He moved on and finished playing with the Laggan second division in 1964 at the age of 35.

He suffered many injuries during his playing career; ligament damage to his left knee twice, dislocation of the right fibula, knee reconstruction of the right knee, broken bones in his right and left hand and a dislocated left elbow.

In 1965 he moved onto the committee and into the position of reserve grade coach for the Crookwell Rugby League club.

In 1966 he was invited back to Laggan as coach of both the first grade side and under 18s team.

1967 he spent the season as president and reserve grade coach at Laggan.

Frank began writing match reports for the Crookwell Gazette in 1968 where his report was always a well read addition to the sport pages of the local newspaper. He always gave a fair and honest recount of the games and has loved to mix it with the players throughout the many seasons he spent in the chock shed or announcers box.

Frank has seen many players come and go through the ranks of the local clubs and today the children of the past players are coming through like their forefathers.

In 1970 the Grabben Gullen and Laggan clubs combined and sort entry into the first division group eight competition which ended up being successful.

Leo Coves was elected as president with Frank Willis elected vice president.

Crookwell placed teams in the under 18s, reserves and first grade.

1971 - Frank Willis was elected president of the club and became the delegate to the group eight board.

1972 - Frank was elected vice president of the group eight alongside the president from Canberra, Jim Kennedy. George Tooke was the secretary at the time.

1973 - Frank had to resign as delegate due to other commitments.

Former representative Newcastle player John Clarke was appointed captain coach and the following year Saint George player Ken Frazer was the coach running the boys on for two seasons with mixed success. The Crookwell team completed well under local coaches for the next few years.

In 1976 there was a real turning point and the Crookwell team worked it up a notch under the watchful eye and impressive coaching ability of Australian and International full-back and goal-kicker, Eric Simms. He lifted the Devils into semi-final contention for the two seasons he was in Crookwell.

The club has had many outstanding committee members and secretaries over the years from 1969 onwards; Greg Seaman, Ray Wilkinson, Peter Edmunds, Lyle Gorman, Paul Anderson, Shirley Kemp and Peter Selmes the current secretary.

Trevor Kemp designed the Devils emblem.

The under 18s were narrowly defeated by Yass in the grand final in 1978. Where sides were available from under 18s, reserve grade or first grade, they have competed strongly in the second division George Tooke Shield competition for many years. They have won premierships, made it to semi-finals and grand-finals many times.

One such time was when Ashley Gilbert another great local player led the team into a grand final but they were narrowly defeated by a Canberra side on the day. Paid player, Ronnie Gibbs was a part of that team effort that year. Ashley suffered a broken leg just after half time during the game and the team was heralded gallant in defeat.

The Crookwell Green Devils won the reserve grade premiership in 1980 under coach, Brian Doyle. Brian moved to Australia from England and was captain coach in 1975 and has proven to be a great player and coach.

Crookwell fielded a strong first grade side but the reserves and under 18s seem to be short of players most weeks and it was obvious that the shortage both in numbers and quality took the teams back to the second division the following year.

They played well in the second division under coaches like Jeffrey Burton and Ben (sheep dog) Hayes.

The 2012 side of under 18s Devils had a wonderful group of young players amidst them, 2012 was a very successful year finishing third on the ladder but having previously defeated both the grand final teams.

These young men will boost the ranks and help out the first grade side with young guns coming through.

Keen committee members are vital for a good club to be successful year in, year out.

Over the years Rugby League has been a number one sport in this area with local first division teams in Crookwell playing in the strong first division competition along with teams from Canberra, Queanbeyan, Goulburn and Yass.

The Devils sides played prominently in this competition for many years but the decline of players in the game has had a great effect on the standard of play they were used to. Men moved from the area in search of jobs and good players disappeared.

Then, for long periods Crookwell played in a very competitive second division with teams from Grabben Gullen, Taralga, Binda, Bigga, Laggan, Gunning and Marulan and at least one team from Goulburn. Most of these sides had reserve grade players as well.

Lack of numbers has seen this competition struggle to form consistent teams during recent years.

Looking back there was many great players from Crookwell went to other clubs and represented for Australia and even internationally.

Mick Fahey, George Grant, Neil Whittaker, Ashley Gilbert, Jason Croker, Joe, Mick and Ben Picker and many more.

Got to love the Knight’s family’s involvement in the club as well.

Both Geoff and Terry have contributed greatly to the clubs success and their children and grandchildren are all pulling on their boots to take the field as junior and senior Devils.

Shirley Kemp is the last to raise a mention as she has been with the club for many years and in this time has been in the roll of secretary and canteen manager many-a-time.

Whether you are a player or a spectator, footy just gets in your blood and runs through your veins at this time of the year and always will if you are an avid supporter on the footy sideline.

Coaches - Crookwell Rugby League

1970 John Clarke (ex Newcastle)

1971-72 Ken Frazier (ex St George)

1973 Micheal Fahey (ex St George)

1974-75 Brian Doyle (ex Haddersfield)

1976-77 Eric Simms (ex South Sydney)

1978-79-80 Mick McCarthy

1981 Harvey Smith

1982-83-84 Bruce Gay