Sydney Rays

Name and colours

The Rays' name was adopted for the team's first incarnation on the Central Coast, with a manta ray chosen to represent the marine environment of the local area. The logo features a manta ray in navy blue, outlined in white, on a stylised emerald green and white rugby ball, outlined in navy blue. The only change from the original logo has been the name prefix moving from Central Coast to North Harbour and, as of 2016, Sydney. The team plays in a harlequin-style quartered strip composed of blue, red, green, gold and black colours from the four constituent clubs. All four clubs’ colours are also featured on the socks.

History

In 2007, an attempt was made to form a third tier of rugby in Australia, similar to New Zealand's ITM Cup and South Africa's Currie Cup. The newly formed competition included eight teams and was called the Australian Rugby Championship. Three of those teams were based in New South Wales, including a Central Coast team.

Central Coast Rays (ARC team)

The Central Coast Rays' name and colours were officially unveiled in March 2007 by the New South Wales Rugby Union (NSWRU). The Rays' navy blue and emerald colours represented the ocean and bush landscape of the region.

The Rays' local rivals in the ARC were the Sydney Fleet and the Western Sydney Rams. The three ARC teams from New South Wales were aligned with existing clubs and regions. The clubs aligned with the Central Coast Rays were Gordon, Manly, Northern Suburbs, and Warringah, from the Shute Shield competition, as well as the Central Coast Waves.

The Central Coast Rays played their home games at the Bluetongue Central Coast Stadium at Gosford, on the New South Wales Central Coast. Bluetongue Stadium, with an all-seater capacity of 20,159, had previously hosted numerous rugby union fixtures including Central Coast Waves matches and New South Wales Waratahs matches during the Australian Provincial Championship.

John McKee was the head coach of the Central Coast team. He had previously coached the Eastwood club and worked with French club Montferrand and Irish team Connacht.

After finishing second on the league table, the Central Coast Rays came from behind against the Perth Spirit in their semi-final, winning 27 to 19. The Rays hosted the Melbourne Rebels in the inaugural ARC Grand Final and won 20 to 12, becoming the inaugural (and only) champions of the ARC.

The Australian Rugby Championship was terminated at the end of 2007 after only one season of competition, with the Australian Rugby Union citing higher costs than budgeted and further projected financial losses. The Central Coast Rays team was disbanded at the end of the ARC.

North Harbour Rays

The National Rugby Championship was announced in December 2013 to commence in 2014 with expressions of interest open to any interested parties and the accepted bids announced early in 2014.

In March 2014 it was announced that the Rays would be revived as the North Harbour Rays to compete in the new National Rugby Championship. The new Rays team was backed by a consortium of four Shute Shield clubs: Manly, Warringah, Northern Suburbs and Gordon.

The team played in a quartered harlequin-style strip composed of blue, red, and two shades of green from the four constituent clubs. The sleeves were gold and black, collar and shorts were white and all four clubs’ colours were featured on the socks.

The Rays secured Macquarie University as their principal partner on a two-year deal, to be officially be known as the Macquarie University North Harbour Rays for the 2014 and 2015 NRC seasons.

Phil Blake was initially appointed as the Rays head coach for the 2014 season, with Scott Fava, Haig Sare and Geoff Townsend as part of the coaching staff, but after Blake accepted a coaching opportunity with Leicester Tigers, Geoff Townsend was promoted to the head coaching position, Damien Cummins replaced Fava as the forwards coach. Greg Peterson was named as captain. In 2015, Townsend was reappointed as head coach, and Luke Holmes was named as captain.

Sydney Rays

The team was renamed the Sydney Rays for the 2016 season. Consideration was given to the Southern Districts club switching allegiance to the Rays in 2016, but they remained with the Rams. Damien Cummins was initially named as the Rays head coach for the 2016 season but he stepped down and Simon Cron was appointed to the job.

Stadium

As of 2016, the Sydneys Rays play at North Sydney Oval and Pittwater Park, the home grounds of member clubs Northern Suburbs and Warringah, respectively.

In previous seasons the club has played at Brookvale Oval and Manly Oval, home of member club Manly, located on Sydney's Northern Beaches. The Rays played at Bluetongue Central Coast Stadium for the ARC in 2007.

Supporters

With the reemergence of the competition in the form of the NRC, fans from Manly and Warringah rugby heartland - tragic supporters of the game - formed the 'STRAYS'. In the spirit of rugby and the NRC they came together to make sure the new club had support in the local community and to 'enrich the sideline experience'. Its members were drawn to the common cause by the founder, Michael Gordon.

Current players

The following players were named in the North Harbour Rays' squad for the 2016 National Rugby Championship:

(c) Denotes team captain, Bold denotes player is internationally capped, ¹ denotes allocated national player additional to the contracted squad.

Honours

Season standings

National Rugby Championship

Australian Rugby Championship

Head coaches

Captains