GROUP Three Rugby League’s Hall of Fame will have members from Port Macquarie to Gloucester following tonight’s induction at the Wingham Services Club.
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Pat Cudmore from Port Macquarie and Gloucester’s Kevin Everett will be the first representatives from their club in the hall of fame. They’ll be inducted along with Taree Old Bar’s Tony Hinton. Neither Gloucester or Taree Old Bar now plays in the Group Three competition.
Everett was one of the leading lights of powerful Gloucester sides from the 1950s and 1960s. A five-eighth or centre, he played in eight premiership winning teams with the Magpies from 1955 to 1967 in the Group Three and 18 competitions. Everett was a North Coast representative twice when the division covered the area from Gloucester to the Queensland border while he played for the group on six occasions. Everett enjoyed one of his best years in 1963 when he scored a club record 23 tries.
He was a member of the premier team of 1966 – the first after Group Three was formed following the inclusion of Wauchope and Port Macquarie.
Rugby league took Cudmore from his home town of Port Macquarie to North Sydney, Junee and back to Port.
A ball playing lock or five-eighth, Cudmore was a member of John Fisher’s premiership winning team of 1976 – the Sharks’ first in Group Three. He went to North Sydney in 1977 and stayed with the Bears until 1980. The following year he moved to Junee as captain-coach and represented Riverina.
Cudmore returned to Port Macquarie in 1983 where he was a permanent member of Group Three and North Coast teams – North Coast then taking in Groups Two and three. Cudmore was the Group Three player of the year in 1986 and 87 when he was co-winner with Hinton.
A lightning fast halfback, Hinton shot to prominence when he scored three tries in Taree Old Bar’s 24-20 grand final win over Taree United in 1978 – the club’s first premiership in 32 years. He was a key member of the club’s five premierships from 1978-82 and represented Group Three and North Coast for a decade, while also gaining Country honours in 1988.
Hinton took on the captain-coach role in 1983 but his season was cut short by a broken jaw. He was appointed captain-coach again in 1986 and took the Lifesavers to the final before steering the club to successive titles in 1987/88. The 1988 grand final was his last game in Group Three as he left the area to join the police force.
“They were three fine footballers and worthy inductees to our hall of fame,’’ Group Three Rugby League president Wayne Bridge said.