They are Tony Hinton from Taree Old Bar, Gloucester’s Kevin Everitt and Pat Cudmore from Port Macquarie.

Everett won eight premierships with Gloucester between 1957 and 1966, the first in reserve grade when he kicked the only goal of the game in Gloucester’s 2-0 win.

Everett explained that the dairy and timber industries were at their zenith in that time. There was plenty of work in the town and that help bolster Gloucester’s sporting teams.

He recalled one season when there were 32 players training for the reserve grade side. The players who didn’t make the cut formed a hockey team and won premierships in the Manning competition.

A five-eighth or centre, Everett was a regular in Group 18 representative teams while he also played twice for North Coast in the Country Championships. However, he was named in a North Coast team in 1959 to play the touring French side at Kempsey was was replaced at the last minute. Everett was never told why. However, this didn’t turn him off playing representative football.

“I was always proud to represent the group or North Coast,’’ he said.

He said the Magpies had some great players in his era. Unfortunately, they all seemed to retire at the same time and the club didn’t recover. More younger people left the town for employment or for higher education, further impacting on the football club.

Gloucester now plays in a Newcastle second division competition.

“We have a good young team, but we wouldn’t have the depth to play in Group Three any more,’’ he said.

Cudmore was a member of the John Fisher-coached Port Macquarie premiership winning side in 1976 – the club’s first in Group Three. He then spent three years with North Sydney where he played around 60 first grade games. A lock or five-eighth, Cudmore was a member of the Norths side beaten by Eastern Suburbs in the 1977 pre-season final at the Sydney Cricket Ground attended by the Queen. Cudmore later captain-coached Junee in the Group Nine competition before returning to Port Macquarie in 1983 as captain-coach. He was a member of the North Coast side in 1983 beaten by Southern Division in the Country Championship final.  Cudmore played his last game in 1987 in the Port side beaten in the grand final by a Taree Old Bar team captain-coached by Tony Hinton.

Cudmore named league immortal Arthur Beetson as the best player he faced.

Hinton played all his football in Group Three with Taree Old Bar, winning premierships from 1978-82 and again in 1987/88 when he was the captain-coach. He admitted the 1987 side wasn’t over-loaded with quality players, but said they had a tremendous will to win, regarding the premiership as one of the highlights of his career. Hinton was a regular in Group Three and North Coast teams and belatedly gained Country representation in 1988. He played his last game in Group Three when leading Old Bar to a thumping win over Camden Haven in the grand final. Hinton played the last six weeks of that season with a broken hand.

Former international Ian Schubert was the guest speaker at the evening.