DIARY UPDATE: Week 15, 2019
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 15 2019 MONDAY, APRIL 15 2019 The 13km Somerset Trail at Mt Mee is tackled by my wife, Marie and I. A […]
Tag Archives: Marie ricketts
DIARY UPDATE: Week 14, 2019
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 14 2019 WEDNESDAY, APRIL 10 My physio, Paula Nutting’s brother, Bill is interviewed in The Courier-Mail about the family business, Brett’s Hardware. […]
TO LEEDS VIA THE THAMES
TRAVEL “What a load of rubbish” the crowd chanted, after Australian rugby league centre, Brett Kenny threw a loose pass at Headingley Stadium, Leeds in a match against the local […]
DIARY UPDATE: Week 13, 2019
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 13 2019 Devon (England) couple, John and Glenda Tapp’s travels have brought them to Australia again, and we catch up for breakfast […]
I HAVE A CUNNING PLAN
TRAVEL What could possibly go wrong? It was November, 1982, and I had chosen a pub called ‘The Old Bore’ at Cunning Corner, for lunch, on the way to the Australian Rugby League Kangaroos’ match against Bradford Northern at Odsal Stadium. Although I was not the driver, I had been tasked with planning many of […]
DIARY UPDATE: Week 8, 2019
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 8 2019 MONDAY, FEBRUARY 25 A statue of rugby union legend, John Eales is unveiled at the southern forecourt of Suncorp Stadium. […]
A SOFTER VERSION OF AUSSIE RULES
We met Joe Duffy and his young son, Gary in the Hogan Stand at Dublin’s Croke Park, one clear autumn afternoon in 1977. The occasion was a Gaelic Football match […]
DIARY UPDATE: Week 5, 2019
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK FIVE 2019 MONDAY, JANUARY 28 Australian rocker, Billy Thorpe’s version of ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ is played on Ray Hadley’s radio program. […]
DIARY UPDATE: Week 4, 2019
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 4 2019 TUESDAY, JANUARY 22 MY grandmother, Polly Kelly, would not grant the wishes of her daughter (my mum) to board at […]
DIARY UPDATE: Week 3, 2019
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 3 2019 WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16 Lunch at Montague Pub, West End with fellow members of the Beer and Beef club, to discuss […]
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 […]
MEMORIES OF ‘CHANG’ IN LYON
TRAVEL The first time I knew of the French city of Lyon was November 11, 1972 when Australia and Great Britain met in the final of the rugby league World […]
DIARY UPDATE: Week 48, 2018
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 48 2018 WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 28 Prominent Gold Coast real estate agent and staunch Broncos’ supporter, Bruce Wilson tells me he believes the […]
DIARY UPDATE: Week 47, 2018
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 47 2018 MONDAY, NOVEMBER 19 ‘Schoolies’ is in full swing on the Gold Coast as my wife, Marie and I drive back […]
DIARY UPDATE: Week 46, 2018
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 46 2018 WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14 It is our third, full day at Lennox Head on the Far North Coast of New South […]
NOT SO MERRY IN DERRY
TRAVEL “Please don’t sneeze, mate,” I said to myself, as the young British soldier pointed his revolver at my head. It was Derry (or Londonderry, depending on your preference), November […]
WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN
TRAVEL Noted sports trainer, Jack Hartigan was keen to prepare Jon Ricketts for the 1949 Stawell Gift. Now, I should point out that Jack was my uncle, and Jon my […]
DIARY UPDATE: Week 40, 2018
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 40 2018 MONDAY, OCTOBER 1 The Tweed Daily News is 130 years old. I started my journalistic career at the paper on […]
SACRE ‘BLUE’ IN BORDEAUX
Travel Twice my waiter asked if I really wanted my steak blue. It was Bordeaux, October 2011, and the reputation of Australians/Kiwis/Englanders had preceded me. Most, it seemed, liked their […]
LET’S GO TO PUB, LUV
Travel “What could be more romantic?”, I said to my wife, Marie, as she contemplated a wedding anniversary lunch with me; a fellow rugby league writer; a rugby league fan/war […]
