Melbourne Rubberman Competition
Our titleholder competition, Melbourne Rubberman, is one of our biggest events of the year. The winner of this event is responsible for representing the Melbourne Rubber community, contributing to a chosen charity, and being the face of Melbourne Rubber wherever they go. Since our founding, Melbourne Rubber have gained several titleholders who have each brought their own unique personalities, fetishes, and experiences to their respective title year.
Get to know the who’s who through our Melbourne Rubber Hall of Fame, featuring our titleholders from the past years.
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MRM 2016
Sporty Geek Liam Clark originally hails from the VIC/NSW border town of Albury -Wodonga and made history as our first Melbourne Rubberman all the way back in 2016.
During his title year, Liam successfully raised $2,016 for local LGBTI+ phone-in service Switchboard through monthly BBQ’s held the Laird Hotel and a Eurovision preview party (as Liam is a gigantic fan).
Liam also had the honour of representing Melbourne Rubber in Chicago at the 20th Mr. International Rubber contest – placing first runner up to Mr. Rubber New England, Preston So and beginning a tradition for all of his successors in placing as first runner up for this competition. Liam also judged several contests during his reign and travelled extensively – Mr. Leather Italy 2017, Mr. Rubber Poland 2017, Australian Pup and Handler 2017 and featured as a prominent judge in all Slick titleholder competitions since the conclusion of his title year.
Liam was responsible for designing our current Melbourne Rubberman Sash, which has since been given to all of his successors since. Liam had become a crucial figure in the organisation and presentation of Slick since its founding year, but has since stepped down in 2020 to pursue a rubbery adventure of his own. We thank him for all he has done for Melbourne Rubber during the early years.
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MRM 2017
A native of the Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy, John Cheshire became the second Melbourne Rubberman in 2017, replacing his predecessor Liam Clark as the reigning titleholder. You can usually find John and his partner Gwen out and about always wearing some form of rubber attire. Neither of them never fail to impress us with their fashion tastes!
During John’s reign as titleholder for Melbourne Rubber, he fundraised for Rainbow Railroad and successfully raised over $5,000 through a variety of events – most prominently his ‘Rescue’ fundraiser just before the conclusion of his reign in 2018.
John also took the opportunity to fly to the United States and compete at the 21st Mr. International Rubber in Chicago – also placing as 1st runner up behind Mr. Rubber Poland, Michał Neighbour. John did us proud in this competition and brought back the silver for us to drool over.
John was a prominent figure on the judging panel for the Melbourne Rubberman 2018 competition. Since then, John and his partner Gwen have been heavily involved both behind the development of Melbourne Rubber and are now apart of our committee. They have lended their fetish and latex expertise to our community through our social media campaigns and events.
John is a organisation treasure and we are privileged to has his involvement and bubbly personality involved in whatever we do.
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MRM 2018
Matt Shepherd originally hails from Brisbane in Queensland. He moved to Melbourne in 2011 and has ingrained himself into the rubber community down here. Matt became the third Melbourne Rubberman in 2018, replacing his predecessor John Cheshire as the reigning titleholder.
During Matt’s reign he successfully raised close to $8,000 for the David Williams Fund, a charity that directly benefits the lives of Victorians living with HIV. This was achieved by the 'Save or Shave' campaign spearheaded by Matt - two teams competed against each other. Team 'Shave' was victorious and therefore all the boys, including Matt lost their iconic facial hair.
In 2019, Matt competed in the 23rd Mr. International Rubber Competition in Chicago – placing as 1st runner up out of sixteen competers behind Mr. Rubber Netherlands Adalberto Rubbadam. He believes that the backing of the Melbourne community helped with his placement in this competition. All he heard from people overseas at this event was "What the hell is in the Melbourne water there? Everyone's bloody great!"
Matt featured as a prominent judge in the 2019 Melbourne Rubberman competition and was a part of the 'Fetish Australia' Float Committee for Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras in Sydney in 2019. Matt has since joined the Melbourne Rubber Committee and has been a pivotal support behind the growing of the community. Matt has always been an advocate for diversity, change and growth in the fetish community but this was nowhere as important to him as in Melbourne.
Come say hello to Matt the next time you see him around! In the Laird, at Mollies, in the public toliets... he would never shy away from a conversation. #stillrelevant
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MRM 2019 - 2020
Jason Pearce originates from a small country town in Perth, Western Australia and moved to Melbourne with his partner in 2017 in pursuit of a new life.
Jason has become a driving force for the rubber community as one of the central organisers for Melbourne Rubber. Jason became the fourth person in our history to claim the title of Melbourne Rubberman from his predecessor Matthew Shepherd in 2019.
Jason's time in representing us has been dynamic - being responsible for the formation of the committee and for dropping the word 'men' from Melbourne Rubber in order to become a more welcoming and diversive group for all those in love with latex, regardless of gender or sexual orientation..
When the world shut down from the COVID-19 Pandemic at the beginning of 2020, it was Jason who had the idea to move a majority of our interaction as Melbourne Rubber online with his 15 Minutes With... segments on Instagram with various latex enthusiasts from around the world, for hosting Zoom Rubber Socials and for being one of the organisers behind SLICK 2020 Online., and Judge and Organiser of SLICK 2021 Online. This willingness to adapt to an always changing society is just the type of person Melbourne Rubber needs to lead us forward into the future.
Travelling extensively with his partner for several fetish events around the world, Jason would love to attend Mr. International Rubber and compete. He would also love to attend Darklands in Antwerp and get his freak on.
Though his sights (like us all) are set internationally, Jason is always brought back to expanding and growing the community locally in Australia. It is his biggest priority as a titleholder and as a growing leader in our community. Wherever he goes, Melbourne Rubber will always be there to support him as he pursues equality and inclusiveness for all into rubber.
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MRM 2021
Matt Cavagnino originates from the South-Western Suburbs of Sydney, Australia and moved to Melbourne in February 2020 in search of new beginnings.
Matt is the current reigning titleholder for Melbourne Rubberman inheriting the title from Jason, their predecessor, at SLICK 2021. Matt is now the 5th Melbourne Rubberman.
Curious to see what Matt gets up to? Keep your eyes out for their plans and movements with the title of the next twelve months!
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MRM 2022
TBC