Happy Australia Day
MONDAY, JANUARY 26
Family friend Ray Ebert is mentioned in Australia Day Honours for services to rowing and the church. Ray and wife, Val came on the 2002 tour I led through Europe and afterwards we holidayed in England’s Lake District. Our sons, Damien Ricketts and Ben Ebert, played rugby league with and against each other. Fred Van Dongen, who came on my 1994 Kangaroo Supporters’ tour with his wife, Pam, is honoured for his services to basketball. Former Newcastle Knights rugby league star, Mark Hughes is also honoured – for his services to community and fund raising.
The Australia Day Citizenship ceremony in Canberra is a moving affair, as usual, although the Welcome to Country is far too long. The bloke who delivers it is from my home territory, the Tweed. One of our new citizens is ‘A Ricketts’ (a female) from the USA. SBS TV, as usual, is full of First Nations stuff.
Here at Samford Grove there is a thong throwing competition. SBS should have covered it. The residents join in singing “We are Australian”. At least 60 motor bike riders descend on Samford at 5.40 pm. I would guess they are off to the pub for an Australia Day ale.
Race Discrimination Commissioner Giridharan Sivaraman says our systems and institutions were built on privilege, colonialism and whiteness. All I can say is that the privileged, white colonials did a good job because we have (or at least had) the most egalitarian country in the world, one that even allows a Race Discrimination Commissioner to bag us at every opportunity.
TUESDAY, JANUARY 27
Today would have been the 91st birthday for Queensland Rugby League and Wests Panthers stalwart, Mick Milliner who died on November 18 last year. His family have placed a Tribute in today’s Courier-Mail. Mick’s daughter, Karen, a former work colleague of mine, has items from Mick’s long career and she hands them over to me today at Samford Grove, for placement in the history area at the QRL, or as items to be donated to Wests. Karen’s husband, Ian, is a member of the Live Miguel Band, which also included a former Samford Grove resident, the late Lawrie Telford.
Our youngest son, Lliam, a director of Supply Partners, is thrilled to be invited to join the accreditation panel of Master Electricians. Lliam has been saying for some time there are too many cowboys in the renewable energy game, with lots of people seeing it as an easy way to make a buck. Bunnings are now selling solar and batteries and no doubt will undercut the little guys with cheap Chinese stuff.
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28
Brad Thorn’s Bio, ‘Champions do Extra’ is released. When I interviewed Brad for his chapter in ‘Bennett’s Broncos’ he told me he was climbing 1500 metre peaks at a young age. “I was just 8 and my uncle climbed one peak near Cromwell (in New Zealand) and I just stopped,” he said. “I didn’t know anything about mental toughness. I was just a kid. I wasn’t puffed, just stuffed. My uncle would say ‘Keep going’. And so I would. It was a great lesson (in mental toughness).
THURSDAY, JANUARY 29
2030 will mark the 30th anniversary of State of Origin rugby league and while it seems ages away, I am reminded that certain things need to be put in place now to properly mark the occasion. Former QRL official Michael Pease suggests a Team of the Decade be named every year from now until 2030, culminating with the Team of 50 years. What a task. This is one of the topics discussed at QRL History Committee meeting which I chair. Our North Qld rep., Greg Shannon says a boardwalk along Ross River in Townsville is named after former Australian forward, Jim Paterson, who I had the pleasure of interviewing at a Men of League Foundation lunch at Broncos’ Leagues Club, Jim died in 2019 aged 84.
Tom Weaver tells the Yorkshire Post he left Gold Coast Titans to get out of his comfort zone. His grandfather, Paul Weaver, was my under-18 captain at Murwillumbah Brothers in 1969.
Our daughter, Melanie returns to Bangkok.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 30
Phil ‘Buzz’ Rothfield has retired after 50 years as a sports journalist in Sydney. I worked alongside Phil many times and also had to file stories for News Ltd when he was sports editor. We have had beers together in journos’ bars in Surry Hills and most recently were members of the NRL Hall of Fame judging panel (2024). Phil made many enemies across his career because he wasn’t afraid to speak his mind. I didn’t agree with some of his views, but probably was on the same page with most of them. I send him a message wishing him well in retirement and he replies “onya mate’.
Radio SEN often experiences technical difficulties, so too 4BH. Today on 4BH their news bulletin is from south west Western Australian – Albany and that area. That would be like Albany getting a news bulletin concentrating on Cooktown.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 31
Sabalenka’s grunting in the women’s Australian Open Tennis final irritates our 10-year-old grandaughter, Parker. See – it’s not just grumpy old people who hate this totally unnecessary part of tennis. The commentators have even debated how long a grunt should go for? I mean, really!! Sabalenka is beaten by ice cool Rybakina in tonight’s final. Veteran commentator, Ray Warren did the intro to the night’s action and it was wonderful to hear his voice again.
Northern Districts win New Zealand’s version of Australia’s T20 Big Bash, defeating Canterbury in the final in Christchurch, Man of the series is Districts Katene Clarke, who is quiet, to the point of being rude when being interviewed.
Murwillumbah Brothers’ rugby league legend Gary Dobrich passes on the news of the passing of former player Kevin ‘Yogi’ O’Connor.
All Fletcher Jones menswear outlets in Australia cease trading. Sad really. I remember seeing the Fletcher Jones factory when I visited Warrnambool in 1974 after attending the Melbourne Cup.
A letter writer to ‘The Courier-Mail’, Tony Baldwin from Brighton describes a column by Paul Williams’ as “bordering on delusional hysteria”. Williams again had a go at the under-educated working class and urges Australians to restart our journey to modernity and optimism and become a Utopia of the Pacific. Williams lives on Planet St Lucia and sees things through a different prism to many of us. He also doesn’t offer any solutions and essentially lectures us against following conservative political parties. In other words, we should vote Labor. Tony Baldwin is on the money.
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 1
Eight emergency service vehicles head out along Mt Glorious Road to deal with a hang glider pilot who has crashed in the rain forest.
Macca is back on ABC Radio, so sanity prevails for three and half and hours on the public broadcaster, except for the news bulletin where HAMAS is quoted as if it is a creditable source. News Ltd columnist Piers Ackerman absolutely gives it to Aunty today about their left wing bias, and says they should be defunded. He should have had a proviso that Macca remains on air.
I hate the most recent Qantas TV: “I DO have a red wine,” a hostie says to some poor old bugger who is on his first flight I imagine. It would be pretty crook if they didn’t. And talk about being patronising to the aged!!
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