VALE STU PANKOFF
Former Test rugby league forward, Dan Dempsey publicly declared that Tivoli Tigers’ and Ipswich representative forward, Stu Pankoff was good enough to follow in his footsteps, into the Australian team. […]
Category Archives: Uncategorized
DIARY UPDATE: Week 19, 2021
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 19 2021 MONDAY, MAY 10 My interview with Gavin Payne on EastsTV attracted 5,000 viewers, according to producer, Darryl Bogan. Brisbane Men […]
DIARY UPDATE: Week 14, 2021
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 14 2021 MONDAY, APRIL 5 Yorkshireman, Ray Knight played rugby league in Christchurch, New Zealand, packing down as a hooker between Kiwi […]
FRENCH LEAGUE FANS DARE TO DREAM
In 1948 a Catalans Regional XIII humiliated the touring Australian Rugby League side 20-5 at Perpignan in France. Catalans did it again in 1963, against a Kangaroo touring side rated […]
VALE DICK HUDDART
St Helens’ second rower, Dick Huddart was the chief destroyer when the Great Britain Rugby League team ran roughshod over Australia in their 1962 Ashes campaign. The tall, former coal […]
DIARY UPDATE: Week 13, 2020
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 13 2020 MONDAY, MARCH 30 Former Balmain rugby league prop, Steve ‘Blocker’ Roach recalls his time at Warrington in England, in particular […]
DIARY UPDATE: Week 8, 2020
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER Week 8, 2020 TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25 Erica Elizabeth O’Neale (nee Clear) was one of the unsung heroes of the Queensland Performing Arts scene. […]
DIARY UPDATE: Week 20, 2019
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 20 2019. MONDAY, MAY 20 Luke Howard’s funeral at Buderim is proof, if any is needed, there is a lot that is […]
VALE ROBERT ORCHARD
New Zealand Test representative, Robert Orchard made Queensland his home in 1973, and played for his adopted State from the Redcliffe Dolphins. Orchard, who died on March 10 aged 74, […]
FIRED FOR EFFECT
BOOK REVIEW Jasper Samuel Creagh, from Wingham in New South Wales, was one of the ‘old originals’, who sailed to Europe with 13 Battery in 1915. Two years later, Creagh’s war […]
DIARY UPDATE: Week 51, 2018
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 51 2018 WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 19 Nate Searle, the son of former Gold Coast Titans’ rugby league chief executive, Michael Searle, almost drowns […]
DIARY UPDATE: Week 33, 2018
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 33 2018 MONDAY, AUGUST 13 It is day five of our UK/Ireland trip and I am hanging out for a coffee, in […]
VALE HUGH O’DOHERTY
Former Queensland hooker, Hugh O’Doherty, an iconic personality of Brisbane Rugby League in the 1970s, has passed away aged 71. O’Doherty, a product of Ipswich Christian Brothers’ College, won BRL […]
RIGHT TO THE HEART OF THE MATTER
‘How Rugby League Explains Queensland’ It’s an interesting discussion point, and one that is explored by independent journalist and author, Joe Gorman in his latest book, ‘Heartland’. Brisbane born, but […]
DIARY UPDATE: Week 18, 2018
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 18 2018 MONDAY, APRIL 30 Two blokes in a van, try to sell me a surround sound system, as I leave bottle […]
DIARY UPDATE: Week 12, 2018
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 12 2018 MONDAY, MARCH 19 A fire engine stops, and the firemen wave as I take our grandsons, Ethan and Connor to […]
DIARY UPDATE: Week 35, 2017
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 35 2017 MONDAY, AUGUST 28 The family of the late, Reg ‘Bubbles Pegg, have donated his State jersey to the Queensland Rugby […]
THORNETT BOYS WERE PRODUCTS OF A GOLDEN AGE.
The Burgess Brothers. As much as I love them, they are not in the same class as the Thornett brothers. Let me explain. The reason I love the Burgess boys […]
WHAT A PUT DOWN
It was the ultimate put down, and is now part of rugby league folklore. The setting was Brisbane’s Lang Park, and the occasion the First Test of Great Britain’s tour […]
GAVIN COOPER – BETTER WITH AGE
It was a Gold Coast Titans’ training session at Runaway Bay in 2007 when former Queensland State of Origin forward, Scott Sattler told me Gavin Cooper reminded him of Gorden […]
Steve Ricketts 