When Wallaby legend Gary Ella and his wife decided to depart Sydney for a calmer lifestyle, little did he know he was set to become part of the revival of the Lake Macquarie Rugby Club.
Tossing up moving to the South Coast, a conversation with his son saw the couple instead head north and settle just south of Newcastle – discovering a vibrant rugby community on the Central Coast and Hunter.
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A chance encounter would lead to the six-capped former Wallaby linking up with the Roos as their first-grade assistant coach.
“Yeah, it was funny, we moved up here because we’d already retired,” Ella admitted to Rugby.com.au.
“At one of the rugby games, I bumped into the chairperson of Hunter Rugby. We were just chatting and he said, ‘Do you want to come to our season launch?’ I said, ‘Yeah, not a problem.’
“David Campese was speaking at it, had a long-time relationship with him, and he said, 'If I give you a call, would you come and help me with one of the coaching clinics?' He was working with Hunter Rugby at that stage, doing the juniors at Lake Macquarie.
“I was watching the first-grade trainers, helping Campo do it. I was thinking, they're close enough for me to give them a hand. So, I went up after the session and I said to the coach, I said, ‘Mate, I'm up here doing nothing, if you need a hand, just give us a yell.’
“He said, ‘I'm giving you a yell now.’”
Four years later, and Ella is still part of the club, balancing club duties with his commitments in Sydney. Over that time, Lake Macquarie became one of the great comeback rugby stories of the region.
At the time of his arrival, the Roos were on the verge of collapse, being on the end of several 100-0 thrashings, with the senior grades being removed from the Hunter Rugby Union competition.
Joining the Central Coast Rugby Competition, the club has had a long journey back from the brink. However, as of 2025, not only do the Roos have three grade sides and a premiership-winning women’s side, but a thriving junior rugby program that still plays in the Hunter Junior Rugby Union competition.
Despite the success, Ella didn’t hide the fact that the path back to success was a hard one.
“The club really went on a fairly strong recruitment campaign,” Ella explained.
“For the first year, playing in the Central Coast competition, we were still getting beaten by 100 points on a regular basis.
“It must have happened about five times during that stage, and we were lacking players when fielding our second grade - they would keep their jumpers on and then run out for first grade practically.
“Then we got a few players from overseas that started coming out and enjoying Australia, they stayed and had a few games. That's what started us getting stronger.
“After being beaten by 100 points by Avoca Beach the year before, we played them in our first game last year. They were the premiers - and we actually beat them.
“That chucked a bit of a lightning bolt across everything. Everyone stood up and took notice.”
While 2024 saw the Roos run out of steam and just miss out on finals due to injuries and depth, the improving results saw more players arrive for 2025, with results continuing to improve.
“We've got a fair influx of Fijian players, really good players. They sort of invited their mates to come along and play as well,” Ella explained.
“Then all of a sudden, not only do we have a strong first-grade side, but our second-grade side has come third.
“One of the big successes for the club has been the women. From out of nowhere, for the first time, having a women's team, they won the competition last year.
“It was a real boost for the club itself. The management has been really good. They've worked pretty hard to get the guys. Our sponsors have been very patient and very generous to us.”
Now having had several years to straddle across the respective competitions in the Central Coast and Hunter regions, the Wallaby great admits he has been blown away not only by the quality of rugby on both sides of the lake, but how it has translated to national success.
Players have gone on to represent the Hunter, NSW Country and even the Canadian national side – with the Central Coast dominating the NSW Country Championships – winning the men’s competition, colts’ competition, and women’s competition in 2024, with nearly half the Country Cockatoos squad being from the Central Coast and Hunter regions.
“The rugby is excellent,” Ella admitted.
“I'm sure that if we were on the Hunter side, we would be challenging for the semis, similar to the Central Coast now. Getting that knock back, the fact that we needed to build the player strength of the club - the management has done a really good job.
“It's a strong competition [on the Central Coast]. They have good depth. To be able to have the depth so you can win consecutive years and still be favourites for the year after, that's really heartening.
“Playing in the Hunter competition, I was really surprised at how good their competition was. With the Wildfires in and taking some of the better players out of the competition, it hasn't lessened the quality of the competition itself. I'm just impressed with the teams that we play.”
It has come as no surprise to Ella that the influx of Fijian and Pacific players has had an impact – with much of the Pacific community, including former rugby stars, moving to the area for work.
Even the Roos’ own first-grade captain, Rob Buaserau, earned honours with the Brumbies and in the NRC.
It’s this reason that Ella believes the upcoming Test between the Wallabies and Fiji on July 6 will be a huge hit – and likely encourage Rugby Australia to bring more Tests up to the Hunter.
“It's all across the Coast,” Ella admitted.
“A few of them [Pacific players] who were living in Sydney, they were finding the big city a bit difficult for them to fit in and to feel comfortable. In places with a coastline like this, they just love being in the Hunter and Central Coast.
“I think it's a great idea. This is a good place for those guys to be playing. Not some of the All Blacks Tests or the Lions or anything like that.
“If they're playing against the Island teams, the stadium at Newcastle is an ideal place to be playing those games. They'll have a good audience while they're there.
“They'll encourage people to play the game. It'll be a great atmosphere.”
With the Wallabies now in preparation for the Lions and the tour in full swing, their clash against Fiji in Newcastle looms as the last chance for Joe Schmidt to fine-tune his squad.
Ella, having himself been involved with the Waratahs the last time the Lions came to Australia, expects the visitors to be favourites for the series; however, he has noted the improvement under Schmidt.
"It'd be hard to not say the Lions,” Ella admitted candidly.
“They're going to be extremely strong. They're going to be well-disciplined. It's going to be difficult for the Australian team.
“It would have been good if we'd had players in the Super Rugby final.
“But the side's getting better. I think we'll be competitive. I think the Lions will find that they're under the pump a fair bit.
“I remember [ahead of the Waratahs clash] that everybody was nervous beforehand. It turned out to be an extremely physical game. I remember the kick-off went up, and one of our players was taken off the ball.
“The referee didn't do anything about it, so the players decided that they'd do something about it.
“It just showed that, as Australians, we're not going to lay down for you guys. If you're going to be here and you're going to win, you're going to have to work hard as well.
“Our guys will be giving 100 per cent. They'll be busting their guts out to beat them. And they've got a good coach.”
Ella conceded he is even more excited for the provincial games – especially the First Nations Pasifika XV clash, which sees his brother Glen as part of the coaching staff.
“I think it's really good. It gives a lot of the guys that opportunity to show their skills,” Ella admitted.
“It's probably the only opportunity they're going to get to play against the Lions. It's a great support to foster and build rugby in those countries as well.
“You can guarantee that they'll be all sitting down watching the TV for those games when they're being played in Australia.”
And will he be on the phone offering coaching advice to his brother?
“I haven't really spoken to him at all yet,” Ella smiled.
“But I have no doubt that he'll be on the phone seeking some advice on a few things.
“He's got a good idea of the talent that's coming with the Lions team. A lot of those guys he's going to know pretty well. He's going to know the way that they want to play as well.
“He knows what he's doing.”
