It’s a case of new year, new name, same stellar country hospitality for The Welder’s Dog in Inverell, NSW. Here, we spoke with owners James and Phoebe Croft to learn more about the rebrand and when we can proudly welcome ROUSEABOUT to town.
Word on the street is you’re rebranding – tell us everything.
That’s right! From the start of 2026 we’ll be known as ROUSEABOUT. It’s a brand for Inverell, by Inverell. We want to pay tribute to the agricultural history of the area, in particular the sheep shearing industry that so many locals have a personal connection to. It’s a celebration of rural and regional living and the way of life in the country. It’s a place where people can connect and share stories and experience something new – whether it be a new beer, wine or cocktail, or one of our events like trivia, musical bingo, live music or comedy. We want ROUSEABOUT to become part of the cultural fabric of our town.
Why the shift from Welder’s Dog?
We’ve owned and operated The Welder’s Dog Inverell for three years. It’s been an absolute blast and during that time we have formed a venue with it’s own unique identity and offering. It’s only fitting that it’s given a new name to reflect that. We will always hold The Welder’s Dog close to our hearts. The good news is, The Welder’s Dog will remain our sponsor brewery, so you’ll be able to continue to enjoy all their delicious brews on tap and in tins for years to come.
So what can people expect from the new venue?
We’re not going anywhere! Despite the rebrand, we are digging even deeper roots at our current venue, The Oxford Hotel. The 1886 heritage building plays a big part in creating the atmosphere that locals and visitors have come to love. You can’t recreate the sort of feel the old bricks of The Oxford Hotel gives us, but there’s plenty we will be doing to keep building on the venue and the customer experience. We have some murals in the works by renowned Dorrigo muralist Peter Mortimer, a new bookable karaoke booth, a few new additions to our beer taps and wine range, some tweaks to our food menu including a signature lamb burger, a range of ROUSEABOUT merchandise, some furniture upgrades including a huge feature wool-table (of course!). And that’s just the beginning…
What inspired the new brand?
It’s said that the famous Australian painter, Tom Roberts finished one of his well-known works at The Oxford Hotel. ‘Shearing The Rams’ has always been our favourite work of his, which depicts hardworking shearers and ‘rouseabouts’ in a busy shearing shed in late 1800s. More personally, both our grandparents operated sheep farms in Bundarra and Guyra and it was common for us both growing up to rouseabout during shearing season – sweeping the board, picking up fleece, filling woolbins and yard work. It’s an experience that shaped us and one we are very nostalgic about. Phoebe’s grandfather Gary Goldman epitomises the brand – a down to earth, hard working gentleman who built a life as a shearing contractor and farmer. ROUSEABOUT’s slogan came directly from him: “Cheers to a good season”. ROUSEABOUT was born through connection to our past, place and people.
Love that, but also know small business can be tough. What are some of the challenges you’ve overcome to get here?
It’s no surprise to anyone that running a small business can be challenging, especially in hospitality. The economy has had its ups and downs over the past few years and we’ve ridden those waves. James has returned to his old career in Project Management and runs the business behind the scenes with the help of a bar manager. Phoebe has also returned to part-time primary teaching, all while raising our beautiful kids Elkie, 4 and Finley, 1. It’s a busy, full life we’ve chosen and we often describe it as the most exhausting and energising thing we’ve ever done.
What’s been the most rewarding moment from this rebrand so far?
We’ve been putting teasers out to patrons and followers on our socials that a ‘change’ is coming. Before we announced it was a rebrand we were overwhelmed by the level of interest and number of people reaching out, eager to know what was coming. A lot of them were mainly concerned that we were closing or leaving and we were touched that they clearly didn’t want that to happen. It’s also been a very creative process bringing our brand to life. It’s reinvigorated our passion for what we have brought to Inverell and what we’ll continue to bring. We are excited about this next chapter.
If you had one piece of advice for someone considering launching a business in a regional location, what would it be?
We jumped headfirst into owning and operating The Welder’s Dog Inverell back in 2022. There’s been a few times where we’ve admitted we probably wouldn’t have done it had we known how hard it was going to be. But never for a moment have we regretted it. It’s brought us back to our hometown and made our lives full and rich in friendship, family and experiences. So the message is, and it’s probably a reckless one, but it’s to do what feels right, follow your gut and don’t overthink it. You’ll never regret having a crack and it might be the best thing you’ve ever done. It has been that for us.
When can we welcome ROUSEABOUT to town?!
Our last day of trade as The Welder’s Dog Inverell will be 31 December 2025. To celebrate our past and new beginnings we are holding a NYE Rebrand Party. We’ll have an old skool DJ playing all your favourite tunes with karaoke and song requests from 6pm. Tickets are for sale for $10 on trybooking.com. We’d love to see you there and to “Cheers to a good season”.
