note: This interview was conducted in July 2023.

Cover Photo: Supplied by Nanango RLFC