Rugby league or hockey in the winter. Sailing, surfing, swimming or cricket in the summer. There were of course, other sports that went 12 months a year, including golf, bowls, shooting and cycling.

Manning Soccer Association didn't form until 1973 while rugby union didn't make a comeback until 1976 when the Taree Bulldogs formed to play in the four club Mid North Coast competition. The Bulldogs won the premiership in their first year as well.

But league captured most of the headlines here in the winter. The Taree and District Junior Rugby League took in clubs from Gloucester, Forster-Tuncurry and Wingham as well as the four Taree-based clubs, Chatham Cundle, Red Rovers, Lions and the strongest of them all, Zebras.

Taree also had two senior clubs, United and Old Bar and they met in the 1971 Group Three grand final, won 44-8 by United. Those were the days when all the matches in the semi-finals were played at the Group Three Leagues Ground (now Jack Neal Oval).

There was also plenty of interest in University Shield schoolboy matches, as Chatham High and Taree High both fielded formidable teams. A bumper crowd packed into the leagues ground in 1970 to watch Taree defeat Chatham 10-5 in a regional final.

Hockey has been a prominent sport in the Manning since the mid-1950. By the 1970s Manning Hockey Association had moved to Taree Recreation Centre to play matches. It was here where Robyn Fernley played her first game of hockey in the Manning juniors. As Robyn Leggatt she went on to captain the Hockeyroos on numerous occasions including the 1984 Olympic Games.

Taree Recreation Centre was also the venue for the World Casting Championships in 1974. This attracted teams from nearly 20 countries, with Taree's Reg Tisdell a member of the Australian side.

Sailing was strong here. Vee Esses were the dominant class and the Vee Ess Sailing Club (now Taree Aquatic Club) produced numerous State and Australian champions. Juniors generally started sailing in sabots and Vee Jays on Saturday mornings into the Vee Esses, where racing was conducted in the afternoons.

Taree sailor Ian Ruff won a bronze medal in the 470 class at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal - one of the few successes Australia celebrated that year.

The early 1970s was a difficult time for the surf life saving movement around the State. The Lower North Coast Branch, with four clubs, Taree Old Bar, Crowdy Head, Black Head and Forster, was no different and all battled to attract members at a time when board riding was becoming more popular.

And plenty of champions emerged from this area during the 1970s - rugby league and rugby union international Geoff Richardson, sailor Ian Ruff, hockey's Robyn Leggatt (nee Fernley) and shooter Terry Rumble. By the end of the decade the brilliantly versatile Mal Cochrane was making Australian Schoolboy teams for hockey and rugby league while also excelling at cricket.