Maryport Rugby League club celebrated its 50th anniversary at the weekend – and there were some special guests.

Eight Kiwis, seven of whom had played professional rugby league in west Cumbria, joined in the fun.

The visit for the group had been initiated by Luke Savelio, who played with Workington Town, and had been coach at Maryport for a while.

One Maryport club official said: “The unexpected arrival of Luke was the icing on the cake.

"He is one of the nicest guys ever to be involved with Maryport ARLFC, and it was great for many of our ex-players who had played under him.

“He came along with Anthony Samuel, George Suafoa, Hitro Okesene, David Fatialofa, Tane Manihera and Leroy Joe.

"There was another Kiwi with them, Chris Bonney from Auckland, who is working as a personal trainer in Warrington.

“That’s where Luke and his family have been living. His son Andre played for St Helens and Warrington before signing for Brisbane in 2017.

“Andre actually played mini-mod rugby at Maryport, before Luke and his family moved to Warrington.

“All eight of them joined in the fun and agreed to take part in the infamous boat race against some of Maryport’s finest.

“The losers had to dance down the room doing the 'gorilla walk' – a forfeit devised by another ex-coach - Frankie Akehurst who demonstrated exactly what the losers had to do.

“Unfortunately for the Kiwis – they lost and it was absolutely hilarious seeing some of their antics as they carried out their forfeits and certainly made it a night to remember.”

The present club was reformed in 1968 as Maryport British Legion Amateur Rugby League Club, as part of a deal that allowed the British Legion to build a Social Club on part of the Athletic Ground, Maryport.

The club enjoyed mixed success in its early years, with the club’s most successful seasons coming in the mid-seventies.

During a seven-year period, the club won the First Division Championship (undefeated), the Cumberland Cup, the Amateur Cup and the Top Four Play-Offs.

Another major honour came in 1982 with a victory in the Cumberland Cup Final. The club then went into steady decline in the mid-80s, spending almost 15 years in the Second Division, with the exception of a two-year stint in the First Division between 1992-94.

The club also enjoyed many successful seasons in Division Two, with an array of silverware being collected. The second team also enjoyed it’s fair share of success, including an undefeated season in 1994/95.

The 1999-2000 proved an excellent one with both the Second Division Championship title and Dale Campbell-Savours Cup finding their way to the trophy cabinet.

More recently, Maryport enjoyed major success during the 2013/2014 seasons, winning the treble in 2013 by taking the BARLA Cumberland Cup, the EB Lamb Amateur Cup and the Cumberland Cup, then just falling short of the treble in 2014 by retaining the BARLA Cumberland Cup and the EB Lamb Amateur Cup.

Sadly a decline in players saw Maryport's open-age team fold in 2016 but they currently have a fantastic youth and junior set-up with teams right through from Mini Mod to Under-16s.

The current committee are extremely hopeful that they will be able to relaunch a new open-age team in time for the 2019 season, and with a number of ex-players already confirming that they will be playing for a revitalised Maryport, the club is hopeful that a new team and squad will come to fruition in 2019.

Although the celebration of 50 years involved the re-formed Maryport club, there has been rugby played in the town for more than one hundred years.

When the Northern Rugby Union first came to the County of Cumberland in June, 1898. Maryport were one of the founder clubs along with Millom, Workington, Wath Brow and Brookland Rovers. Indeed, they were the first champions.

The name of Maryport and surrounding district has, down the years, spawned some of the greatest Rugby League talents ever to grace the game in either hemisphere.

The illustrious Jim Lomas was the first captain of a British touring side to Australasia; the immortal Douglas Clarke and the great Joe Oliver, are just three who first saw light of day in Maryport and went on to scale the heights of the code.

The old Maryport club has enjoyed some golden periods, including reaching the first round of the Rugby League Challenge Cup in 1937/38 season, losing out to the eventual finalists Barrow at Craven Park.