DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER
WEEK 51 2021
MONDAY, DECEMBER 20
Dennis Ward displayed tremendous spirit to fight back from a knee cartilage injury and a ruptured spleen, and regain his Test jersey in 1972. Ward had emerged as Australia’s best rugby league halfback in 1969, but injury intervened. He was man of the match in Manly’s 19-14 win over Eastern Suburbs Roosters in the 1972 Sydney Grand Final, and was chosen for Australia’s World Cup trip to France and England. Ward took on the captain-coach role at Wests in Newcastle in 1973, and toured Britain and France at the end of that season, but relinquished the Test berth to Tom Raudonikis. Ward coached Wynnum-Manly, in Brisbane, in 1977, even putting the boots on at one stage. Ward was the QRL’s coaching director for many years, and that is where I got to know him. I even participated in one of Wardy’s camps, which was sponsored by the Brisbane Telegraph, the newspaper for which I worked. Dennis’s funeral is held at Burleigh Heads today. Dennis was 76 when he died, on December 11, after battling prostate cancer. Paul Hayes, a member of the QRL History Committee, which I chair, says Dennis loved books written by Australian, Frank Clune – they are ‘red blooded, Aussie adventures’.
My wife leaves free cucumbers out the front of our place, but there are no takers.
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 21
Old cinemas are the topic of conversation at Stafford Tavern’s ‘Table of Knowledge’. Establishments such as the Trocadero in Proserpine and the Boomerang at Grange, get a mention. Australian Cinema pioneer, Terry Jackman, the brother of the late Tony Jackman – a regular at ‘The Table of Knowledge’ – brought the epic movie, ‘Dr Zhivago’ to Australia. ‘Table’ newcomer, Jimmy Whitbourne has relatives moving to Parramatta to live. Jimmy hates ‘Parra’ – the place, not the footy side. Peter Skerman says his good mate, Pete Mahoney, who played rugby league at Dewsbury in England, back in the 1960s, tells the story of a bloke of Pakistani descent, who stole a teacher’s pay cheque in Dewsbury, and then made the mistake of trying to cash it at a pub, where the locals knew the teacher. I’ll let you guess what happened. It is fascinating observing patrons at ‘The Stafford’, in the build-up to Christmas – there is a female teacher, with metal in her lip, who orders a large white wine; a bloke in a red Christmas shirt, who looks like the King of Tonga; and a security guy, who is a poor man’s Darryl Braithwaite. I love to people watch.
Learn of the passing former Wallaby/Roosters’ winger, Alan Cardy. Cardy played nine Tests for the Wallabies before switching to rugby league, in 1969. A Katoomba High School graduate, he concentrated on athletics, before playing union with Drummoyne, and there is little doubt, he would have made the Australian Olympics track and field squad, if he had put his mind to it. Injuries meant he played just 10 games for the Roosters. Another ex-league player to have died, is Thomas Moylan, a Nambucca product, who toured New Zealand with the history making Indigenous side in 1973.
Former Norths’ Brisbane strapper, Joe Morris reminisces about the great players to have gone round in the Group 3 (Manning/Hastings) competition in New South Wales, one of them my uncle, Harry Smith. Another bloke to get a mention is ‘the mighty atom’ Ken Fogarty, who played for Balmain and represented New South Wales. “Ken saved my life, doing CPR after I got an electric shock,” Joe tells me. “His brother, Terry was a better player, but liked the social side of things too much.”
My wife, Marie and our youngest son, Lliam travel to Lismore, and lunch at the upgraded Metropol Hotel. The Rous Hotel also has been done up. Marie catches up with her siblings, Carolyn Soward, Kevin and John Donnelly.
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 22
My former Murwillumbah Brothers’ teammate, Darryl ‘Dagga’ Gear congratulates me on my Men of League Foundation, ‘Queensland Volunteer of the Year Award’. He and his wife, Deb live at Pottsville on the Tweed Coast, after 17 years at Woolgoolga, where Darryl was treasurer of the local rugby league club for five years. In those days the club was sponsored by the Seaview Tavern, but in recent years the RSL club has come on board. Darryl and former Brothers, Roosters, South Sydney and Gundagai centre, Kel Sherry have shares in a few race horses. Kel lives at Casino. ‘Daga’ regularly catches up with another Brothers’ boy, Bill ‘Yarki’ Woodford, for a coffee.
There are long queues at the New South Wales/Queensland border for Covid ‘inspections’, but my wife and son get through in 20 minutes. They had had lunch at the Metropol and Marie loved the fast fried, Clarence River prawns.
I watch a bit of international rugby union. Mateo Carreras looks smart for Argentina against Ireland. Voluntary tackles are a curse in rugby league, but I don’t think I have seen one as bad as a grid iron player, in match between Kent State and Wyoming, on ESPN. I know – it is part of the tactics of the game, but it looks so undignified.
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 23
A big storm hits Brisbane’s northern suburbs in the early afternoon, and at Everton Park there is a lightning strike, which causes blackouts. Female bar attendant at Stafford Pub says ‘G’day Bud’, as I order a drink. I hate that. So un-Australian and unfriendly, in my view.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 24
Terry Morrison, an All Blacks’ star from the early 1970s, dies of a heart attack, while surfing at Maroochydore, where he had made his home.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 25
Trevor Gleeson phones to say his brother, John (better known as Jack, to the siblings), died at 4 a.m. I file a story for this website. Anyone would think I was still working for News Ltd. Afterall, it is Christmas Day!! But Johnny is a legend of rugby league, and the story has to get out there. I ponder whether to phone ‘The Courier-Mail’, but you know – on Christmas Day, I am worried I will get someone from Victoria who doesn’t give a rat’s about rugby league, and I will blow up if he/she tells me to phone back tomorrow. So, I hold off, and I leave the story for my website.
Former Queensland winger, Doug Muir sees the yarn, and comments that he would have loved to have played outside Johnny. Gleeson coached Muir in Toowoomba, and wanted to promote him to first grade, when he was still eligible for under-15s, but Doug’s parents said no. And fair enough, too.
Former England cricket captain, Ray Illingworth dies, aged 89 Illingworth took on the captaincy of his country in 1969, aged 37, taking over from the injured Colin Cowdrey, and made an excellent job of defeating the West Indies and New Zealand. That was his first season as captain of Leicestershire, after two decades with his native Yorkshire. I vividly recall the 1970-71 Ashes campaign in Australia, when Illingworth led England to a series win, with pace bowler, John Snow terrorising Australian batsmen. Snow was grabbed by a spectator at the SCG during the seventh Test (yes, seventh) and Illingworth, who had had a running battle with umpires, led his team to the dressing rooms, as beer bottles were pelted onto the field. The umpires in the SCG Test were Lou Rowan and Tom Brooks. In Lou Rowan’s book, ‘The Umpire’s Story’, he said Snow was the first ‘demon’ fast bowler he had come across. Rowan said he found Illingworth ‘completely devoid of a sense of humour’ and unable to keep the fiery Snow in check. Rowan also accused Illingworth of lacking in knowledge of what Australian crowds expected of him as the England leader. “If Illingworth was not aware that arguing with an umpire, before a huge audience, was not the accepted form of conduct, he was indeed very much in need of education as to our standards of sportsmanship and leadership.” (Noted sports writer, John Thicknesse said Illingworth had ‘a droll sense of humour). I must confess to feeling sorry for Illingworth on that tour, because he didn’t do well with the bat, and I thought his players might have expected better. But, from what I understand, he never lost the dressing room.
Betty Byrnes, the mother of my former Murwillumbah Brothers’ teammate, Jimmy Byrns, has died aged 91. Jimmy was a goal kicking fullback, and a fine soccer player, as well as being handy at rugby league.
Marie and I spend Christmas Day at our son, Lliam’s residence, at Albion in Brisbane’s inner north.
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 26
The NRL’s Brad Walter files a story on Johnny Gleeson. Hopefully, News Ltd will pick up the story and give Johnny a good run on their sports pages. He toured Britain and France with the 1963-64 and 1967-68 Kangaroos and deserves at least half a page. News Ltd’s Editor at Large, Phil Rothfield, tips the Roosters to win the 2022 NRL Title. Watch part of the 1975 Sydney Grand Final – Roosters 38 St George 0. It was only 5-0 at halftime. St George halfback, Billy Smith makes a terrible attempt at tackle on Ian Schubert in the 79th minute. Sad really, as Billy is one of the all-time greats. But, one has to remember, that he had played the entire 79 minutes, and had given his all, on the rock hard SCG. No interchange back then.
Indigenous pace bowler, Scott Boland makes his debut for Australia in the Boxing Day Test. FoxSports commentator, Shane Warne is critical of England leaving out pace bowler, Stuart Broad. Warne has never seen an MCG pitch like it – there is grass!
About Author
