‘Blue&Gold’

in this issue:an introduction to the ‘blue & gold’ club2008 event photographsupcoming 2009 events calendar

THE SPIRIT OF SPORT AT SYDNEY UNIVERSITY | AUTUMN 2009

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luelueT AAT SYDNEY UNIVERSITY | AUTUMN 2009HE SPIRIT OF SPOR

&GGG&T SYDNEY UNIVERSITYAT SYDNEY UNIVERSITY | AUTUMN 2009

GoldGold’Y | AUTUMN 2009

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Clark selected in ICC team of the yearSydney University and Australian fastbowler Stuart Clark had been selected as12th man in the International CricketCouncil (ICC) 2008 Test Team of the Yearannounced in September.

The Test Team of the Year included:Graeme Smith (RSA, capt), VirenderSehwag (IND), Mahela Jayawardene (SRI),Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WIS), KevinPietersen (ENG), Jacques Kallis (RSA),Kumar Sangakkara (SRI, wkt), Brett Lee(AUS), Ryan Sidebottom (ENG), DaleSteyn (RSA), Muttiah Muralitharan (SRI).12th man: Stuart Clark (AUS).

Clark, a Sydney Uni Sport & FitnessScholarship holder and Master ofCommerce student, is on the comebacktrail to international cricket after an elbowinjury kept him out of the most recenttest series against South Africa.

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news

THANK YOU!We are delighted to confirm that ACUVUE will once again be the

sponsor of our popular ‘Blue & Gold’ sporting functions in 2009.

ACUVUE brand contact lenses are manufactured by Johnson &

Johnson Vision Care and they are the world’s leading brand of

disposable contact lenses.

ACUVUE (Johnson & Johnson Vision Care) continues to be:

• a major sponsor of Sydney Uni Sport & Fitness

• the naming rights sponsor of our high profile WNBL side –

the ACUVUE Sydney Uni Flames

• the sponsor of all

‘Blue & Gold’

sporting functions

Franklin receives outstandingappointmentTrent Franklin, dual Olympian, Captain ofthe Sydney Uni National League WaterPolo team and University of Sydneygraduate has recently been appointed asa director to the Australian OlympicCommittee Board, Chairman of the AWPIAthletes' Commission, and DeputyChairman of the AOC Athletes'Commission.

When asked what his reaction was tothe appointment he said, 'I certainly feltvery privileged to have been elected asthe Athletes' Commission Chariman.Water Polo has been a big part of my lifefor many years, so it's a great honor tohave the opportunity to contribute back tothe sport. It's very humbling to have beenchosen by my peers - people who I haveplayed, travelled, and on some occasionslived with over the past decade - as theirrepresentative to the AWPI board.'

Weekes on the comeback trailSydney Olympic Games women's waterpolo gold medallist, Liz Weekes, hasreturned to the sport and is in training tocompete for her old club, SydneyUniversity Lions, in the 2009 NationalLeague competition, beginning inFebruary. Weekes was the outstandinggoalkeeper during the 2000 SydneyGames - the first time women's waterpolo had been played as an Olympicsport – however she retired soon after.

Liz was one of three Sydney Universitymembers of the Australian team thatdefeated the US for the gold medal with1.3sec on the clock. The other two wereDebbie Watson and Yvette Higgins, whohas been coaching the Lions for the pastfive years

BLUE & GOLD 3

Functions with a DifferenceThe ‘Blue & Gold’ difference is the large

dose of university wit that is an integral partof all functions. It is wonderfully spontaneousand clever humour.

Adam Spencer (of ABC Breakfast Radiofame) is our resident panel moderator andthere is no funnier ... nor more incisive ...interviewer in the business.

At all ‘Blue & Gold’ sporting functions youand your guests will enjoy rubbing shoulderswith both the sporting luminaries on thepanels and with our own elite athletes- fromamong our Olympians, Paralympians,Wallabies, Test Cricketers and more.

an introduction to the ‘blue & gold’ club

The ‘Blue & Gold’ Club is a coterie of business organisations and individuals who share a passion for

sport. They use popular ‘Blue & Gold’ sporting functions to provide affordable and really memorable

entertainment for their guests.

The ‘Blue & Gold’ Club allows sporting enthusiasts to maintain or create links with Australia’s premier

university and its rich sporting traditions. All monies raised go towards the promotion of sport at Sydney Uni.

For membership enquiries and to put your company’s petty cash to good use, contact: Rodney Tubbs – 9351 7958 orr.tubbs@sport.usyd.edu.au

MEMBER BENEFITS

As a corporate member of the‘Blue & Gold’ Club you receive:

� A 10% discount on the cost ofcorporate tables (for 10 people) and onthe cost of Golf Day entries (teams of4) at all ‘Blue & Gold’ functions

� A subscription to ROAR magazine –featuring all the latest news from the‘Blue & Gold’ and Sydney Uni Sport &Fitness (3 editions per year)

� A prominent entry in the ‘Blue & Gold’business directory, introducing the‘Blue & Gold’ community to yourproducts/services.

� Automatic “Friends of the Rock”membership, entitling you to superbPooles Rock wines at attractive wholesaleprices.

� An entitlement for your staff to receive$100 discounts when purchasing anannual gym pass to Sydney Uni Sport& Fitness facilities.

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photos

Sydney Uni’s 2008 Beijing Olympians and Paralympians assemble for the special ‘Blue & Gold’ Olympic Celebration Lunch in August.

Left to right: Chris Noel, Tony Sukkar of Buildcorpand SUSF President Bruce Ross at the Blues dinner.

Olympic athleteLachlan Renshaw uses

Adam Spencer todemonstrate a land

based version ofWater Polo!

Female ‘Blue’ of the year, Keesja Gofers, iscongratulated by the Vice Chancellor, Dr MichaelSpence, at the 2008 Sydney Uni Blues dinner.

Bronwen Watson, Charlotte Walters, Ian Evans, Liz Kell and Renee Kirby enjoyingcocktails in the Main Quadrangle.

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‘Blue & Gold’ stalwarts Charles Williams and Drs Ray Hyslop and PeterHammill at the Rugby Luncheon.

Bec and Robert Harper, Wayne Erickson and RichardDougan at Tattersalls Club.

Wallaby Dean Mumm, Waratah Tom Carter, trainer Tim Leahy and RugbyCaptain Tim Davidson at the Rugby Luncheon.

Second from left: Flames’ board member and supporter of SydneyUni sport, Kerry Chikarovski, with Flames’ players Lindsey Pluimer,Jaimee Kennedy and Keira Sheils at the WatersEdge Restaurant.

Flames’ head Coach Karen Dalton has the mike and gets a chucklefrom Adam Spencer as she spills the beans on former Flames’ teammates (L to R): Trish Fallon, Michele Timms and Robyn Maher.

In a global economic downturn businesses arefrequently challenged by the need to reduce staff,or put recruitment on hold, while juggling resourcesto maintain productivity and deliver on strategicplans.

Anne Moore, is a twenty-year veteran of thehuman resources sector and CEO of the University’sinnovative recruitment and work-ready developmentorganisation, SydneyTalent. She says thatcontractors are, for good reason, often called uponto solve the dilemma.

“The current imperative for many is to minimisepayroll risk and maximise capability which is wherecontractors can provide a solution,” she says.

“Even thosewithout financialdifficulty - forexample globalorganisations,especially thoseoperating out of theUS or UK – havehead-count freezes.There may becomparativelyinsignificant financialimposts on those

organisations [locally], but the global directive is‘stop recruiting’. In that instance those organisationsneed to look to other models to attract and utilisetalent that doesn’t involve them being on thepayroll. That’s where an organisation wouldtraditionally use contract labour which is exactlyconsistent with the SydneyTalent model.”

Drawing from a talent pool consisting of 46,000 ofsome of the country’s brightest pre and postgraduate students, SydneyTalent, was formallyapproved by the Senate of the University inNovember 2008.

The organisation offers early access to a pipelineof student employees, from every area of study andfrom every level of learning within the University, tobusinesses and government. What elevatesSydneyTalent above other recruitment structures isits delivery of students who have been developedthrough practical work-ready initiatives and whocontinue to progress via performance developmentprograms during their placement.

With access to such a variety of studentemployees– and operating in an environment whichsees 85 percent of students taking on employmentwhile studying - SydneyTalent has a pertinentoffering for today’s volatile marketplace.

“First of all we entice industry to be more flexiblein that, by offering reduced risk, it becomes easierfor organisations to experiment and innovate withmethods of on-boarding,” says Moore.

“So, for example, an organisation might be loatheto recruit students into their organisation or ontotheir payroll for a short term project whereas byusing the SydneyTalent model they can introducethe student into the organisation and have thestudent contribute to the project objectives withoutthe risk that they would normally have if they were touse the traditional model.

“By offering market competitive remuneration tostudents, without any additional on-boarding costs,it is easier and more transparent for organisations toengage talent that has undertaken our WorkReadyEssentials™ training program.

“It means that organisations are able to take onboard students whose development will beguaranteed by an external party as part of thecontractual obligations. So there are some keyelements that make it easy for an organisation to bemore innovative.”

While contractors will contribute to a demand forflexibility, balancing the capabilities needed duringa period of uncertainty with future needs will alsothrow up challenges for business.

Those looking at, or undergoing staff reductions,need to have an eye to the impact on futurecapability requirements so that they are not caughtshort when the economy begins its recovery.

Injudiciously shedding may, in the long run, costmore than it saves says Moore, “If you use a humancapital model, where people represent a share unit,and if you shed them, your likelihood of getting areturn on that divested share is zero. If we shedpeople, we are not going to get a return on them, atall, having made significant investments already.”

The reverse is true for businesses who are carryingpeople who are not helping achieve business orperformance objectives. In that scenario, Mooresays, “Now is the time to ‘weed and seed.’”www.sydneytalent.com.au

SYDNEYTALENTDRIVING A FLEXIBLE

WORKFORCE

MINIMISING RISK,MAXIMISINGCAPABILITY

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feature

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2008 was an Olympic year, whichresulted in the ‘Blue & Gold’ Clubstaging more functions than usualfor its members.

The eleventh consecutive annual ‘Blue& Gold’ Cricket Luncheon, at TattersallsClub on Friday 29th February 2008, sawMike Coward – one of Australia’s mostexperienced cricket writers andcommentators – review the season’s“intense competition” between Australiaand India. Mike’s panel comprised threevery prominent members of thesubcontinent press – Khalid Ansari,Debasish Datta and Nagraj Gollapudi.

The annual ‘Blue & Gold’ Aussie RulesLuncheon, at the Four Seasons Hotel onFriday 11th April 2008, saw AdamSpencer moderate a panel of legendarySydney Swans’ players – Leo Barry, JudeBolton and Michael O’Loughlin.Experienced ‘Blue & Gold’ campaignersdeclared that Adam’s player interviewswere the most entertaining they had everseen!

The ‘Blue & Gold’ Olympic Dinner, inThe Great Hall on Wednesday 7th May2008, featured alumnus John Coates ACas the keynote speaker. John – the Chefde Mission of all Australian Olympicteams since Seoul in 1988 and again inBeijing – provided our guests withfascinating insights into Beijing’s Olympicpreparations.

Adam Spencer moderated a panel ofprevious Sydney Uni Olympians (ChrisFydler - swimming gold medallist; PeterMontgomery – 4 time Olympic waterpoloplayer; Natalie Porter – basketball silvermedallist and Liane Tooth – dual hockeygold medallist) and another panel ofBeijing-bound Sydney Uni Olympians(canoeist Robin Bell, waterpolo playerTrent Franklin, 800m runner LachlanRenshaw and wheelchair basketballerSarah Stewart).

The twelfth consecutive annual ‘Blue &Gold’ Rugby Luncheon, at TattersallsClub on Friday 25th July 2008, saw AdamSpencer moderate an entertaining paneldiscussion, which involved SUFC firstgrade coaches, Damien Hill and TrevorWoodman, and SUFC senior players, TomCarter (who had just completed a stellarSuper 14 season with the NSW Waratahs)and Tim Davidson (who has nowcaptained Sydney Uni to four consecutiveShute Shield victories).

The principal entertainment that daywas the annual ‘Blue & Gold’ debate,which this year saw The Gentlemen ofRugby (James O’Loghlin and RobCarlton) successfully assert that “RugbyUnion should be Reinstated as anOlympic Sport”. Although soundlydefeated for the twelfth consecutive year,the Low-Life Academia team (AdamSpencer and Rhys Muldoon) wereextremely amusing. Unfortunately, theyonce again fell foul of a totally andunashamedly biased adjudicator – theformer Australian Rugby Union President,Mr PL Harry!

The ‘Blue & Gold’ OlympicCelebration Lunch, at the Four SeasonsHotel on Friday 29th August 2008, washeld in honour of the twenty 2008 SydneyUni Olympians and Paralympians.

Vice-Chancellor Dr Michael Spencepresented each Olympian with a print ofa montage, comprising art card picturesof the twenty 2008 Sydney Unirepresentatives in Beijing. During thispresentation ceremony, the Vice-Chancellor was assisted by SUSFExecutive Director, Robert Smithies, andby Simon Fieldhouse, the artist whocreated the montage.

Adam Spencer then moderated twovery lively panels; the first comprisedAustralia’s first female Olympic wrestler,Dr Kyla Bremner; women’s 10m platformdiver, Alex Croak; the coxswain of themen’s rowing eight, Marty Rabjohns, andmen’s waterpolo captain, ThomasWhalan. The second comprised men’sC1 slalom canoe bronze medallist, RobinBell; women’s waterpolo bronzemedallist, Taniele Gofers; men’s coxlessfours’ rowing silver medallist, FrancisHegerty and 800m runner, LachlanRenshaw.

The twelfth consecutive ‘Blue & Gold’Xmas Hamper Golf Day, at the NewSouth Wales Golf Club on Tuesday 25thNovember 2008, saw twenty teamscompete for the Chancellor’s Cup, which

was won by the Finn Foster APB team.There were lots of laughs during thepresentation ceremony – none more sothan when Australia’s modern day BanjoPatterson, Murray Hartin, recited some ofhis wonderfully amusing verses.

The Flames’ Silver Jubilee Luncheon,held in the Anchorage Room atWatersEdge Restaurant on Thursday 4thDecember 2008, saw 170 gueststhoroughly entertained by AdamSpencer’s panels.

The first of these comprised fourplayers with more than 1,000 Opals’appearances between them: KarenDalton, Trish Fallon, Robyn Maher, andMichele Timms.

This luncheon was the first ‘Blue &Gold’ sporting function dedicated tofemale sport.

2008 review

Left to right: John ‘Sparrow’ Dowse, GavinThomson, Murray Hartin and Sandy Tubbs

“Debater” Rhys Muldoon

David Shaw, Simon Cosgrove of ACUVUEand Rob Smithies.

� Cricket LuncheonTATTERSALLS CLUB ON 20 FEBRUARYJim Maxwell, Peter Roebuck, John Benaud and Mike Coward willdissect the best Test cricket series seen in Australia in recentdecades and the astounding arrival of David Warner & Twenty20cricket.

� Aussie Rules LuncheonFOUR SEASONS HOTEL ON 3 APRILTraditionally held the day before a block-buster Sydney Swansmatch (versus Hawthorn at ANZ Stadium), delights audienceswith interviews of quickwitted AFL commentators and legendarySwans players including Jude Bolton and Michael O’Loughlin.

� Soccer Football DinnerTHE GRANDSTAND ON 5 JUNEAdam Spencer moderates a panel of soccer luminaries in hisinimitable style.

� Rugby LuncheonFOUR SEASONS HOTEL ON 21 AUGUSTBe enthralled by the annual ‘Blue & Gold’ debate as TheGentlemen of Rugby once again triumph over Low-LifeAcademia, under the adjudication of former ARU President,Phil Harry!

� Traditional Golf DayST MICHAEL’S GOLF CLUB ON 21 OCTOBERA “not-too-challenging” teams event, but with trophies also for“selfish Singles players”.

� Xmas Hamper Golf DayST MICHAEL’S GOLF CLUB ON 25 NOVEMBERMore than a golf day – with every player taking home a stunningChristmas Hamper.

� Flames WNBL LunchWATERSEDGE ON 3 DECEMBERCelebrates the achievements of this State’s foremost women’sbasketball team against the backdrop of the gorgeous SydneyHarbour. Australia’s best known female basketball personalitiesdiscuss experiences and escapades in both international anddomestic basketball.

For advanced table bookings (ensuring the best seats in the house)contact Rodney Tubbs on 9351 7958 or r.tubbs@sport.usyd.edu.au

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upcoming events