Vale: A tribute to those we lost in 2022

The loss of a loved and respected member of the rugby league family is felt by all across the game.

In 2022 we farewelled legendary players and coaches including original Immortal John Raper, Kiwi icon Olsen Filipaina and premiership-winning Cowboys mentor Paul Green.

League historian David Middleton, author of the 2022 Official Rugby League Annual, pays a special tribute to members of the rugby league community who passed away this year...

Paul Green

September 12, 1972 - August 11, 2022 

Green was a high achiever in his playing career, appearing in 162 first-grade games across five premiership clubs over 11 seasons and ascending to representative honours to play seven State of Origin games and three Super League Tri-series games for Queensland, along with two Super League Tests for Australia. But it was as coach that Green scaled the greatest heights in the game, steering North Queensland to the club’s maiden premiership win in 2015 after a monumental grand final victory over the Broncos.

Green took the Cowboys to a World Club Challenge title and to a second grand final in 2017 and along with captain Johnathan Thurston, helped convince political heavyweights that a new stadium should be built in the heart of Townsville.

Green’s sudden passing in August rocked the game to its core. Former team-mates, family and friends struggled for understanding and meanwhile, tributes were paid and silence observed across all NRL games in Round 22 as a mark of respect.

Green kicked off his coaching career with the Broncos as an assistant coach in 2009 and won back-to-back Queensland Cup titles with Wynnum Manly in 2010-12, before joining the coaching staff of the Sydney Roosters in 2013.

He returned to Queensland in 2014, where he moulded the Cowboys into a winning unit before taking charge of the Maroons State of Origin side in 2021. Following Green’s death on August 11 at the age of 49, a neuropathologist revealed that Green was suffering a severe form of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). 

Paul Broughton OAM

March 31, 1931 – December 4, 2022

Paul Broughton’s playing career at St George (1954) and Balmain (1957) was cut short by injury but he moved seamlessly into coaching, taking the Dragons' third and reserve grade teams to titles from 1962 to 1964.

He had a season as coach with Brisbane Brothers in 1974 before returning to Sydney to coach Balmain (1975-76) and Newtown (1977-78).

In 1986, Broughton became the first full-time Director of Coaching with the NSWRL and was also Special Projects Manager.

In 2004 he was at the forefront of the push for another NRL team to be established on the Gold Coast and he was the Titans’ inaugural chairman when they joined the NRL in 2007.

He is regarded as the "godfather" of rugby league on the Gold Coast and such is the respect with which he is held in the area, the Titans’ Player of the Year award was named the Paul Broughton Medal.

"In Paul Broughton, OAM, the game of rugby league has lost one of our greatest statesmen, visionaries and contributors," said Titans chairman Dennis Watt.

"Whether as a player, coach, administrator or mentor, Paul has left an indelible mark on our code and the people privileged to have been caught up in his unrelenting passion for the greatest game of all.”

John Raper MBE

April 12, 1939 - February 9, 2022 

Legendary broadcaster Frank Hyde used to joke with Johnny Raper that he would not live to 50 such was the intensity of his lifestyle. Hyde was an unabashed Raper admirer, rating the St George star the greatest player he had seen in all his time watching the game. He believed Raper could have been even greater if he had paid closer attention to diet and preparation, but ‘Chook’ had no intention of changing a routine that worked so well. Raper’s ability to burn the candle at both ends made him a unique figure and one of the game’s most loved characters.

His status as one of the four original Immortals (with Clive Churchill, Reg Gasnier and Bob Fulton) is testament to his standing in the game. He kicked off his career with Newtown in 1957 and made his first representative teams from the Blue Bags, representing City Seconds, Sydney and NSW Colts (against the Great Britain touring team) the following season but it was after he signed for the Dragons that his career took off.

For the next eight seasons, Raper played in a winning grand final team, he launched an international career that included 39 Tests and 74 games for Australia overall and he toured with the Kangaroos three times. He lived up to his reputation as a great character on the 1967-68 tour when he admitted to being ‘The Man in the Bowler Hat’, who strolled naked down a deserted street in Ilkley, even though it wasn’t him. He capitalised when he advertised “Jax the Ripper” tyres and was forever in demand to speak at functions and add his voice to a promotion.

Raper’s honours and awards were seemingly endless. He was named lock in Australia’s Team of the Century in 2008, inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1985 and elevated to Legend of Australian Sport in 2010. He was awarded an MBE in 1980. Raper passed away on February 9 after suffering dementia, 2022, aged 82. He was farewelled at a State Funeral at the Sydney Cricket Ground on February 28. 

Olsen Filipaina

April 23, 1957 - February 10, 2022 

Filipaina was a key figure among a pioneering band of Pacifica players who made their mark on Sydney football in the 1980s. Compared to the huge Pacific influence in the NRL today that has helped to propel Samoa and Tonga onto the international stage, the Sydney premiership was a vastly different place in the 1980s.

Filipaina arrived at Leichhardt in 1980 a stranger in a strange land. Painfully shy, he was a much-misunderstood character and coaches with little knowledge of Pacific culture had trouble extracting the best from him and others who made the challenging journey to first grade rugby league.

Filipaina played some outstanding football with Balmain, proving himself a powerhouse in attack and defensively he was frequently devastating. Less notable were stints with Eastern Suburbs in 1985 and North Sydney in 1986-87, although it was during the 1985 season that Filipaina produced the most unforgettable performance of his career. The history books show that Australia won the series 2-1 but it doesn’t tell the story of Filipaina’s mastery of Australian king pin, Wally Lewis.

Despite languishing in reserve grade at the Roosters, Filipaina was in his element at the Kiwis and thrived under the coaching of national coach Graham Lowe. He was named man of the match in a losing team in the second Test and player of the series, prompting leading New Zealand historian John Coffey to sum up his contest with Lewis: “No one disputes that Lewis rates among rugby league’s modern greats, that his achievements for Queensland and Australia will always be a part of the game’s folklore,” Coffey wrote in the Autex Rugby League Annual. “But in the thrilling 1985 trans-Tasman series he was totally overshadowed by the near unstoppable Filipaina.”

After 107 first-grade games in Sydney and 29 Tests for the Kiwis, Olsen’s career at the top level came to an end in 1987 but he played on with a season at Bowral in 1988 and helped Ryde-Eastwood to a grand final victory in the Metro Cup in 1990. Filipaina died on February 10 after a short illness, aged 64. 

Tony Brown

February 20, 1936 - April 15, 2022 

Brown emerged from St Peters in the Newtown juniors to establish himself as a representative class five-eighth for the club in a 12-year association before he joined the fledgling Penrith club where he aided their transition to the senior division in 1967. 

Graded with the Blue Bags in 1953, Brown had to wait until 1956 to debut in the top grade but he soon made up for lost time with selection for City Seconds in 1957 before he represented City, New South Wales and Australia in 1958.

He debuted in a winning first Test team against Alan Prescott’s Great Britain tourists of 1958 and went on to play seven Tests for Australia and tour Great Britain and France with the Kangaroos in 1959-60.

He returned to England in 1960 for the World Cup, appearing in all three of Australia’s games. Brown played 116 first-grade games for Newtown before departing for Penrith in 1965, two years before their entry to the NSWRL premiership.

Brown was lock forward and captain when the Panthers played their first game in 1967, the team falling 15-12 to Canterbury at Belmore, despite scoring two tries to one. A leg injury restricted Brown to only three games that season but he returned in 1968 as reserve grade captain-coach before calling time on his career.

Honoured by Newtown with selection in the club’s Team of the Century in 2008, Brown passed away on April 15, aged 86. 

Barry Muir

September 18, 1937 - September 2, 2022 

Although Barry ‘Garbo’ Muir was regarded as one of the fiercest and most combative halfbacks ever to play the game, he was also considered one its best. He played 25 Tests for Australia, including two as captain, and made two tours with the Kangaroos (1959-60 and 1963-64).

On both tours, Muir played all six Tests and in 1963-64 he made history as part of the first all-Australian team to win the Ashes on British soil. Although a staunch Queenslander, Muir was born south of the border at Tweed Heads but was educated at Coolangatta. 

He spent the bulk of his club career with Wests in Brisbane, appearing in 170 games from 1958-68. He was a regular in Brisbane Bulimba Cup teams in the annual triangular clash with Ipswich and Toowoomba and played 24 times for Queensland.

He won his first series with the Maroons in 1959 but it turned out to be the last series Queensland would win until the arrival of Wally Lewis and State of Origin in the 1980s. Muir coached Queensland in the 1970s, and famously tagged New South Welshmen ‘cockroaches’ but despite some close results, he was unable to arrest the Blues’ superiority.

Muir was named one of Australia’s Top 100 Players of the Century in 2008 and inducted into the NRL Hall of Fame while in 2022 he was named halfback in the Brisbane Rugby League Team of the Century. Muir passed away on September 2, aged 84. 

 

Other prominent figures who sadly passed away in 2022 included:

TU’U MAORI, winger or centre who played seven Tests for Papua New Guinea (2007-09) and represented the Kumuls at the 2008 World Cup. Born in Auckland, Maori played juniors with Marist-Richmond before crossing the Tasman and joining Cronulla’s pathways teams in 2006. He played in the Toyota Cup (under-20s) competition for the Sharks and Sydney Roosters and appeared for Newtown in the NSW Cup in 2009. He passed away on January 3, 2022 from motor neurone disease, 2022, aged 33. 

MAX ANDERSON, centre who represented Queensland in four interstate matches in 1970 and 1971. Originally from the Central Highlands town of Springsure, Anderson represented Longreach at under-18 level before joining Rockhampton club Fitzroys in 1969. He switched to Norths Rockhampton in 1970 and played for the Maroons in three of the four interstate clashes that year and against the touring Great Britain team in Brisbane. He reappeared for Queensland in one interstate game in 1971. A police officer, Anderson transferred to Brisbane in 1972 and played two seasons with Brothers before returning to Norths. He later coached Central Queensland in the QRL State League in 2006. He died in Brisbane on January 28, 2022, aged 74. 

DES DRUMMOND, Jamaican-born winger who was a prolific tryscorer in a long career with Leigh and Warrington and later Workington and who had a short stay with Western Suburbs in 1986. Drummond represented Great Britain in 14 Tests, including Ashes series against Australia in 1982 and 1984. He joined countryman Lee Crooks at the Magpies late in the 1986 season, scoring two tries in nine appearances. He died on January 29, 2022, aged 63. 

ROD SMITH, lock forward Western Suburbs in 65 first-grade games from 1968-72. An Enfield Federals junior, Smith played in two title-winning junior representative teams, including the 1965 Jersey Flegg outfit that was captained by future international Tim Pickup. The older brother of Western Suburbs and Cronulla fullback and centre Wayne Smith, Rod passed away on February 3, 2022, aged 73. 

MARK SHULMAN, halfback for St George in 58 first-grade games between 1971 and 1978, including the historic drawn grand final of 1977. At 155cm tall, Shulman was one of the most diminutive players to appear in the top grade. He was forced from the field in the grand final after being kneed in the back and missed the replay in which the Dragons triumphed 22-0. Another more serious back injury forced his retirement the following year. Shulman later coached in the Dragons’ lower grades. He died suddenly in Brisbane on February 12, 2022, aged 70. 

JOHN WHITELEY MBE, legendary Great Britain lock forward and coach, who played his entire club career of over 400 games with Hull, starting in 1950 and winding up in 1965. He won two championships with Hull and represented Great Britain in 15 Tests, helping his country to World Cup titles in 1954 and 1960. Whiteley had the distinction of playing in the last Ashes series win by Great Britain on home soil in 1959 and then as coach, plotted Great Britain’s 1970 Ashes triumph Down Under, which remains the last British win in a series against Australia. He was somewhat unfittingly reinstalled as GB coach for the 1982 Ashes series but was unable to work a miracle against the Invincibles. He died in England on February 13, 2022, aged 91. 

VA’IAGA TUIGAMALA, Samoan-born winger who represented the All Blacks and Samoa in rugby union and Samoa in rugby league. Nicknamed ‘Inga the Winger’, Tuigamala enjoyed a highly successful period with Wigan, scoring 62 tries in 102 games between 1993 and 1997, including a superb chip-and-chase try against the Kangaroos in 1994. He won a World Club Challenge title against the Broncos in 1994 and back-to-back Challenge Cup titles in 1994 and 1995. He represented Western Samoa at the 1995 World Cup (scoring two tries in two games). Tuigamala died in Auckland on February 24, 2022, aged 52. 

BILL HANSEN, second rower or prop forward for Balmain and Western Suburbs in 18 first grade games from 1961-71. Hansen was a member of the Tigers’ third grade premiership-winning team of 1960 and appeared twice in first grade the following season before linking with the Magpies in 1965. He continued as a part-timer in the top grade but had his longest spell in the top grade when he played 10 games in 1966. Hansen passed away in February, 2022. 

DAVE HADFIELD, revered English journalist, columnist and author, whose work was appreciated in both hemispheres. He wrote for numerous publications, notably Rugby League Week (under the pseudonym George Dunkerley), Open Rugby and its successor, Rugby League World, and from 1990 with The Independent. A passionate Rugby League follower, he authored several books on the game, notably Playing Away, Up & Over and Down & Under. He passed away on March 15, 2022, aged 70 after battling Parkinson’s Disease. 

OSCAR DANIELSON, front-rower for Newtown in 47 first-grade games 1970-72. A Pacific trailblazer, Danielson was the first Samoan-born player to appear in the Sydney premiership. The ball-playing prop played his early football with Marist in Auckland and represented the Kiwis in five Tests 1967-69 and played in the 1968 World Cup. He later became captain-coach of Corrimal in the Wollongong competition, steering them to a premiership win in 1974. He died in Wollongong on March 16, 2022, aged 83. 

BOB WEIR, legendary figure in country football in western NSW and especially at Narromine, where he played for 20 years and was captain-coach for 11. Best known for his uncompromising centre play, Weir represented New South Wales in three interstate games in 1965-66 and against the 1966 Great Britain tourists. He represented Western Division Great Britain in 1958, against touring French and New Zealand sides in the 1960s and later coached Western Division before becoming a selector. The Narromine Council named a new grandstand at the local Cale Oval the ‘Bob Weir Grandstand’ in July. Weir passed away on March 26, 2022, aged 85. 

JACK NEWTON OAM, legendary Australian golfer, who was one of the Newcastle Knights’ most passionate supporters. Newton’s son Clint was a long-serving player for the Knights and current CEO of the Rugby League Players Association. In a tribute following his passing, the Knights said: “Jack simply loved the Knights and Newcastle, no matter where he went around the world.” The Knights wore black armbands in their clash with the Dragons in Round 6 following Newton’s death on April 14, 2022, aged 72. 

DALE PUREN, winger and occasional goal-kicker in 59 first-grade games for Western Suburbs, South Sydney and North Sydney from 1953 to 1961. He was best known for his time at the Rabbitohs, especially for his part in the club’s incredible 1955 premiership win, a year in which he scored 11 tries from 11 games. Puren played when Clive Churchill kicked a conversion from the sideline with a broken arm to beat Manly and he was a member of the grand final team that pipped Newton 12-11. Puren passed away on May 2, 2022, aged 89. 

GEOFF WALDIE, prop forward for Eastern Suburbs and a foundation player with the Penrith Panthers in 1967. A Bondi United junior, Waldie played 43 first grade games for Easts 1962-66 before joining the Panthers for their inaugural season. He played in the front row in Penrith’s first premiership game against Canterbury at Belmore Oval and appeared in 16 games in his only season with the club. Waldie joined Western Suburbs Newcastle in 1968. He passed away after a short illness on May 12, 2022, aged 80. 

BILL PEARSON, captain of Norths Brisbane when the club won four straight premierships from 1960-63. Originally from Mackay, he played his first senior football at Bowen before enlisting with the RAAF and playing rugby union in Malaysia and Singapore. He returned to rugby league with Ipswich club West End and was chosen to represent Queensland for the first time in 1957. He played six games for Queensland, including one against the Great Britain tourists of 1958. Pearson won premierships with West End in 1956 and 1957 before joining Norths Brisbane in 1958. He was five-eighth in three of the four premiership wins with Norths and centre in the other (1963). He joined Brothers in Bundaberg in 1964 and captained the city in a 1967 game against the Australian Test team after captain-coach Reg Gasnier had requested a warm-up game before a Test against New Zealand. Pearson died on May 12, 2022 at the age of 90. 

FRANK CURRY, winger for South Sydney in four first-grade games in 1973 and later first grade coach of the Rabbitohs from 1991 to 1993. His father, also Frank Curry, played 26 first grade games for the club 1943-45. Frank Jnr played junior football with Zetland United, Moore Park and Mascot and played 31 grade games for Souths (1970-71 and 1973) and spent the 1972 season with Collegians in the Illawarra competition. During a difficult period for the club, the Rabbitohs finished 14th in each of the seasons that Curry coached. He passed away on May 15, 2022 at the age of 72. 

MAURICE LINDSAY, ambitious and bullish secretary of Wigan, who oversaw the rise of the Lancashire club to a position of dominance of the English game from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s. He was directly responsible for luring many big-name players to the club, including Dean Bell, Ellery Hanley, Martin Offiah and Brett Kenny. He became chairman of the International Rugby League in 1996 which placed him in direct conflict with ARL powerbrokers Ken Arthurson and John Quayle at the height of the Super League war. Lindsay returned to Wigan in 2000 but was unable to restore the club to its former glories and by 2007 his influence had waned. He later became chairman of Preston North End FC. Lindsay died on May 17, 2022, aged 81. 

ROBERT LAURIE, gifted utility player for Eastern Suburbs and South Sydney in 122 first grade games from 1976 to 1982. Born and bred at Wauchope on the mid-north Coast of NSW, ‘Rocky’ Laurie played a season with Paddington Colts in the Roosters juniors before his elevation to the top grade under Jack Gibson in 1976. He played most of his football at five-eighth but also spent considerable time in the centres and at lock. He appeared in 58 first grade games across four seasons with the Roosters (1976-77, 1981-82) and 64 games in three seasons with the Rabbitohs (1978-80). He won the Dally M Medal while playing for Souths in 1980 and represented New South Wales in two interstate games after returning to the Roosters in 1981. He died on June 4, 2022 after a lengthy battle with mental health issues, 2022, aged 66. 

BILL ASHURST, second-rower with elite ball-playing skills and talented goal-kicker for Wigan, who became a key signing for Penrith in 1974. Ashurst joined the Panthers along with Dewsbury and Great Britain hooker Mike Stephenson and left a lasting impression after 46 top grade appearances. In 2006 he was honoured by the Panthers with a place in the club’s Team of Legends, celebrating their 40 years in the premiership. Ashurst played 186 games for Wigan 1968-73 and 1977-78 and later turned out for Wakefield and Runcorn Highfield. He represented Great Britain in three Tests in 1971-72. Ashurst died on June 14, 2022, aged 74. 

JOHN TAUNTON, prop forward for Western Suburbs in 93 grade games from 1955 to 1963 including four games in first grade in 1959. A Concord junior, Taunton began his association with Wests as a ball boy to the 1948 premiership team and continued to serve the club in various capacities until the mid 1970s. He was a junior representative selector, a vice president of Wests junior league and worked tirelessly for the Concord United club. As a player Taunton won a third grade premiership with the club in 1958. He passed away on June 20, 2022, aged 86. 

GEORGE McTAGGART, centre who played 36 first grade games for Manly between 1965 and 1970. A Collaroy junior, McTaggart enjoyed his most consistent season in first grade in 1968 when he appeared in 18 games and a year later captained the Sea Eagles’ reserve grade premiership-winning team. A member of the NSW Police Force for 32 years, McTaggart passed away on June 26, 2022, aged 79. 

NICK MORAITIS, best known as the owner of Melbourne Cup-winning racehorse Might and Power, Moraitis had a deep connection with Rugby League, first as a player with South Sydney (President’s Cup 1955) and Eastern Suburbs (third grade, 1957) and later as a referee, officiating in reserve grade and third grade matches in Sydney between 1968 and 1971. As a President’s Cup forward with the Rabbitohs, Moraitis played a curtain-raiser to the first Test between Australia and France at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 1955. He was 87 when he passed away on June 27, 2022. 

JOHN MAGUIRE, rugged second-rower for St George, Cronulla and Parramatta in 143 first-grade games between 1966 and 1977. He played the bulk of them (137) in an eight-year stint with Cronulla including the fabled 1973 grand final against Manly which ranks among the most brutal ever played. Maguire played junior football with De La Salle Cronulla but debuted in first grade with the Dragons the year before the Sharks were admitted to the competition. He spent a season as captain-coach of Corrimal in the Illawarra competition in 1976 before a final season with Parramatta in 1977 that ended with a reserve grade premiership title. Maguire passed away on July 6, 2022, aged 77. 

PHIL JACKSON, centre for Barrow and Great Britain, who twice toured Australia and New Zealand with the Lions and played in World Cups in 1954 and 1957. Born in Canada but raised in Cumbria, Jackson, who played 29 Test matches, was a legendary figure at Barrow, and was a foundation member of the club’s Hall of Fame in 2001. He played 225 games for the club and appeared in three Challenge Cup finals at Wembley in the 1950s, including the 1955 victory over Workington Town. Jackson emigrated to Australia in 1960 and enjoyed a long association with the Goulburn Workers club, steering it to Clayton Cup success in his first season. He coached Country Firsts to back-to-back victories over City in 1961-62 and narrowly missed election as NSW coach in 1962. He later coached Wagga Kangaroos and returned as Country Firsts coach in 1978-79. He died at Wagga Wagga on July 20, 2022, aged 90. 

DON HAMMOND, New Zealand Test second-rower and captain renowned for his deadly tackling and astute support play who later became one of rugby league’s most respected elder statesmen. A Mt Albert junior, Hammond toured Australia with the 1959 Kiwis and made the first of his 20 Test appearances against Australia at Carlaw Park in 1961. He was Auckland RL and New Zealand RL Player of the Year in 1964. In all, he played 61 matches for the Kiwis, scoring 13 tries. After his retirement, Hammond coached the Te Atatu club and Auckland, the highlight being a 15-14 win over Australia in 1969. He was a lifetime stalwart and former president of the NZ Kiwis Association and curator of the impressive NZRL Museum. Hammond was made a NZRL Life Member in 2006 and inducted into the Legends of League in 2010. He died in Auckland on July 30, 2022, aged 85.  

MICHAEL PURCELL, winger or fullback for the Ipswich Jets and Brisbane Tigers, who scored 68 tries in 81 Queensland Cup games between 2016 and 2021. Originally from Charleville, Purcell was invited to train with the Melbourne Storm in the 2021 pre-season. He died in a car accident in Brisbane on August 7, 2022, aged 28. 

TONY TOWNSEND, hooker for St George and Newcastle in 42 first-grade games 1985-1990. Born in Dungog, Townsend played junior football with Penshurst RSL before making his first-grade debut under Roy Masters in 1985 and winning the reserve grade grand final the same season. Townsend played 17 games in the top grade for the Dragons before joining the Knights for their first season in the NSWRL premiership. He played in Newcastle’s inaugural game in 1988 against Parramatta and appeared 25 times over the club’s first three seasons. A respected police officer who rose to the rank of chief inspector, Townsend passed away on August 23, 2022 after battling cancer, aged 61. 

Dr ALLAN HAWKE AC, chairman of the Canberra Raiders from 2014 until his passing in August. Hawke, who had a distinguished career in the Commonwealth public service, was appointed to the Raiders’ board of directors in 2002 and elevated to chairman in 2014. During his time with the club, Hawke helped strengthen the club through the development of the Raiders Centre in Braddon and was a strong supporter of coach Ricky Stuart. Hawke died on August 31, 2022 after a long battle with cancer, aged 74. 

BOB KEYES, centre for Eastern Suburbs and Newtown in 167 first-grade games between 1960 and 1970. Keyes played with the Avalon club in Easts juniors and appeared in four top-grade games for the club in 1960-61 before joining Newtown, where he would establish a dynamic centre partnership with Brian ‘Chicka’ Moore. Keyes played 163 games for the Blue Bags and represented New South Wales (as replacement) in two interstate games in 1964. He played his final game with Newtown in a reserve grade grand final victory over Eastern Suburbs in 1970 before playing out his career with Second Division Ryde-Eastwood. He later became a popular publican in Sydney. He died on September 8, 2022, aged 82. 

TERRY QUINN, centre for Penrith in 64 first grade games from 1974 to 1978 and later a leading administrator. Originally from Moree, Quinn debuted with the Panthers as a 20-year-old and played in the Amco Cup final in which Western Division famously upset the Panthers. Quinn joined Lakes United in Newcastle in 1979 and represented Country Seconds. Quinn’s distinguished career as an administrator included roles as Chief Executive of the Western Australia Rugby League, head of Newcastle Rugby League, Country Rugby League and as director of the NSWRL. Quinn died on September 20, 2022, aged 68. 

DES MILSOM, second rower in the famous Western Division team that won the Amco Cup midweek competition in 1974. A sleeper cutter from Coonabarabran, Milsom represented Country Firsts against City Firsts and Combined Country against New Zealand in 1972 before joining Johnny King’s team for an unforgettable ride to the Amco Cup title in 1974 which culminated in a 6-2 victory over Penrith in the final at Leichhardt Oval. Milsom passed away in Coonabarabran on October 15, 2022. 

LIAM HAMPSON, hooker for Redcliffe in their Hostplus Cup grand final team in 2022, who died as the result of an accidental fall while holidaying in Spain with close friends, including NRL stars AJ Brimson and Jordan Riki. Hampson played junior football with Souths-Acacia Ridge and appeared in 37 Queensland Cup games with Tweed Seagulls (2019-21) and Redcliffe (2022) and had dreams of playing with new NRL outfit the Dolphins. He was 24 at the time of his tragic passing on October 18, 2022. 

KEN COWLEY, former CEO of News Limited and right-hand man of Rupert Murdoch during the ARL-Super League conflict of the mid-1990s. Cowley met regularly with ARL boss Ken Arthurson to navigate a way through the crisis that split the game and caused significant financial damage to both News and the ARL. Ultimately the warring parties reached a compromise, but Cowley had no hands-on involvement in the game after the NRL was established in December 1997. He died on October 23, 2022, aged 87. 

KEITH OUTTEN, halfback or five-eighth for Balmain and North Sydney in 138 first-grade games between 1968 and 1975. Outten won a reserve grade title with Balmain in 1967 before playing alongside Englishman Dave Bolton in the Tigers’ shock 1969 grand final win over South Sydney. He left Balmain for three seasons with North Sydney (1972-74) before playing a final season with the Tigers in 1975. Outten finished his career with a stint at Group 20 club Yanco-Wamoon in 1978-79, winning the Group 20 player of the year award in 1978. Outten passed away on October 26, 2022, aged 75, after battling Alzheimer’s Disease. 

BOB ELLICOTT, former Federal Attorney General and leading Queen’s Counsel, who led the ARL’s legal fight against News Limited during the ARL-Super League battle of the mid-1990s. Ellicott was the ARL’s senior counsel and presented the case that News’ approach amounted to an attempted “hijack” of the game. Ellicott was scathing of News in his submissions to the Federal Court, saying News suffered from an “ethical void” and that they believed in “the divine right of super nationals”.  He died on October 31, 2022, aged 95. 

ALAN CATT, an influential figure during the revolutionary change in TV coverage of league in the 1970s-80s. Catt was the Channel 10 producer-director for the launch of the breakthrough midweek Amco Cup in 1974 (based on British soccer’s FA Cup) which thrust Ray Warren into television commentary. It was Australia’s first TV-specific sports series which involved regular matches in the bush using trucked-in lighting and other broadcast facilities. Catt also fronted Ten’s coverage of the 1986 and 1990 Kangaroo tours, was head of Ten’s game-wide coverage from 1986-91, launched the channel’s Sports Tonight program in 1993 and was a valued adviser to John Quayle throughout the NSWRL’s Tina Turner campaign. A NSW Combined High Schools representative five-eighth and originally a cameraman at Seven, Catt also produced Blankety Blanks, the John Singleton Tonight Show and several documentaries. He died, aged 77, on the Gold Coast on November 7, 2022 after suffering a brain haemorrhage. 

TIM MURPHY, centre or five-eighth for Western Suburbs, Balmain and North Sydney in 143 first-grade games from 1968 to 1976. Murphy played juniors with Burwood United and Burwood Christian Brothers and won a third grade grand final with the Magpies in 1967 before making his first-grade debut in 1968. He played three seasons with Balmain (1972-74) and one with Norths (1976). Murphy passed away on November 14, 2022. 

JIM CODY, rugged front rower in 128 first-grade games for Western Suburbs from 1962-73. Cody played junior football for South Strathfield before making his first-grade debut as an 18-year-old in 1962. He played in the 1962 grand final against St George and represented City Seconds the following year. Cody led Nambucca Heads to a premiership title in 1972 before stints with Griffith Waratahs in 1974, Goulburn United in 1975-76 and Coffs Harbour in 1977. He passed away on November 28, 2022, aged 79. 

JERSEY KOMOROWSKI, winger for Parramatta and Penrith in 16 first grade games between 1969 and 1975. Komorowski was the son of Polish Holocaust survivors, born in a migrant camp in Germany before the family settled in Australia when he was a child. He played junior football with Cabramatta and was graded with the Eels in 1967. After his playing days were over Komorowski became sprint trainer at the Eels under coaches Jack Gibson and John Monie. He passed away on November 29, 2022, aged 66. 

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