The Gosford Kariong Storm ''(formally known as Gosford Giants, Gosford Townies, Kariong Kookaburras)'' is a

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

club based on the

Central Coast, New South Wales The Central Coast is a peri-urbanisation, peri-urban region in New South Wales, Australia, lying on the Tasman Sea coast to the north of Sydney and south of Newcastle, New South Wales, Newcastle. The Local government areas of New South Wale ...

region of Australia. Known as ''The Storm'', wearing

Purple Purple is any of a variety of colors with hue between red and blue. In the RGB color model used in computer and television screens, purples are produced by mixing red and blue light. In the RYB color model historically used by painters, pu ...

Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

and

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, it is the oldest running club and member of the Central Coast Rugby League having been originally formed in 1947.

History

Gosford Storm were formed in 2000 as a result of the ''Gosford Giants'' and ''Kariong Kookaburras'' merging. In 2010 the club entered its first seniors team who were successful in their first season although knocked out in the semi-finals by Umina. In 2011 the club hoped to submit three teams in the seniors competition with under 17's, Open Age and a Second Grade team but was only granted inclusion for an Open Age team. The Open Age team finished the season equal 5th but failed to qualify for the semi-finals due to an 8-point difference in for & against. 2012 saw a number of new recruits join the club which the club had hoped would be enough to be accepted in fielding both a reserve grade, and open age team although this was rejected by the Central Coast Division of Rugby League with only an open age team being granted inclusion. However, only weeks out from the beginning of the season on 21 February the club was told that they along with Central Wyong Razorbacks had been excluded from entering any teams into any grades of the central coast competition, despite a number of appeals from both clubs the decision was not reversed and both clubs were forced to close their senior clubs. Both clubs still remain fully active in junior rugby league competitions.

Home ground

Gosford Giants originally played all home games from Grahame Park which also played host for all Central Coast Rugby League finals games up until the late 1990s when the ground was redeveloped to be the new home stadium of the

North Sydney Bears The North Sydney Bears is an Australian rugby league football club based in North Sydney, New South Wales. The club competes in the New South Wales Cup, having exited the National Rugby League following the 1999 NRL season after 90 years in the ...

football club. However, as the Bears never made the move to Gosford the stadium has since become home to the Central Coast Mariners Football Club who compete in the

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

. Following their move from Grahame Park ''(aka

Central Coast Stadium Central Coast Stadium (known originally as Grahame Park), known commercially as Industree Group Stadium is a sports venue in Gosford, on the Central Coast, New South Wales, Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia. The stadium is home to ...

)'', the team's home ground is now Carrington Street Oval,

Narara Narara () is a List of Central Coast suburbs, suburb just north of Gosford, New South Wales, Gosford on the Central Coast (New South Wales), Central Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the Local government areas of New So ...

Season summaries

Notable former players

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(1997-04

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St George Saint George (Greek language, Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin language, Latin: Georgius, Arabic language, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christians, Christian who is venerated as a sa ...

) *

Matt Orford Matthew Orford (born 22 April 1978), also known by the nickname of "The Ox", is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. He played for the Erina Eagles as a junior. A City New South Wales rep ...

(2000-11

Northern Eagles The Northern Eagles were a rugby league team, that competed in the National Rugby League (NRL) between 2000 and 2002. The club was formed during the rationalisation process of the NRL by the merger of the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles and the Nort ...

Manly Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rugb ...

Canberra Raiders The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby ...

) * Chris Finneran (Melbourne storm *

Matt Ikuvalu Matt Ikuvalu (born 9 November 1993) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a er or for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the National Rugby League, NRL. He previously played for the Sydney Roosters in the NRL. Bac ...

(2018-

Sydney Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby league, Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won ...

) *brett Mossman (Newcastle knights)

Team Numbers

Team numbers obtained and compiled from competition tables and match results published in the newspapers, ''Central Coast Express'', ''Wyong Shire Advocate'' and ''Central Coast Express Advocate''. Numbers for 2003 and 2011 taken from copies of the ''Central Coast Division Junior Rugby League Yearbook'' of those years, supplied by Toukley Hawks RLFC. Age groups Under 9 and younger not included as team numbers from 1985 to 2011 not known to the author.

References

{{reflist 4. Here Come The Townies: The Early History of Gosford Rugby League by Andrew Stark (published 2020)

External links

* Central Coast Rugby League Competition
Sporting Pulse
Rugby league teams in New South Wales Sport on the Central Coast (New South Wales) Rugby clubs established in 1947 1947 establishments in Australia