Rodney Stafford
Randwick Petersham Cricket Club | January 13, 2025
Rodney Stafford will never forget his first over in 1st Grade for Randwick Petersham. It was season 2003-04 and the 23-year-old right-arm leg-spinner was called into the attack to bowl against one of Australia’s greatest batsmen, Mark Waugh, who was in full flight. And while Waugh went on to a century for his club Bankstown at Bankstown Oval that day, the occasion will also be remembered as the launching of Rod Stafford as one of the club’s best performed all-rounders.
Being tested by Waugh didn’t dampen his confidence and just three games later, Rodney was the toast of the team, setting up a great win with 6-85 against UTS Balmain. And to show that performance was no fluke, five games after, he took 6-62 against Eastern Suburbs at Waverley Oval to give his team victory by a bare four runs. His all-round ability was also on display against Mosman at Rawson Oval when he scored 58 in a 102 run partnership in 74 minutes with Nathan Rosser for the ninth wicket to win the game and establish a new club record. Rod finished the season with 26 wickets and 168 runs and had the thrill in just his first year, by playing in the 1st Grade Grand Final, although the side went down to Easts at Coogee Oval.
Player of the Season 2017-18
The eldest son of Ray and Sandra Stafford of Gymea, Rodney Graeme Stafford was born at Darlinghurst on 16 May 1981. A pupil at Caringbah High School, he ventured to Coogee Oval at age 14 to try-out for Randwick’s 1995-96 A W Green Shield team, after missing selection in the local Sutherland side. As history would show, that was a stroke of good fortune for Randwick Petersham, while Rodney reaped an early reward, topping the Randwick Green Shield bowling with 13 wickets.
In 1997-98, Stafford made his Sydney Grade Cricket debut with a season performance many cricketers could only dream about. He played 5th Grade, took 41 wickets (22 more than the next best) at just 14.51; scored 244 runs; held nine catches—and his team won the premiership! The 16-year-old also had the distinction of achieving the 10 wickets in a match milestone. Playing Mosman at Kensington Oval, he took 11-26 with 4-6 off six overs in their first innings of 49 and an amazing 7-20 (the last 5 for 6) off 14.4 in the second of 70, to secure an outstanding outright win.
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But an even bigger moment awaited him in the Grand Final against Sydney University at Caringbah Oval, when he went out to bat with the side six down, needing 50 to win. Nineteen runs later he was joined by fellow new starter, Nigil Singh, and the pair put on 76 to take the title with Rod hitting 72, his best score. Apart from both winning a Sydney Grade premiership in their first season, they would go on to be the greatest pair of wicket-takers for the club by the time they retired. And despite his tender years and in his debut year, Rodney finished Player of the Season runner-up, behind the seasoned 1st grader, Grant Parmenter.
In 2001, Randwick merged with Petersham-Marrickville to form Randwick Petersham. And while some players went in different directions, Rodney lined up for the new entity. At that stage, he was a regular 2nd grader earning many plaudits for his big-turning leg-breaks which swung many matches in Randwick’s favour. His 5-55 off 19 overs to have Gordon out 20 runs short of Randwick’s total a couple of seasons earlier, had confirmed his match-winning talent and potential.
However, the rising star was forced to watch from the sidelines in Randwick Petersham’s first season in 2001-02 recovering from a knee re-construction following an off-season soccer injury. But in 2002-03, he was back, firing on all cylinders being named the Most Promising Player in the Club with a double of 205 runs and 36 wickets in 2nd Grade. And while his 6-84 against Easts at Coogee was an impressive performance, it was the first of 10 occasions that the competitive leggie would take six or more wickets in an innings in his illustrious career.
Despite his impressive debut season in 2003-04, his appearances in 1st Grade were limited over the following three seasons. That proved to be a boon to the club and the 2nd Grade team however, as he was one of the forces behind the side’s premiership win in 2004-05. He made 193 runs with the bat and took 29 wickets at 20.38—brilliant figures for a leg-spinner. But it was not the numbers which were important. It was when and how he achieved them. He was there when the chips were down. He played crucial innings of 38 in the semi-final and 39 in the Grand Final, while his 11-103 (6-71 & 5-32) playing Northern District, was the performance of a player of real class.
The following season he took over as skipper of 2nd Grade from the retiring Greg Hartshorne. After three years in that role, he received the ultimate accolade when he was elevated to captain of the First XI, a team which included representative players of the calibre of Usman Khawaja, Nathan Hauritz and Burt Cockley. And while the side struggled that 2008-09 season, Rodney was one of the real successes with returns of 5-49 against Fairfield-Liverpool, 5-83 v Wests and a fantastic 6-76 against North Sydney. He was also a consistent lower-order batsman, hitting 280 runs with a best score of 51.
Stafford remained at the helm of the team in 2009-10, again being a major contributor with both bat and ball. The improvement of the side was most evident and Rodney’s leadership did much to set it on its way to contest the Grand Final in each of the following two seasons. And while he made few appearances in 1st Grade in 2010-11, he showed he still had plenty to offer by top scoring with 64* in a ninth wicket partnership of 97 with Rob Wilson against subsequent premiers Sydney University.
Back to 2nd Grade, Stafford skippered the side for another three seasons. And while he oversaw the development of a number of promising players as they filtered through the team, the best the side could do was a qualifying-final appearance in 2012-13. Rodney was the lead spinner during that period, securing 63 wickets to take him past the 300 wickets milestone for the club, while his career total exceeded 400.
In 2014-15, Rod took the unselfish step of offering his services to the club as 3rd Grade skipper in a bid to revive the fortunes of the team while imparting his wide experience and knowledge across the many promising juniors coming through the ranks. It was a positive move and while the side improved only marginally to 10th position, the signs were there for future progress.
Not surprisingly, Rodney topped the batting with 320 runs and the bowling with 24 wickets including two “6 for’s”. He was just pipped by Nathan Price to be runner-up in the Player of the Season competition, while he achieved another milestone being just the second player behind his old mate Nigil Singh, to pass the 350 wickets mark. He also passed 200 matches for the club.
Proving the old adage that leg-spinners improve with age, Rod had a huge 2015-16 season, taking 34 wickets at 19.94 while-recording his best summer with the bat, making 474. He scored 190 more than next-best in 3rd Grade with three half-centuries. In the third of those against University of NSW at David Phillips South, he came close to realising an ambition to make a hundred when he was agonisingly dismissed for 91. It was a typical “Rocket Rod” innings made in just 82 balls with nine fours and seven giant sixes. The team did well to make the qualifying final before going down to minor premiers Sydney.
Two seasons later, with a wife and young baby, Rodney contemplated retirement but decided on one last fling in 4th Grade under the captaincy of his good friend, David Bourke. The two led the charge well and it was only bad luck that saw the side miss a place in the finals on quotient. But it was a season of milestones once again for the 36-year-old as he achieved two “firsts”. Against Fairfield-Liverpool at Petersham Oval he scored 103* off just 75 balls in 78 minutes, hitting eight fours and a massive nine sixes with the last 62 coming in 20 balls. And in the outright defeat of St George at Petersham, he took a hat-trick with the first three balls of his ninth over before finishing with 5-18—his first hat-trick and the 20th time he had taken five wickets or more in an innings. In a season where he displayed his all-round skills, he finished with 389 runs and 27 wickets. And in a fitting finale to a brilliant career, Rodney was deservedly named the Player of the Season.
In a Grade Cricket/NSW Premier Cricket career spanning 20 seasons, Rodney Stafford played 307 matches for Randwick / Randwick Petersham, scoring 4,561 runs and taking 546 wickets. A brilliant fielder, he held 140 catches. Of those figures, 852 runs were scored with Randwick and 3,709 with Randwick Petersham. With the bowling, the split is 110 with Randwick and 436 with the Randy Petes.
Rod played in all grades and competitions with his most dominant performances being in 2nd Grade where he scored 1,667 runs and took 261 wickets. He completed his 1st Grade career with 98 wickets and 823 runs.
His best bowling was the 7-20 he took in 5th Grade for Randwick against Mosman in his first season while the 7-105 he took against Sydney University in the 2007-08 2nd Grade semi-final at Coogee Oval, was his best for Randwick Petersham. Interestingly, in that match they were the only wickets to go to a bowler with the remaining three batsmen run out. He had a real penchant for Sydney Uni. who went on to be premiers, as he took 5-72 against them in the earlier preliminary rounds. He took five wickets in an innings an amazing 23 times with 10 in a match on two occasions.
Apart from an impressive playing career, Rod Stafford has been an outstanding contributor to the management of the club, serving five years on the Management Committee while providing expertise and flair in the promotion of the club through social media and other distribution outlets.
Lyall Gardner OAM
Randwick Petersham Historian
