Sir Leslie Herron Rugby Scholarship Recipients Announced
Sir Leslie Herron
The Honourable Sir Leslie James Herron K.B.E., C.M.G., K.St.J. was born on 22 May 1902. Educated at Sydney Grammar School and at the University of Sydney, he graduated in Law in 1924 and was admitted to the Bar on 28 August 1925. He took Silk in 1939, pursuing a successful career in common law cases and as a leading advocate in jury trials. He was an acting Judge of the District Court of New South Wales for a time before being elevated to the Supreme Court Bench on 19 February 1941.
Leslie Herron was appointed Chief Justice of New South Wales on 25 October 1962.
On attaining his 70th birthday in 1972, he was obliged to resign his office as Chief Justice after a judicial tenure spanning 31 years. He continued as Lieutenant Governor and was Administrator of the State of New South Wales at the time of his death on 3 May 1973.
Leslie Herron was elected as the first President of The Rugby Club and held that office from 1945 to 1952 inclusive.
At various times, he held office as Chairman or President of the Australian and New South Wales Rugby Unions and he represented Australia on the International Rugby Board.
Sir Leslie Herron Rugby Scholarships
In 2004, the Board of Directors of The Rugby Club decided that there could be no more fitting way in which to demonstrate the Club's commitment to "grassroots Rugby" than to establish scholarships for the benefit of Junior Rugby participants.
The Board also concluded that there could be no more worthy person associated with those Rugby Scholarships than Sir Leslie Herron. Sir Leslie Herron's family graciously consented to the naming of the scholarships as The Sir Leslie Herron Rugby Scholarships.
From the outset, two Rugby Scholarships were awarded on an annual basis and the duration of each scholarship was two years. Each scholarship was named The Sir Leslie Herron Rugby Scholarship with one scholarship being awarded to a nominee of the Sydney Junior Rugby Union, and the other to a nominee of the New South Wales Country Junior Rugby Union.
The scholarships were awarded during the period 2004 to 2008 inclusive.
The Rugby Club Foundation
The Primary Object of the Foundation is to encourage the sport of Rugby in the State of New South Wales and elsewhere at a grassroots level.
The Board of Directors of the Foundation has resolved that one of the ways we can continue to demonstrate the Foundation’s commitment to grassroots Rugby is to revive the Sir Leslie Herron Rugby Scholarships for the benefit of Junior Rugby participants.
In consultation with the NSW Rugby Union, the Foundation’s Grants Committee has reviewed a number of strong scholarship applications, and are pleased to announce that the recipients of the Sir Leslie Herron Rugby Scholarship in 2020 are:
Ms Ally Bullman (nominee of Sydney Junior Rugby Union)
Mr Jayden Blake (nominee of NSW Country Junior Rugby Union)
Ally Bullman
Ally Bullman attends Narrabeen Sports High School. She is 16 years of age and plays for the Seaforth Raiders in both 7s and 15s Rugby formats.
She plays a variety of positions from hooker to flanker and even outside back, and in just a few short years in the game has been selected for a variety of representative teams including NSW Schools’ 7s and the Aussie Seahawks.
Ally has very clear Rugby goals and is working towards selection in the Australian Schools 7s team. She plans to utilise the scholarship funds to participate in specialised technique training and strength and conditioning, as well as training and coaching courses.
Ally’s parents have advised the Foundation that this scholarship will allow their daughter to access Rugby opportunities and education that would otherwise have been beyond her reach. She is extremely grateful and excited to receive this scholarship and thanks everyone involved for providing her with this opportunity and for believing in her.
Jayden Blake
Jayden is a 17-year old Year 12 student from Dubbo and is a registered player with the Dubbo Junior Rugby Club. He has been playing some form of Rugby since he was 6 years of age and has played Junior Rugby from Under 13s to Opens over the past 8 years.
His hard work and dedication to training has seen him selected in a variety of representative teams including Central West Juniors, Country Opens and the Under 18 NSW team. He has also been invited to attend Generation Blue training – a programme which fosters future NSW Waratahs.
He was fortunate enough to be named Country Junior Player of the Year with his coach saying “Jayden's attitude both on and off the field should be commended. His attitude was incredibly refreshing and demonstrated Jayden's ability to serve the team and not just his own ambitions."
The scholarship funds will go a long way in contributing to ongoing travel costs and will ensure that Jayden is given equal opportunities to those who are less disadvantaged by distance. Additionally, the funds will assist in supporting Jayden's continued access to high quality coaching and mentoring and foster his sporting and career aspirations for the future.
The Foundation would like to wish Ally and Jayden every possible success in furthering their Rugby aspirations while embracing the values of past scholarship recipients: citizenship, scholarship, and a contribution to Rugby.
