DIARY UPDATE: Week 6, 2023

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 6

Matty Johns makes a very good point about the emerging women’s footy codes of Australian rules and rugby league. Now, obviously he has a bias, given he is a rugby league man – but he points out that the rugby league women have the right skill set for the sport, because most of them have played touch football, and some have played rugby union. Quite a few of the Aussie rules girls are essentially starting from scratch. The AFL has been recruiting athletes, and then teaching them footy skills. I suppose they could say netball is a grounding for Aussie rules, given that Aussie rules is ‘cross country netball.’ (I stole that line from former Brothers’ rugby league winger, Peter ‘Stickman’ Skerman).

Noted Brisbane author, Hugh Lunn’s latest post is about Vince Gair and the DLP and also mentions the Annerley Catholic Schools rugby league side. You will have to subscribe to his site, if you want to learn more.

New Wallabies’ coach, Eddie Jones reminds rugby followers he grew up playing rugby league – at La Perouse United, near Botany Bay – and followed the South Sydney Rabbitohs. Jones, who is being interviewed on RadioSEN, says he is a great fan of the NRL.

Marie and I watch the movie ‘ Delicious’. One of the locations is Aurillac, where we stayed in 2019. It is a rugby union town, and a touch boring.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7

Wake to English Championship match between Keighley and Featherstone Rovers from Keighley. I haven’t been to a Keighley game. I drove by their ground once, that is as close as I have got. My former Brisbane Norths’ teammate, Campbell ‘Zulu’ Dews played a season or two there in the 1980s. The ground’s Terry Hollindrake Stand is named after Keighley’s only home grown international, who played for Great Britain against New Zealand in 1955. He was a product of the Keighley Albion club.

Our Grandsons are in Cook (sports) House at Eagle Junction State School. I was also in Cook, at Murwillumbah High School.

Before retiring, Marie and I watch excellent movie ‘Where the Crawdads Sing’.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8

A Perth based old mate of former Test centre, Tony Currie, has sent Tony his 1978 Kelvin Grove High School jersey. Rugby League was played in a number of state secondary schools in Brisbane in the 70s and 80s, and Kelvin Grove was up with the best, especially when ‘TC’ was a student there. There weren’t any rugby league schools of excellence, as is the case now. The schools just fielded the best teams they could from the students attending. There was no head hunting of talented players. Kelvin Grove beat McGregor High in the 1978 final. Both schools would struggle to field a side now. ‘TC’ has also had his 1982 Queensland State of Origin jersey returned to him by another good mate, Chris McEwan. ‘TC’ roomed with hooker, John Dowling ahead of his Origin debut. “‘JD’ is such a gentleman,” Currie says. “He allowed me to have the double bed, rather than pulling the seniority card by insisting I sleep in the single bed.”

I am reminded that in the early years of the Broncos, halfback, Allan Langer worked for sponsors. Power’s Brewing. ‘Alfie’ was in the ‘Complaints Department’, along with teammate, Gene Miles. Evidently, if someone had a complaint, ‘Alfie’ and ‘Geno’ would hop in the company car and drive to the complainant’s house with a six pack, to chat things over. The Power’s Brewery was at Yatala, south of the Brisbane, and ‘Alfie’ found it hard to drive past Yatala’s famous pie shop. Alfie is part of the Broncos’ coaching staff for 2023, along with Welshman, Lee Briers; John Cartwright, Darius Boyd and Brett O’Farrell (wrestle). Darius looks after ‘the back five’.

Mullumbimby Giants, a club which plays in the Northern Rivers Rugby League, has signed Englishman, Thomas Sowerby.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9

Gold Coast Suns AFL club has visited the Murwillumbah Vulcans Aussie rules side. Can’t believe Aussie rules has infiltrated my home town. They play at Rabjones Oval, South Murwillumbah. Don’t remember any oval being at South Murwillumbah. I  certainly recall the name Rabjones – from rugby League, surf life saving and cricket.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10

The surprise party for Channel 7 Sport’s icon, Pat Welsh is not really such a big surprise because Wally Lewis gave things away with a call to Pat earlier in the day, apologising for not being able to attend. But Pat, who was MC at the Brisbane Bullets’ end-of-season function last night,​ was still surprised by the venue – Suncorp Stadium – and by the numbers there. The stadium is being prepared for the Ed Sheeran concert. The video tribute to Pat pixilates, and quick as a flash he says: “I would like to thank Channel 9….” Paddy becomes the latest addition to the Media Wall of Fame at the stadium, joining the likes of Jack Reardon, Frank O’Callaghan, Barry Dick, Billy J Smith, Gerry Collins and yours truly in the pantheon of sports journalists/commentators. Like me, he was useless with technology, and is only half joking when he says he will be lost now without the Channel 7 IT guys to hep him. Paddy’s plaque is unveiled by Sports Minister, Stirling Hinchcliffe, who feels the need to do an Acknowledgement of Country, after the hosts didn’t bother. Surely we don’t have to do one ahead of a piss-up. Stirling’s a good man, but mate…..I catch up with so many people, among them Pete Nolan (who is on the phone to Anthony ‘Hook’ Griffin); Bernie Pramberg, Steve Renouf, John McCoy, Trad McLean, John Ribot, Allan Langer,  Pat’s younger brother, John (who is there with my former Brothers’ teammate, Mick McGuane), Brian McGrath, Tony Spencer and Matt Arthur. Pete Nolan is a broker for a Sydney player manager. A client is Broncos’ prop, Thomas Flegler. Matt Arthur, the former Crushers’ Media officer, is an active life saver with the Tallebudgera club.

Pat gets emotional when he is joined on stage by Billy J’s son, given how close Pat was to Billy J, who passed away in February, 2019. He is also thrilled to see Garry ‘Wilko’ Wilkinson there, walking stick and all. The late David Fordham naturally gets a mention or two, along with his infamous ‘helmet washer’ commentary. We won’t go there. The MCs are Ben Davis and Victoria Carthew. Kay McGrath recalls her 40^th when Pat commented that she was now ‘fat, fucked and 40″. When Pat first arrived in Brisbane from Bundaberg, he was taken-in by the family of rugby league legend, Duncan Hall, and a member of the Hall family flew in from London for the surprise party. Another son, Duncan Jnr., comments that rugby union now is a bit like rugby league in the 1950s when his dad played.

Former Channel 7 cameraman, Anthong George (AJ), says Papua New Guinea international, David Mead will turn out for his first club, Lismore Marist Brothers, in the Nothern Rivers Rugby League this year. ‘AJ’, who works for the State Government, played for Marist Brothers before he moved to Brisbane. RadioTAB’s David Salmon tells me he played rugby league for Woy Woy in the Central Coast league, and coached inaugural Cowboy, George Bartlett, a former work colleague with our eldest son, Damien. Our daughter, Melanie did work experience with Pat Welsh when she was a high school student.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 11

Marie and I go to Samford Market where the resident musician sings a depressing song about dementia, as we walk by him on the way to the church sausage sizzle. Hope it wasn’t aimed at us. Former Test forward, Sam Thaiday, a local resident, tells me is likely to play a trial for Samford Stags next week. Former Brothers’ goal kicking ace, George Doniger tells me Ken Trewick has died, aged 97, in Brisbane’s Prince Charles Hospital. Trewick, who won the Stawell Gift in 1950, went on George and Des Morris’s 1978 Kangaroo Supporters’ Tour to Britain and France.

Marie and I watch annual All Stars’ match. Broncos’ star, Selwyn Cobbo scores three tries in the Indigenous team’s 28-24 win over the Maori, with Nicho Hynes winning the Preston Campbell Medal.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 12

In Drake’s Supermarket, Samford there is a bare foot woman wearing shorts, a bikini top and a cowboy hat. Good look. No, I mean it.

Watch all four NRL games on FoxSports and there is some good footy for this time of the year. Tom Weaver impresses for the Titans and I believe he should be halfback ahead of Tanah Boyd. I must confess there is some bias there, given I played rugby league with Tom’s grandfather – Paul Weaver – and uncle – Kevin ‘Porky’ Weaver – at Murwillumbah. The tackle of the day was a classic low tackle by Dolphins’ signing, Ray Stone. Fox commentator, Andrew Voss describes the ‘yellow’ on the Dolphins’ jersey as peach, while my wife calls it ‘mustard’. “The Crushers had mustard jerseys and look what happened to them,” she says.

In the first round of the Northern Hemisphere’s rugby league Challenge cup, Dublin beat Hammersmith Hills Hoist; Saddleworth defeat Edinburgh in a match live streamed by the BBC; Royal Navy defeat Barrow Island in Portsmouth, while Doncaster Toll Bar defeat RAF. Some great names there, I’m sure you’ll agree, and teams outside the traditional counties of Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cumbria. Ipswich Jets have signed Isaac Nokes, a product of North East England’s Newcastle Thunder.

New South Wales State of Origin coach, Brad ‘Freddy’ Fittler’s annual country tour included breakfast with the Mayor of Lismore, Steve Krieg.

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