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Gareth "Bladesie" Blades smiling as he holds up a sky-blue Wakehurst jersey printed "Bladesie, Wakehurst since LXXXVI" with a big gold number 1.

Wakehurst Rugby Club

Bladesie’s Farewell

Gareth Blades  ·  Life Member  ·  40 years at Wakehurst

When
Sunday 1 November 2026
From 11:00 am
Where
Wakehurst Rugby Park
Cnr Forest Way & Waldon Rd, Belrose
Cost
Free
Food on the club · $5 drinks
Let us know you’re coming

Forty years, and one more day at the Park

Gareth Blades, Bladesie to just about everyone, gave Wakehurst forty years. He joined in 1986, and it says so right there on his number 1 jersey. On Sunday 1 November we’re bringing him home to the ground, and we’d like you there.

When the lease on our ground came up for renewal in 1995, with other clubs and the school next door all eyeing it off, it was Gareth, as President, who led the negotiations that kept Wakehurst at the Park. He went on to serve as President through 1996 and 1997, and the club made him a Life Member.

He never stopped turning up. Decades on from those negotiations, Bladesie was still touring Fiji with our juniors, the steady hand every tour needed. The tour book put it simply to the parents: “Trust Bladesie, Michael and Bill — they’ve been here before, and they know what they’re doing.”

We’ll form one last tunnel and walk with his family to the middle of the field, where his ashes will be scattered. Then it’s back to the clubhouse for the tributes, the stories, a drink and a feed. It’s the send-off he’d want: a crowd, a bit of noise, and the bar open.

On the day

  1. 11:00 am Arrive — bar opensAll drinks $5.
  2. 11:25 am Welcome, and form the tunnelOne last tunnel for Bladesie.
  3. 11:30 am To the centre of the groundGareth’s family scatter his ashes on the field.
  4. 12:00 pm TributesOld mates first, then the floor is open to anyone with a story to tell.
  5. After Food, and the photosFood on the club, and a slideshow of Bladesie in the clubhouse.

Weather permitting, we’ll gather in the beer garden. Times are a guide. There’s no charge to come, and the food is on the club.

Let us know you’re coming

There’s no cost to come. The club is putting on food for everyone, and we need to let the caterers know numbers in advance, so it really helps to know roughly how many are coming. One reply can cover your whole family or group.

So we can reach you if anything changes on the day.

Drinks at the bar on the day are $5. Questions or dietary requirements? Email info@wakehurst.rugby.

Bladesie

Four Wakehurst tourists at a ground in Fiji in 2014, arms around each other and smiling; Bladesie in a navy Fiji Tour 2014 polo holding a drink.
Fiji Tour 2014: Bladesie in the navy tour polo, with the cup.
An older faded photo of Wakehurst players in sky-blue jerseys; Bladesie, on the right, shakes hands with a man holding a rugby ball.
In the sky blue, back in the day. Bladesie is on the right.
Bladesie at the ground holding up his personalised number 1 Wakehurst jersey, with a club member in a club shirt pointing to his name and a Colts player looking on.
Bladesie with his own number 1 jersey: “Wakehurst since LXXXVI”.
The Wakehurst Colts in sky-blue polos gathered around Bladesie outside the clubhouse as he holds up his number 1 jersey.
With the Colts, and the number 1 jersey.
A Wakehurst Colts side with a trophy on the field at dusk; Bladesie stands second from left in a club polo and tan shorts.
Bladesie (second from left) with a Wakehurst Colts side and their trophy.

Got a photo of Bladesie?

A slideshow is being put together for the clubhouse on the day. If you have a photo of Gareth, from any era of the club, please send it in. Put “Bladesie” in the caption so it finds its way to the slideshow.

Send a photo

Farewell, Bladesie.