Rodney (Rod) James MacKinney

1941 –

Marathon Runner

Rodney ‘Rod’ James MacKinney was born in Dubbo and was educated at East Orange Public School and Orange High School. At a very early age it was evident that he was a distance runner of outstanding potential. However his running career really started in his last year of school in 1958 when he ran a very rare ‘dead heat’ in a time of 4.18 minutes for the mile.

His competitive career spanned across the early 1960s until 1979. In 1977 he ran a second in the Orange Mini Marathon in conjunction with the first Orange Eight Day Games. His last competitive marathon was the Victorian Marathon in 1979 at the age of almost 38; he was still able to run the event in 2 hours and 29 minutes.

Part of his training in Orange saw Rod run from the Orange Post Office to the Bathurst Post Office in 1961 and again in 1963. He covered the 56km distance in 3 hours and 48 minutes. In 1963 Rod was placed third in the State Marathon and two years later he won this same event in a time of 2 hours 26 minutes 57 seconds.

Nineteen sixty-six was to be his best year with great performances in five highly competitive marathons. He retained his State title in 2 hours 23 minutes 29 seconds, but was beaten in the Australian Marathon at Ballarat by Tony Cook by a mere 6 seconds. This was to cost him a place in the Australian team for the Commonwealth Games in Jamaica with Australia taking only one marathon runner.

However Rod was selected to represent Australia in the Fukuoka International Marathon in Japan and in his training program for this major event he ran the gruelling 20.5km Pinnacle Circuit, sometimes three times in a row, for a total of 61.5 km.

In Japan Rod ran his personal best to record 2 hours 19 minutes and 6 seconds, breaking Ron Clark’s Australian best time by almost 1 minute and finish fifteenth in an international field. In 1967 Rod was placed third in New South Wales and the Australian titles and was invited to compete in the New Zealand marathon where he was placed third.

In 1971, after a layoff of about two years, Rod made a return to competitive running and was placed second in the Victorian Marathon and fifth in the Australian in Perth. He tried out for the Montreal Olympics in 1976 and was placed fifth overall. He took part in his last competitive marathon, the Victorian, in 1979.

Kate Smyth

1972-

Marathon Runner

Kate Louise Smyth (nee Harris) was born at Cowra on 22nd. September 1972 and moved to Orange the following year and remained in Orange until 1994. During that period, Kate was at Orange Public School and took an early interest in cross country running, winning her first 2500m event at the age of 12.

Kate joined the Orange Runners Club in 1985 and met immediate success with wins in the Western Schools Cross Country championships, under 15 and open women’s groups in the Orange Fun Run, under 14 Grenfell Fun Run, Molong 6km Cross Country Fun Run and Bathurst Queen of the Mountain age & open Championships as well as being the first woman to complete the daunting “Scotsmans Hill” mountain race in Lithgow.

While attending Kinross Wolaroi School Kate was the Female Distance champion from 1985 to 1990 and Athletics captain in 1990 as well as participating in every “A” age division Kinross Hockey team from 1985 to 1990.

At University, Kate was the UWS Cross Country Champion in 1991, 1992 and 1993 and in 1993 won the University Sportswoman of the Year and the Chancellors Cup awards for performances in Cross Country Running, hockey, women’s rugby, basketball and softball. Kate was also honoured in 2002 to be named in the famous Glenhuntly Athletics Club “team of the century” alongside greats such as Ron Clarke & Robert Decastella.

Kate ran her first Marathon in Canberra in 1998 with a time of 3 hours 23 minutes but only started serious marathon training in 2000 after finishing 8th in the Australian Marathon Championship in Sydney, which was a trial for the Sydney 2000 Olympics. Kate puts down her inspiration to watching Naoka Takahashi win Gold at the Sydney Olympics. Her serious work continued in 2003 and 2004 with back to back wins in the Bathurst 8km Fun Run and she also took out the 2004 Noosa and Sydney 2005 half marathons.

Following her first International success was the New Zealand 10,000m track championship in 2005 and she was selected to represent Australia in the 2003 and 2005 Chiba Ekiden relay races in Japan and returning to New Zealand she took out the 2006 Half Marathon Championship. This was followed by great runs in the Chicago, Rotterdam and Japan international marathons with top ten finishes in each event, which led to her selection for Australia in the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

Few will forget Kate’s courageous finish in the Melbourne Games 42km event where she staggered across the line into 7th position after suffering acute dehydration. In her own words “the last 17 km were from here to eternity” but her courage carried her across the line and her courage was again to the fore after serious illness following the games.

After the Commonwealth Games, Kate was named in “The Prime Ministers Five” of Australia’s top marathon runners and appeared to have overcome her health problems after again winning the New Zealand half marathon championship. However, more problems arose in 2007 and in typical fashion the girl who uses the mighty Phar Lap as her inspiration, fought back with her usual determination.

In early 2008 the window of opportunity was running out to qualify for the Beijing Olympics but after winning Melbourne’s big “Run for the Kids” 14.4 klm charity road race, she travelled to Japan and ran the race of her life to come second in the International Nagano Marathon in Japan in 2 hours 28 minutes to become Australia’s fastest marathoner for 2007/2008. As well as beating the former womens marathon world record holder, this time lopped a huge five minutes off her personal best and was to be the 5th fastest of all time for an Australian. Being an A qualifier she was rewarded with selection for the Beijing Olympics.

Kate lives in Melbourne where she owns and manages her own Marketing Consulting Company and is studying for her Masters in Marketing at the University of Melbourne.

Jason Belmonte

1983 –

Ten Pin Bowling

Jason Belmonte was born in Orange on 29th July 1983 and from Kindergarten to year 12, he was educated at Kinross Wolaroi School.

With his parents owning the Orange Ten Pin Bowl, Jason started rolling a ball at 18 months and he started competing at the age of three and won his first event at the age of four. At the age of five, Jason had a League Average of 117 and a high game of 179.

In 2000, Jason became the first Junior Australian to shoot 300 overseas and in the same year, he took out five Gold medals at the Junior National Championships. In 2001, he was selected in the Youth Australia team, and also held a place in this team in 2002 and 2004.

In 2001 Jason was the Australia Day Orange Junior Sportsperson of the year and he took out the Senior Award in 2002 along with the Orange Sportsperson of the Year award, which he repeated in 2003.

In 2002, Jason won one Gold, one Silver and two Bronze medals at the Commonwealth Championships in Scotland and a Silver medal at the WTBA World Youth Championships in Thailand. In that year, Jason was selected in the Australian Open men’s team, where he remains to the present time.

2004 saw Jason take three gold, one silver and one bronze in the Asian Youth FIQ in Hong Kong and he followed this up in the World Youth FIQ titles in Guam with a gold in the Singles, a gold in all events and a silver in the Masters.

2004 also saw Jason compete in the AMF World Cup in Singapore where he was lead qualifier and never lost the lead in five days of qualifying events, finishing in 5th place after being knocked out in the quarter final. Jason won the very prestigious 2004 WBW Award, voted by the Board of Directors of the World Bowlers Writers Association.

To date in 2005, Jason has bowled 20 perfect 300 games and has appeared in his last 300 game on British television and Foxtel. He is one of only 16 bowlers in the world invited to compete in the World Masters in England where he finished in third place. In this event, Jason made history by bowling the first ever 300 game in the Matchroom World Masters Event.

Patrick (Pat) Ford

1931 – 2012

Aust and Empire Professional Boxing Champion

Patrick ‘Pat’ Ford was born in Orange on 11 May 1931 and fought with the CYMS Boxing Club under the guidance of Harry McDonald.

Pat started his professional career in May 1951 at Dubbo and just two years later in May 1953 won the Australian Lightweight title when he knocked out Frank Flannery in 10 rounds in Melbourne. He successfully defended the title in July 1953, and then in August he won the Empire Lightweight title from Frank Johnson over 15 rounds in Melbourne. In a return defence bout in October, Pat knocked out Johnson in 13 rounds.

In April 1954, Pat lost his Australian Empire title on points to Ivor Germaine, but then won the title back from Germaine in July with a points win over 15 rounds. Pat was only knocked out twice in his career, the second being in December 1953 in 4 rounds by Augustine Argote. Pat displayed great courage to take on Argote again in February 1954, and this time he reversed the decision with a points win over 12 rounds.

Pat Ford announced his retirement on 8 June 1955 with a record of 26 bouts, winning 16 by knockout, 5 on points, 2 losses by knockout, a loss on a foul and two points decisions against him.

Pat opened his own butcher shop in Orange and was always held in the highest regard by the community and is without doubt one of Orange’s greatest sporting identities.

Pat was always held in the highest regard by the community and is without doubt one of Orange’s greatest sporting identities.  Pat continued to live in Orange until he passed away on 26 July 2012.

Anthony (Tony) J Fisher

1929 – 2002

Boxing Champion

Anthony ‘Tony’ Fisher was born on 21 June 1929 and spent the first 15 years of his life at Cargo. On moving to Orange he joined the CYMS Boxing Club and came under the watchful eye of Harry McDonald who also had charge of Pat Ford at the time.Tony was an apprentice electrician at O B Greens and his parents tried to persuade him to give up boxing and concentrate on his apprenticeship, but Harry McDonald convinced them that Tony had great potential and this confidence was justified when Tony took the Australian Amateur Featherweight title from F Cahill of Victoria in 1949.

Tony was selected to represent Australia at the Empire Games in Auckland in 1950 and the public of Orange responded and raised sufficient funds for Tony and Harry to attend the games. A crowd of 700 people farewelled the Orange boxer. He won his first Empire Games bout, but was defeated in his second. He came home to a hero’s welcome.

Tony Fisher turned professional in 1952 and between then and 1956 he fought 18 professional bouts, winning four by knockout. The three fighters who knocked him out – Bluey Wilkins, Colin Clarke (twice) and George Bracken – were all hard hitting Australian Champions. Boxing authority Ray Mitchell once said of Clarke : ‘He is the hardest puncher I ever saw, I would not let him pat my dog’.

In one amateur tournament in Orange, Tony fought a draw with Jimmy Carruthers, who went on to be Australia’s first official world champion. After his last knockout loss to George Bracken, Tony retired from boxing and took up residence in Queensland. He passed away in 2002.

William (Billy) Moeller

1949 –

Aust and Commonwealth Professional Boxing Champion

William ‘Billy’ Moeller was born in Sydney on 24 June 1949 and boxed with the Parramatta Police Boys Club from the age of 8.

He had 49 amateur fights, losing eleven and twice being runner up in State titles, including a win over ‘Rocky’ Gattalari, a future Australian professional champion.

Billy turned professional on 16 April 1970 and won the Australian Junior Lightweight Title in his twentieth fight in 1971 with a win over Paul Bink. In 1973 Billy retired with a hand injury, but after treatment made a comeback in 1974. Shortly afterwards he won the vacant Australian Junior Lightweight title. In 1975 Billy won the vacant Commonwealth Junior Lightweight title. Later that year he fought former world champion Lionel Rose in what was said to be Billy’s defence of his two titles, but Lionel Rose could not make the weight and the bout went ahead as a non-title fight with Billy winning over 10 rounds.

Billy Moeller successful defended his Commonwealth title against Mama Clay in Lagos, Nigeria in 1976. Shortly afterwards he again successfully defended the Commonwealth title against Barry Michael at the Amoco Centre in Orange.

Billy was then living in Orange and trained by Ken Williams He travelled to Port Moresby, New Guinea to defend his Commonwealth title against Johnny Aba and lost a controversial decision. In a return clash eight months later Billy suffered a severe head gash from a clash of heads and the doctor stopped the fight, which was then awarded in error to Johnny Aba when a draw was the correct decision.

Bitterly disappointed Billy retired but made a comeback in 1981 with the resurgence of boxing in Orange. Billy fought and defeated two world champions in Lionel Rose and Barry Michael. His 48 professional bouts saw him lose only 11 times and he was never knocked out in his career.

Stephen (Steve) James Dennis

1953 –

Boxing Champion

Stephen James Dennis was born in Walgett, NSW on 8 April 1953 and attended school at Kamilaroi, St Joseph’s Walgett and Walgett High. During a distinguished amateur career, Steve fought 12 times for 11 wins by knockout, winning the NSW Welterweight title but losing his challenge for the Australian title on points. Turning professional Steve won the Australian Welterweight Championship in 1979 and was the Australian Middleweight Champion from 1981 to 1983.

Steve began his professional career at Redfern in 1972 and all his early fights through to 1977 were fought at venues in the Sydney area. In September 1977 he ventured to Wellington, New Zealand for a shot at the Australasian Welterweight title but was stopped on a TKO in round eight by Ali Afakasi. January 1978 saw Steve venture overseas where he again lost on a TKO in 10 rounds at Suva to Sakari Ve.

In September 1978 he challenged Ross Eadie for the State Welterweight title but was knocked out in the second round. In March 1979 Steve won the Australian Welterweight title with a TKO in round 12 over Neil Pattel in Brisbane. He defended the title in August against Eddie Buttons, but then lost the title in December, when beaten on points by Lachie Austin over 15 rounds in Melbourne.

Steve moved to Orange in 1980 and came under the guidance of astute trainer Ken Williams who arranged a very busy program with fights in Orange, Brisbane and Fiji. Steve challenged for the Australasian Middleweight title in Auckland on 3 December but lost a points decision to Monty Betham over 12 rounds. Eight days later he captured the vacant Australian title over footballer Billy Johnstone, with a TKO in round seven at Brisbane.

Steve successfully defended his title against Ricky Patterson at Darwin in 1983 and the following month lost the title to Richie Roberts over 12 rounds at Mt Pritchard. After one more fight on 17 August 1983 Steve lost to Dave Edwards with a cut eye in the third round, and he immediately announced his retirement and returned to Walgett.

His professional career was a total of 47 fights, 27 knockout wins, 9 points wins, 2 draws, 5 points losses and four KO losses.

Robert (Bobby) James Williams

1953 –

Boxing Champion

Robert ‘Bobby’ James Williams was born in Orange and displayed an early interest in boxing when he joined the Police Boys Club at the age of 7. He contested his first amateur event at the age of 8 and under the guidance of his father Ken went on to compete in 168 amateur fights, 155 of which were wins and 13 losses.

His young brother Gary was also an Australian amateur and professional champion. Bobby represented Australia at tournaments in New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Tahiti and New Caledonia. Some of his victories were over Australian champions as well as Olympic and Commonwealth Games representatives.

Bobby won his first State title in 1969 and he won successive State titles from then until 1977, a total of nine successive years. In 1973 he was runner up in the Pacific titles in Noumea. In the same year he lost a challenge for the Australian Bantamweight title when stopped in the second round by Joey Donovan.

1974 saw Bobby win the Australian Golden Gloves Bantamweight title and the Pacific Bantamweight title in Tahiti. Bobby stepped up to the Featherweight division in 1975 and after winning the Australian title he travelled to New Guinea where he stopped New Guinea champion Johnny Aba in two rounds.

In the Australian Championships in 1976, which were also the Olympic trials, Bobby lost a controversial bout to Greg Grogan when he was counted out while standing with his hands raised and ready to continue boxing. Bobby made the finals in 1977 but was stopped in the third round and despite offers to turn professional; he retired to pursue a career in music.

Gary Kenneth Williams

1957 –

Boxing Champion

Gary Kenneth Williams was born in Orange and began his amateur boxing career at the age of 6. This was the beginning of a career that was to take Gary through 216 amateur fights resulting in 191 wins and 25 losses and a professional career of 40 fights with 34 wins and 6 losses. His older brother Bobby was also an Australian amateur champion.

Totally dedicated to training and under the watchful eye of his father Ken, the Orange postman wore the green and gold of Australia in Djarkarta, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, Bangkok, Canada and the United States of America. After a distinguished junior career, Gary won his first senior title when he defeated Norm Stevens for the Australian Amateur title at 54kg at the age of 18. Gary regained his title again in 1977 over Stevens at 57kg and in 1979 against L Richards at 57kg. Gary also defeated Stevens for the Oceania title in 1979.

In international bouts Gary was runner up in the Kings Cup in Bangkok in 1978 and in the same year he represented Australia in the Commonwealth Games in Edmonton Canada, where he was defeated in the semi final. In 1979 Gary was runner up in the President’s Cup in Jakarta and later in the year he contested the World Cup at Madison Square Garden in New York, losing in the semi final to Pak Ill Chung of Korea.

Gary turned professional in 1980 and defeated State Champion Kirk Blair in his first professional fight. The highlight of his career came in June 1981 when he took the Australian professional featherweight title from world rated Paul Ferreri.

Gary retired at the age of 27 in 1984 from a career that spanned 21 years.

Glen Alexander Sutherland

1969 –

Boxing Champion

Glen Alexander Sutherland was born in Coonabarabran on 18 May 1969. He started his amateur boxing career at the age of 10 as a member of the Gilgandra Police Citizen Youth Club.

On moving to Orange at the age of 13 he joined the Orange Police Citizens Youth Club. This was to be the start of a long association with trainer John Robinson who guided him through his amateur days and to a professional Australian title. As an amateur Glen had 130 fights with a total of 85 wins. He won his first State title in 1984 as a flyweight and went on to win five State titles during his career.

Glen also fought for the Australian title on five occasions but was unable to capture the elusive National belt, being runner up for five successive years. To add to his State flyweight title, Glen also won the State Bantamweight title in 1986 and 1987, and the Featherweight in 1988.

In 1987 Glen was selected to represent Australia in the Kings Cup tournament in Thailand and he again represented his country in 1987 at the Oceania Games in the Cook Islands, where he took out the silver medal in Bantamweight division. To cap a big year in 1987 Glen was chosen in an Australian Aboriginal team that was trained in America as part of a development program.

1990 saw Glen again represented Australia at the Oceania Games in New Zealand and later in the year at the Canada Cup in Ottawa where he won the Bronze medal and took out the award as best win of the tournament. A further tournament in New Zealand later in the year gave Glen a Gold medal in the Featherweight division.

During his amateur career Glen recorded wins over Eddie Younan and Darrel Hiles, both Olympians and Australian Champions. Glen’s brother John also had a distinguished amateur career as a State and Oceania Champion and both boys turned professional in 1991.

Glen made his debut as a professional at Lithgow where he defeated Gary Martin on a KO in round 5. As a professional he continued to be plagued with the same problems he encountered as an amateur in not being able to get regular bouts, but he persevered with his training routine and finally realised his dream when he won the Australian Super Lightweight title with a win over Ricky Rayner in December 1993.

Ken Williams

1927 – 1997

Boxing Trainer

Ken Williams was born in Orange on 26th. February 1927 and in a distinguished boxing career he was undefeated in 27 fights. However, after marrying Rita in 1955 Ken moved away from serious boxing apart from sparring with Harry McDonalds CYMS team in the old Flour Mills in Peisley Street.

Ken and Rita had three boys and two girls and Ken and two of his sons, Bobby and Gary (pictured with Ken) went on to become Australian Champions, Bobby as an Amateur and Gary as an Amateur and Professional.

Ken started boxing training at the Orange PCYC in 1964 and continued his involvement for 20 years before retiring in 1984. During that time, Ken sometimes had up to 50 young people training for boxing and general fitness and he devoted enormous amounts of his free time looking after the welfare of  young people and in particular getting the best out of  his crop of young fighters.

Ken trained his son Bobby to the Australian Amateur title in 1974 & 1975 and Gary to Australian Amateur champion in 1975 to 1980 including representing Australia at the Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, Canada in 1978. Gary then turned Professional and won the Australian Featherweight title in 1981. Ken also trained numerous State Champions and travelled thousands of miles all over Australia to give his fighters their best opportunity. Apart from his work at the PCYC, Ken erected a training ring behind his residence in Kite Street which was frequented by some of the best fighters to emerge from Orange.

Ken was recognised for his dedication by being selected as assistant trainer for the Australian World Cup Team in New York in 1979. Ken also played a leading role in the careers of two other professional boxers in Bill Moeller who won an Australian and British Commonwealth title, and Steve Dennis who won an Australian title and achieved a world rating.

Not only was Ken Williams a trainer of Australian boxing champions, but he was a ‘champion’ person himself and always referred to by all who met him as an outstanding gentleman. Never failing to give credit to everyone who tried their best and never failing to thank his opponents and supporters, Ken endeared himself to a wide cross section of the community and his good work is still carried on by sons Bobby and Gary in boxing, the fitness industry and the Orange Runners club.

His passing in Orange on 23rd February 1997 was mourned by an amazing family and a huge band of admirers from a wide variety of sports.

Harry Charles McDonald

1901 – 1980

Boxing Trainer

Harry McDonald was born and raised in Canowindra in a family of eight and as a youth, he played a variety of sports and was always attracted to buckjump riding and boxing. After leaving school he joined Tom Hanley’s buckjump troop and in later years became widely known as an excellent horse breaker, particularly with the wilder horses.

Harry married Phoebe Alice McGuiness and they had four boys and twin girls and at the outbreak of war, Harry tried to enlist but was told he had too many children so he had to transfer to the Small Arms factory in Lithgow and eventually transferred to the Orange Small Arms Factory.

Harry started to teach boxing at his residence in Orange, working with Ray Brennan who improved so much under Harry’s guidance that in 1947 when the CYMS Boxing Club was formed  Fr.Whelan co-opted Harry McDonald to be the head trainer to get things off the ground. At that time, nobody could foresee that Harry would develop a squad of outstanding boxers to not only succeed at local and district level, but would go on to win state, national and Commonwealth titles.

Harry’s training facility was at Daltons Mill in Peisley street, opposite Wade Park and so popular were his fighters that there were times when crowds of 1,000 people were attracted to see the likes of Pat Ford, Tony Fisher, Ray Brennan, Jim, Pat and Peter Farrell, Billy Wade, Bill Seton and Jim McDonald, to name a few. In 1955 during National Service, Peter Farrell and Jim McDonald took out Army Championships in Lightweight and Light Welterweight divisions.

Pat Farrell was a State Amateur Welterweight Champion in 1950 and his brother Peter was State Amateur Lightweight champion in 1954 and the success of each of these fighters was attributed to their personal dedication and hard work but always under the watchful eye of their outstanding trainer Harry McDonald.

Pat Ford would go on and turn professional and win the Australian Lightweight Title from Frank Flannery and then the British Commonwealth title from Frank Johnson. Tony Fisher was the State and Australian Featherweight champion as an Amateur and represented Australia in the Empire Games in New Zealand and then fought very successfully as a professional.

Harry helped a lot of people with rehabilitation from injuries and often financially and his assistance was not strictly limited to boxing but to a variety of sports and he never lost his love for all sport up until the time of his passing in Sydney  in 1980.

Sam Ah-See

1991 –

Boxer

Sam Ah-See was born in Dubbo on 13th March 1991 and moved to Orange at the age of three and he attended school at Bowen Primary School and Canobolas High.

The young southpaw started his career at age 13 with trainer Jake Kenny at Mobsport in Orange and he won his first PCYC NSW title at 57kg in 2005. In 2006 Sam won the NSW 60kg title and won the prestigious Johnny Lewis ‘Boxer of the Year’ award.

Moving up in weight divisions Sam won the 66kg NSW Title in 2007 and was selected to represent Australia at the Commonwealth Youth Games in India in 2008 as well as representing Australia at the World Junior Championships in Mexico.

Sam was a Silver medallist in the Kings Cup tournament in Thailand and was rewarded with a Australian Institute of Sport scholarship and was the AIS Sportsperson of the Year in 2009. In the same year, Sam won a silver medal for Australia in the Arafura Games in Darwin and represented again at the Brandenburg Cup in Germany and, to cap off a great year, he held the NSW and Australian titles in 69kg division and won the Arthur Tunstall Memorial Trophy as the best boxer at the Australian titles.

As well as his career in boxing, Sam studied for and gained a Diploma in Events Management. He moved into the ranks of professional boxers and moved to Sydney in 2011 to train under highly respected coach Mick Akkawy. In 2013 he won the NSW Welterweight title and moved up to light middleweight in 2014 where in May he won the Australian title against Shannon King in his home town of Orange.

Sam has been honoured with a NAIDOC Community Award in 2006 as the Male Sportsperson of the Year and again by NAIDOC in 2007 as the Senior Male Sportsperson of the Year and he was again presented with this same award in 2014. As well as his NAIDOC awards, Sam won the Orange City Council Sportsman of the Year award in 2009 and 2014.

Sam is no stranger to the Orange Credit Union Sports Awards being a finalist in the Junior awards in 2005, 2006 and 2007 and overall winner of the Junior award in 2008. In 2009 Sam was a finalist in the Orange Credit Union Sportsperson of the Year award as well as winner of the Orange Community Senior Sports Person of the Year award.

John Z Sumegi

1954 –

Olympic Canoeist

John Sumegi was born in Orange and educated at Canobolas High School and Kinross Wolaroi. Under the guidance of his father, John and his sister trained on Lake Canobolas near Orange and both went on to win State and National Championships. John won State and National titles in K1 over 500m every year from age 11 to 19. At the age of 16 he tasted his first international competition when he gained a creditable tenth place in the Junior World Championships in Romania.

John also contested world championships in Switzerland (1973), Bulgaria (1977), Yugoslavia (1978) and West Germany (1979). In West Germany, John won the silver medal in K1 over 500m and was placed fourth in K4 over 1000m.

John teamed with Orange Olympian John Southwood in the build up for the Montreal Olympics and the two local paddlers represented Australia proudly to come into eighth position in the 500m final.

John Southwood retired after Montreal and John Sumegi moved to Melbourne to continue his training. His dedication was rewarded at the Moscow Olympics in 1980 with a silver medal in the K1 500m event and a fourth place in the K1 over 1000m.

Disillusioned by the political pressures and general lack of support for canoeing, John retired after Moscow. However, he was persuaded to make a comeback to try and qualify for the Seoul Olympics in 1988, but after a typical dynamic preparation, John found that the time was against him and he was unfortunate to miss a place for his third Olympics.

John Sumegi moved to Queensland and continued to train young canoeists as head coach of the Institute of Sport.

Eda R Egger (nee Sumegi)

1949 –

Canoeing

Eda Egger was born in Irlback, Germany on 11 May 1949 and moved with her family to Australia when she was just eight months old. On their arrival in Australia in 1950 the family settled in Orange, worked hard and became highly valued citizens in the community.

Eda attended Orange Infants School, Orange Rural School and eventually completed her Higher School Certificate at Orange High School. Eda’s father, Charlie Sumegi, was an enthusiastic supporter of canoeing, and took his family along to the Canobolas Sailing and Canoeing Club where Eda, her brother John and sister Sue soon became very talented paddlers.

The Canobolas Sailing and Canoeing Club was founded in about 1959 by Joe Runeman, and it was his son, Hank Runeman who was then working with Olympian John Southwood, who took the young Sumegi family under his wing and guided them along the way to numerous State and National titles. John Sumegi was to go on and represent Australia in two Olympics at Montreal in 1976 and was a Silver medallist at Moscow in 1980.

Younger sister Sue also won numerous State titles at various ages, in both singles and doubles, often competing with those well above her age and she was considered unlucky not to have also taken out National Honours.

Eda started serious canoeing at about 15 and within three years she had taken out three successive State and Open titles and numerous State Age titles. In the Australian Championships in 1969, Eda won the prestigious National K1 Open Women’s title over 1000m. She then paired with Victorian Kay McPherson to win Australian Open Titles in K2 over 500m, 1000m and 5000m to bring home four Gold Medals from the Nationals.

In 1970, Eda married Peter Egger, also a well-known slalom champion, and the husband and wife team represented Australia at the Classic 25 mile Wild River race down the Arkansas River from Denver, Colorado in June 1970. In January 1972, Peter and Eda moved to Sydney and continued to enjoy success with the Rivers Canoe Club at Tempe on the Cooks River.

John Allen Southwood

1943 –

Triple Olympic Canoeist

John Southwood was born in Orange on 18 January 1943 and represented Australia in successive Olympic Games at Mexico City in 1968, Munich in 1972 and Montreal in 1976. He won his first Australian sprint championship in 1966 and within 10 years he had won 25 Australian Canoeing championships, represented Australia in three Olympics and competed at the World Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark.

John trained at Lake Canobolas near Orange and his Olympic rivals found it laughable that his training was done on a waterway barely 500m long and done while in full time employment as a carpenter. It was his skill as a carpenter that enabled him to construct much of his own training equipment. John’s dedication and determination was rewarded by the financial support of the Orange Community, which largely made it possible for him to compete at Mexico City and Copenhagen.

In Mexico City John performed creditably to make the semi-finals in K2 over 1000m. At his peak in 1969 he scooped the Australian titles for K1, taking out the triple of 500m, 1000m and 10,000m events. He turned in a great effort in 1970 to be placed seventh in the K1 over 1000m in the world championships in Copenhagen.

John now resides in Orange.

Darrell Bruce Hair

1952 –

Test Cricket Umpire

Darrell Bruce Hair was born in Mudgee on 30 September 1952 and started his junior cricket at the age of 10 with Orange High School and the Police Citizens Youth Club. In 1965/1966 he represented in NSWPSAA Under 14 cricket and joined the Orange City Cricket Club. He went on to represent both Orange and Molong Associations in District Cricket.

Darrell performed well as an all rounder, winning his way into the Western Districts Colts team to tour New Zealand in 1971. This team also contained a very young Peter Toohey who was to go on to test cricket a few years later.

In 1971 Darrell moved to Sydney and played two years of first and second grade with North Sydney, followed by eight years of first and second grade with Mosman.

In a career move in 1985, Darrell joined the New South Wales Cricket Umpire Association and commenced duties in Sydney lower grades. He received excellent reports in lower grades and was elevated to first grade in 1987/1988. The following year he made his debut as a Sheffield Shield umpire.

After two years in Sheffield Shield, he scored his first One Day International in December 1991 when appointed to the match between India and the West Indies at The Adelaide Oval. One month later, in January 1992, he received his first Test appointment between Australia and England, also on The Adelaide Oval.

In 1994 the ICC created the concept of an International Umpires’ panel to appoint ‘neutral country’ umpires to test matches. Darrell was honoured in being the first Australian umpire to take part in this agreement when he umpired in Barbados in the West Indies.

Darrell has never been far away from controversy but in each case, it has been strictly by virtue of him insisting that the game be played according to the rules he is set down to administer.

In the Melbourne Test in December 1995 he no balled Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan for throwing and this caused world wide discussion and rather than backing their umpire, the world governing body changed the rules of the game to avoid confrontation. The ICC never backed Hair even though his interpretation of the law at that time was 100% correct.

Hair was again involved in controversy in August 2006 at the Oval in London when he insisted on changing a ball which had obviously been tampered with. The Pakistani team refused to continue the match and the umpires ended the test and awarded the result to England. This was the first time a test had been forfeited in over 1000 test matches in over a hundred years. The matter has not yet been resolved but regardless of the outcome, once again Hair did nothing but follow the rules he is given to work with.

Up until September 2006, Darrell has umpired 124 One Day Internationals, 76 tests, 40 Sheffield Shield matches and 22 State One Day matches.

George John Bonnor

1855-1912

Test Cricketer

George Bonnor was born at Bathurst on 22 February 1855 and moved to Orange in 1887, where he was employed by Wright Heaton and Co. He resided with his brother, James Bonnor, at Strathroy in East Orange.

Bonnor was lured to Sydney to join the Old Alberts in 1879, and he was selected from there to represent Australia, where he made his Test debut at The Oval in 1880 in the first official test played between Australia and England.

Bonnor was to play a total of 17 tests, including the famous test of 1884 which saw the creation of the ‘Ashes’. In his 17 tests, George Bonnor scored 512 runs at an average of 17.06, and he took two wickets at 42.00 from his 16 overs and his highest score was 128.

Bonnor was known as ‘The Colonial Hercules’, standing 6’6″ tall and weighing 16 stone. The famous Dr W G Grace once wrote ‘he is of the grandest specimens of humanity that ever stepped onto a cricket field.’

Bonnor was a tremendous hitter of the ball and at Melbourne he recorded a hit of 160 yards. He also had a powerful throwing arm, and during the boat trip to England in 1882, a wager was made that he could not throw the ball 100 yards. On arrival at Plymouth, Bonnor threw the ball 119 yards without removing his coat.

Playing in the Orange cricket competition in 1890 Bonnor lifted a ball out of Wade Park, which cleared Peisley Street and landed in a coal train headed for Bourke, where the ball was subsequently recovered. Needless to say, many teams were deterred from coming to Orange when they knew Bonnor was playing. Bonnor died of a heart attack in Orange on 27 June 1912. His grave is located in the Orange Cemetery and was restored by the Orange District Cricket Association in 1973.

Peter Michael Toohey

1954 –

Test Cricketer

Peter Michael Toohey was born on 20 April 1954 and spent his early years on the family farm at Barry near Blayney. The Toohey family figured prominently in the Blayney Club side that played in the Orange competition. In the early days of his career Peter was greatly influenced by his father Alan and his uncle Brian Toohey, as all three were in the Orange representative teams in the Western Districts and Grinsted Cup cricket.

Between 1968 and 1971 Peter progressed through the various levels of country cricket. In 1971 he was selected for Western Districts to tour New Zealand. His brothers David and Mark were also selected in Western Districts Colts tours to New Zealand during the same period.

In 1972 Peter moved to Sydney to play with Western Suburbs under the then Australian Captain Bob Simpson. In his second season in Sydney he made the State squad and in the 1974 – 1975 season he won selection in the Sheffield Shield Team. In his first 50 innings for New South Wales he scored six centuries and earned his first test cap at the age of 23 in 1977, making his debut against India at Brisbane.

Peter Toohey played in all five tests against India and then toured the West Indies where he suffered a broken thumb in the first test, causing him to miss the next two tests. He cam back strongly in the fourth test and in the fifth test at Kinston, Jamaica he turned in scores of 122 and 97.

Peter played in all five tests against England in 1978 and one in 1979 and a further test against the West Indies in 1979, to finish with a test record of 15 matches for 893 runs at an average of 31.89 and a total of 9 catches. Peter also featured in three Century Partnerships, two with Graham Yallop and one with Bob Simpson. He represented New South Wales in 64 shield matches to score 4038 runs and take 42 catches. He retired in 1981 and become a state selector for several seasons.

Jean Horner (nee Williams)

1916 – 2005

Australian Women’s Cricket XI

Jean Horner was born in Forbes on 1 September 1916 and spent her early years in Bedgerabong (40 minutes drive west of Forbes) before moving to Gilgandra. The youngest of a family of nine Jean learned her early cricket with her four brothers on a dirt pitch alongside the family home.

In 1934 Jean first drew the attention of cricket writers when she blasted up 119, which included 19 boundaries in a match against Dubbo. She followed this in 1935 with scores of 128 not out and 125 and 119, and then followed a mammoth score of 215 not out, which was then the highest score recorded by a female cricketer in Australia.

In 1936 at Bathurst Jean scored 99 not out in a team score of 154 and she started 1937 with a score of 124 not out, which included 88 runs in boundaries. At this time she was selected for New South Wales and was freely tipped for the Australian team for the tour of England in 1938. However this was not to be and she was relegated to captain of the New South Wales Second IX for the 1939 season. Jean continued to turn in impressive performances in Sydney Grade cricket. In 1941, playing for Vice-Regals Jean scored 96, retired and took six for thirteen and followed up with another century in the following match.

Referred to by the locals as Gilgandra’s ‘Lady Bradman’, Jean played for New South Wales between 1936 and 1948. Her outstanding record during this period earned her selection in the Australian team to play the touring England side in 1940. Unfortunately the tour had to be cancelled because of World War II and the team became known as the ‘ghost team’. It was poor consolation that they were permitted to have the A W C C XI embroidered on their blazers.

In the Interstate series in 1940 Jean scored 149 in the opening match and in this innings her 100 came up in just 117 minutes with 20 boundaries. This performance forced the Australian selectors to choose her for the three test series against England.

Jean moved to Orange in 1942 and attempted to start women’s cricket, and played with Orange Overlanders for several matches. Her form was still good enough to earn her a place in the New South Wales Team in 1947 to play the touring New Zealand women’s team. Jean Horner retired from cricket in 1948.

Due to failing health in 2003, Jean moved from Orange to be near her family at Condobolin where she passed away on 4th March 2005 at the age of 88.

Jack Moroney

1917 – 1999

Test Cricketer

Jack Moroney was born at Macksville on 24 July 1917 and even though his representative cricket was played prior to his moving to Orange, his contribution to Orange Cricket was enormous. Jack played a total of 23 Sheffield Shield matches for New South Wales, scoring 1935 runs at an average of 49.62. His first class matches for New South Wales totalled 36 for an aggregate of 2419 and an average of 51.46.

Jack was selected for the Australian tour of South Africa in 1949 and in a test at Johannesburg he scored a century in each innings. To this day he is the only Australian to score a century in each innings against South Africa. In addition to the five Tests in South Africa, Jack played one Test against England, one against the West Indies, and finished with a Test record of seven matches for 383 runs at an average of 34.81.

Jack moved to Orange in 1958 and in his first full season topped the batting aggregate and average and repeated his performance every cricket season until he left Orange in 1966. In his nine seasons in Orange he scored at least one century in every season and in 1959-1960 he scored an aggregate of 1183 at an average of 73.9, which remains an Orange District Cricket Association record. His score of 240 not out is also the highest individual score in first grade Orange Cricket.

He joined the executive of the Orange District Cricket Association in 1958 and was also on the selection panel. He remained in these positions throughout his career in Orange. Jack represented Orange on many occasions and in one Grinstead Cup match against Grenfell in 1964, Jack and Geoff Pratten scored 235 for the first wicket – 125 runs to Maroney and 112 to Pratten.

Jack Moroney instigated the first schoolboys’ competition in 1959. In 1975 he was elected a life member to the Orange District Cricket Association for his services to Orange cricket.

Joanne (Jo) Kathleen Garey

1974 –

Test Cricketer

Joanne Kathleen Garey was born in Sydney on 1 May 1974 and attended primary and secondary school at Kinross Wolaroi in Orange. During her early school days she excelled at a variety of sports including tennis, hockey and cricket. It was obvious to anyone with knowledge of ball sports that here was a young lady with above average ability who was destined for higher honours.

Jo represented her school and the Orange District at junior and senior hockey; she also represented Sydney University at hockey. However it was her love of cricket that was to see her, from the age of 11, playing in the junior boys competition on Saturday mornings. Jo also played with the Orange City Club in the senior women’s cricket competition.

Jo played her first senior tournament at the age of 12 with Orange at the John Knight Carnival in Canberra in 1986. She continued to represent Orange at John Knight Carnivals and New South Wales Country Championships through until 1995, even though she was playing First Grade in Sydney with Berala since 1989.

Jo gained her first State selection as a member of the Under 18 team in 1988 when she was only 14 years old. She retained her place in this team for four years and was then elevated to the State under 21s team in 1993. After one year she forced her way into the New South Wales Open team and she was named vice-captain of the Opens in 1994.

In 1991 Jo was selected in the Australian Under 21 squad and was also named in the Australian Under 25 team to tour India in 1992. Unfortunately this tour was cancelled due to political unrest and it was two more years before she was able to represent her country in the Under 23 team to tour New Zealand.

On the New Zealand tour, Jo played in three 1-day matches and one test and this was followed by her selection in the Australian Under 23 team to tour India. This time the tour proceeded and Jo played in five 1-day matches and one test.

Her ultimate dream came true in January 1995 when she was selected in the Australian Women’s Open team to tour New Zealand. She played three 1-day matches and one test.

Stephen Russell Bernard

1949 –

Test Cricket Selector and Manager

Stephen Russell Bernard was born in Orange and took an early interest in Cricket with social matches on the old concrete pitch that was housed where the Orange TAFE building now stands. He attended the Orange Rural School and helped establish the ‘Kangaroos’ junior team, so that he could play junior cricket on Saturday mornings.

At Orange High School his career started to blossom and he was soon playing B Grade with the Methodist Club, before advancing to First Grade with Pinnacle Road for two seasons, Rovers for a season and then with Orange City from 1965 to 1970.

In 1969 he toured New Zealand with the Western Districts Colts and then moved to Sydney where he played first grade with Northern Districts from 1970 until 1979. He then joined St George as coach and played with Saints from 1979 to 1985.

In 1970 Stephen was selected for New South Wales and played 34 Sheffield Shield matches between 1970 – 1975 and 1978 – 1979. In 1982 and 1985 he played cricket in Scotland and he toured twice with the Australian Old Collegians to South Africa, West Indies and the UK in 1974 and again to the UK in 1978.

Stephen became a New South Wales Selector in 1983 and rose to Chairman of the selectors in 1989, a position he retained until 1995. In 1987 he managed the New South Wales team to Zimbabwe, was coach of the Australian Youth Team to the West Indies in 1990 and coach of the Australian Under 19 team to the UK in 1991. He also managed the Australian’s 7s to Hong Kong in 1994.

In 1993 Stephen was elevated to the role of an Australian test cricket selector. He also became permanent manager of the Australian Test and One Day International team, and remains in that position.

On Australia Day in 2010, Stephen was honoured for his contribution to cricket as a player, coach, selector and manager by being awarded the Medal in the Order of Australia (OAM).

Stephen retired as the Test team manager in April 2011 but accepted the position as Match Referee for the East Asia Pacific Region and still helds that position in 2014. He also managed the Sydney Sixers in the 2011/12 and 2012/13 seasons.

On retiring as manager of the Sixers, Stephen took up a role as a member of the Umpires High Performance Panel which involves him as a referee of 1st Class matches in Australia and also overseeing members of the State Umpiring Panel.

David (Dave) J Shearing

1955 –

Sport Fishing

Dave Shearing was born in Canowindra on 16 July 1955. He commenced primary school in Canowindra and a few years later moved to Cowra after which he started his first year of high school at Orange High School. After completion of his schooling Dave gained an apprenticeship as a carpenter and joiner. He completed his trade certificate and went on to do his building foreman and Clerk of Works certificate.

In 1975 Dave joined the Orange Ex-Services’ Fishing Club, which is affiliated with the Australian National Sport Fishing Association (ANSA). This is where Dave’s passion for fishing started as his father was also a keen fisherman. Dave fished for years on the eastern seaboard, learning the ropes from other club members.

On 3 April 1983 a Black Marlin weighing 132kg was hooked on a 15kg line at 1.30pm and, following a four and a half hour battle, the Marlin was landed at 5pm. The hook-up occurred at the Sir Joseph Young Banks some 15 km offshore near Nowra. The fish became a national record in the Australian National Sport Fishing Association program and this record has not been beaten to date (July 2004).

Dave won many prestigious awards in 1983 including ANSA Australian record capture in the 15kg line class; ANSA 12 monthly highest point scoring competition, division sport fishing 1982-1983 and most meritorious capture 1982-1983 12-monthly competition.

Since 1983 Dave has continued fishing, further capturing an Australian and one world record – 25 March 1989 a 31.5kg Wahoo on a 15kg line; Nowra; 2 January 1994 a 27kg hammerhead shark, on an 8 kg line, Laurieton; 3 July 1994, a 57.5kg black stingray, on an 8kg line, Laurieton. This became a world record with the International Game Fishing Association.

David was awarded a World Angling Record for a catch of the heaviest fish species in an approved line class category. This was awarded in the all tackle record category on 3 July 1994. This also gave David an award in the 5-to-1 club in the International Game Fishing Association for outstanding achievement in catching a fish weighing five times the wet test strength of the line used.

David still resides in Orange and in 1995 was elected State President of ANSA New South Wales. He has turned the experience of fishing to helping preserve and nurture fishing in New South Wales.

David has served the community of Orange since 1979 as a retained fire fighter with NSW Fire Brigades. Dave was a Councillor for Orange City Council from 1996 – 2004 and continues to be an ambassador for Australia’s Colour City of Orange.

Kevin Laughton

1937 –

Casting Champion

Kevin Laughton has always had a great love of the bush and his deeds are almost legend, with tales of his deadly accuracy with bow and arrow and rifle, and for his expertise as a fisherman and safari guide. However it was in the sport of casting that Kevin reached the top of the ladder, and he gave early notice of his potential when, at the age of 13 ,he won the Dry Fly Accuracy section of the Australian Championships.

Casting consists of both accuracy and distance events and Kevin proved his expertise in both by winning the City of Sydney Champion of Champions in 1966, 1967, 1968 and 1973. In a twenty year period from 1952 to 1972 Kevin won a total of 14 State titles as Champion of Champions for New South Wales. In the State Championships in 1970 he scored 91 and in 1972 he scored 95, both out of a maximum possible of 100.

Kevin Laughton featured strongly in Australian Championships, coming in second in 1954, 1956 and 1957, and finally in 1958 he won the coveted Australian Champion of Champions title which he successfully defended again in 1959. In 1969, 1970 and 1971 he slipped back to second place but came back strongly to be National Champion again in 1972

The highlight of his career came in 1973 when was chosen to represent Australia at the World Casting Championships in Scarborough, England. This experience paid dividends in 1974 when Kevin was again selected to represent Australia in the world championships in Taree, New South Wales. In his own conditions Kevin proved a great competitor and came away with one silver and two bronze medals to place him amongst the top casters in the world.

On his retirement from such an adventure-filled life, Kevin settled into a career in real estate in Orange.

Lucas John Kendall Parson

1969 –

Golf Champion

Lucas John Kendall Parsons was born in Orange on 4 October 1969. His sporting endeavours started at Calare Primary School, where he played cricket and soccer, contested State Championships in swimming and won a gold medal in the New South Wales Primary Schools Diving Championships. In his spare time Lucas also represented Western Districts in Basketball.

His generous talents were sharpened at Orange High School where he played cricket, represented Central West in rugby, Captained his school in Rugby League’s University Shield, played first grade Australian rules, won the school swimming Championship and opened the batting and bowling in Orange first grade cricket. When time permitted he played a little golf.

Lucas represented Combined High Schools golf teams on three occasions and captained the State in his last year at school. During this period he performed brilliantly in a number of sports. In 1983 he won his first golf competition at Orange Golf Club and this was probably a time of decision in his sporting life.

In 1985 Lucas’s golf wins included the New South Wales CHS Matchplay Championship, the Central West Junior Championship, the Wentworth Junior Classic and the Pymble Junior Championship. He was also selected in the NSW Junior Golf squad. His career continued to flourish during the 1980s with some brilliant amateur wins all over Australia. In 1990 he was selected to represent Australia in the Clare Higson Trophy against New Zealand.

In 1991 Lucas represented Australia on four occasions, was winner of the Australian Amateur Championship, Australian Amateur Medal (for stroke play), the New Zealand Amateur Championship and the Asian Pacific Games (individual) in Manila. 1992 saw the genial Orange big hitter represent Australia in the world amateur championships at Vancouver where 120 countries were represented. He also chose to move into the professional ranks with his first success making the cut in the Malaysian Masters, followed by a fourth in the PGA Championship in Singapore and a second in the Air New Zealand Open after a playoff with Nick Price.

Lucas’s first tournament win as a professional came in November 1993 with a win in the Victorian open and in October 1994 he took out his second major event, the Queensland Open, which he dedicated to his father and greatest fan John Parson, who had passed away just a month earlier.

The future is wide open for this young golfing champion and many a record book will be re-written before he retires from his wisely chose number one sport – golf.

Steven (Steve) James Conran

1966 –

Golf Champion

Steven Conran was born at Lithgow on 12 May 1966 and moved to Orange at the age of six. In 1978 at the age of 11 he started playing golf and it was soon evident that bigger things were ahead. Steve lived up to these early expectations when he took out the Orange Golf Club ‘C’ grade championship at the age of 14. Steve had no formal coaching until he was selected in the New South Wales junior squad in 1986 when he came under the astute eye of State coach Alex Mercer.

From the State junior squad, Steve moved into the State junior team in 1987 and during that year he shared the New South Wales Sandgreen Championships played at Molong. In 1988 Steve moved into the New South Wales Senior team and also took out the leading amateur section of the New South Wales open. Nineteen eighty nine was to be a great year for Steve, starting out as captain of the Orange Golf Club team which took out the Eric Apperly Shield. During this same period he was a member of the New Brighton Golf Club team which took out the Sydney Group One pennants. In August of that year, he won the New South Wales Sandgreen Championships played at Nyngan, with rounds of 69 and 70 on the par 68 course. He followed this in September with victory in the Australian Amateur Championships when he defeated Victorian State Captain Peter Maloney, two up in the thirty-sixth hole in the final at Victoria Golf Club in Melbourne.

In October 1989 Steve was selected in the four-man Australian Team, which won the Pacific Championships at Tokyo, Japan. The start of 1990 saw Conran compete in the Australian Masters at Huntingdale in Melbourne where he won the amateur section.

Edwina Bone

1988 –

Hockey

Born in Orange in April 1988, Edwina Claire Bone attended the infants department of Orange Public School and then Kinross Wolaroi School.

Edwina started playing Minkey Hockey at the age of six, playing with a Kinross pre school team. By high school she was playing hockey with the Kinross firsts team, and stayed as a member of the team for four years.

Her abilities were soon spotted in the local hockey scene, and she made her first rep team with the Under tens. That rep involvement continued for Orange at the Under 12s 14s, 16s and 18s.

While at school she played Premier League with the Confederates for three years and gained support from the Western Region Academy of Sport.

While studying at the University of Canberra, Edwina helped the uni hockey club to four premiership wins, including three years as team captain.

In 2008 Edwina joined the ACT team in the Australian Hockey League and has captained or co-captained the side for the last three years.

After gaining a spot in a national development squad in 2010, she scored a place for Australia in a nine-a-side super series in 2012 and 2013

Edwina made her debut with the full national women’s team, the Hockeyroos in April 2013 in a match against Korea. Since then she’s made a string of appearances in the national side including in the World League, the Oceania Cup, the New Zealand Festival of Hockey and the Hockey World Cup in May this year.

The latest opportunity was as a member of the gold-medal winning Commonwealth Games team that beat England in the final.

During the Glasgow tournament Bone achieved another milestone playing her 50th game for Australia as the Hockeyroos defeated Scotland in a pool game.

The defender played a key role in the Commonwealth Games tournament… Throughout the Games, the Hockeyroos scored 33 goals in their six games but only conceded two from opposing teams.

Beth Shea (nee Garner)

1960 –

Hockey

Beth Shea was born in Sydney on 1 March 1960 and spent her early childhood in the small village of Lue near Mudgee. The school at Lue had just 22 students, so hockey became a popular sport, but the sticks were mainly made up of old broom handles, and a softball was used as a ball. Beth’s father, Gerry Garner found a curved willow branch in the local creek and carved Beth her first hockey stick.

Beth played her first real hockey in Mudgee, and then progressed to higher competition in Lithgow, from where she was selected to represent Western Districts. In 1978 Beth was selected for New South Wales and played through with the State team until 1989, which she captained in 1984. Mainly a halfback, Beth played every position for New South Wales, except goalie.

Beth played her first Test for Australia against New Zealand in 1978 and then toured the USA with the Australian team in 1980. During that year she was selected for the Moscow Olympics but her dream of the Olympics was shattered when Australia placed a boycott on hockey at these Games.

In 1987, Beth was appointed Coaching Director of New South Wales Hockey, and then after the Seoul Olympics of 1988 was appointed ITC Coach for Women’s Hockey Australia, a position she held until she moved to Orange in 1995 to become manager of the Orange Hockey Centre.

In 1996 Beth was appointed to umpire three Test matches between Australia and Germany, and she so impressed the selectors that she was chosen as official umpire to accompany the Australian Under 21 team on their tour to South Africa. She followed this by umpiring in the National Hockey League Melbourne, which is reserved for the top umpires in Australia.

Beth holds the highest umpire’s qualifications available in Australia with an AA rating and has been recommended for assessment for the Federation of International Hockey Umpires. Beth is also a highly valued administrator and was the manager of the victorious Australian team on its tour to the Champions Trophy in Amsterdam in 1993.

Beth is a member of the joint National Coaching Accreditation Committee and she was the first woman in Australia in any sport to qualify for Level 4 Accreditation. Beth is a qualified PE teacher and in 2000 she took up an administrative position with the Western Region Academy of Sport, based at Bathurst, where she travels each day from her home near Orange.

G J (Joy) Payne

1938 –

Hockey

Joy Payne (nee Hillier) was born on 24 April 1938 and moved to Orange in 1940, where she attended Orange Rural School and Orange High School. Joy played her early hockey for Orange ‘Midgets’ who won the First Grade competition in 1952 over Amazons. Joy moved to Sydney in 1953 and completed high school at Parramatta High School. She gained her teaching qualification at Bathurst Teachers College and continued to teach until her retirement in 1993.

A brilliant athlete at school, Joy had to choose between the two sports and luckily for hockey, her decision went that way and she eventually rose to be captain of New South Wales and vice-captain of Australia. Playing first grade hockey from the age of 14 Joy was only 20 when she won her first Australian honours to represent her country at the World Championships in Amsterdam in 1959.

Her first State representation was in 1958 after just one year in the Sydney grade competition, and she was to retain her State position until 1975, playing in her beloved position on the right wing. Joy captained New South Wales in 1969, 1971, 1972, 1974 and 1975. She was selected in the All Australian Team in 1958, 1960, 1961, 1962 and 1964 to 1968. In 1959 she toured England and Holland with the Australian team, and in 1963, after the Australian tour of the USA and Canada, Joy was named in the World XI by the International Federation of Women’s Hockey Associations at Towson, Maryland.

In 1963, in a match played in scorching heat in Maryland, Australia trailed Germany by 1-0 with four minutes to play, when Joy slammed in the equaliser and then stunned the Germans with one minute to play when she belted in the winning goal for Australia.

Joy was an automatic selection in the Australian team for its tour of Germany in 1967 and England and South Africa in 1969, but had to declare herself unavailable for these tours. Joy retired from A grade hockey in 1975 after a career spanning over 23 years in top grade hockey and more than 500 matches to her credit. In 1999 Joy and husband John retired to Epping in NSW.

Jade Warrender

1992 –

 Hockeyroo

Jade Rae Warrender was born in Orange on 20th. May 1992 and she attended Primary School at Glenroi Public School and her Higher Education was at The Canobolas Rural Technology High School. At the age of six she followed her sister to training with Orange Ex-Services Hockey Club who were then coached by her mother Allison and it was soon very obvious that Jade was a young player of enormous potential.

Her first representative hockey came in Year 5 when she was selected in the PSSA Western Region team and at the age of 12 she earned selection in the Orange under 13 representative team. From this point on, Jade continued to represent Orange, usually in age divisions two years above her own age through until under 21’s. From the age of 12 she started to come under the notice of well-known hockey coaches Peter and Beth Shea who immediately recognised the natural talent displayed by the young Centre Half.

Beth Shea herself is a former International player and she was instrumental in teaching Jade how to cope with adversity and other life skills, which was to hold her in good stead through three serious injury problems. Peter Shea worked hard on developing the skills necessary to take Jade to the next level of her career, which started with her selection in the Australian Jillaroos in 2009 for the World Cup in Boston USA when Jade was just 17. On her return from Boston Jade was named in the Hockeyroos Development Squad and was planning her move to Sydney when she suffered her first injury major injury. In a social touch football match at Parkes, Jade ruptured her ACL and suffered compression fractures to her Tibia and Femur and with a slight tear in the lateral meniscus the tragic news was that she would need a full knee construction if she was to ever play hockey again.

After intensive rehabilitation work for seven months Jade made a remarkable return to hockey which was two months earlier than she had been told and her first tournament was the National u21’s in Queensland. Jade was virtually injury free until November 2011 apart from a painful foot problem which she continues to manage with regular physiotherapy.

Two years later at 19 years of age, Jade was selected for Australia before she had debuted for NSW Opens and her first major tournament was in Argentina where Australia defeated Germany to win the four nations senior tournament. In this tournament Jade was awarded Best on Ground for her performance against The Netherlands. Jade again represented Australia when Argentina returned to Sydney in 2011, followed by matches against China and India at Busselton in Western Australia. Australia then travelled to America and Argentina at the start of 2012 where they played a four match test series against USA, Netherlands, Germany and Japan. Followed by a tour to New Zealand where they again took out the four Nations tournament and where Jade again received several nominations as Best on Ground. Not long after returning home Jade was to suffer her next major injury.

Six weeks out from the Olympic Games, disaster struck just as Jade was approaching her 50th. game with the Hockeyroos and striking what she considered to be her best form. Despite this latest setback which will see Jade out of action for up to nine months, she still has the burning ambition to make the 2016 Olympics and with her proven track record of dedication and persistence there is little doubt that she will achieve this objective.

As with any sporting champion a lot of help is needed along the way from friends and particularly from family and Jade’s mother and father Allison and Paul made the move from Orange to Perth in 2011 to help their daughter pursue her dream and to encourage her through the highs and lows of her career.

Peter Michael Keegan

1943 –

Drag Racing Champion

Peter Michael Keegan was born in Orange on 22 December 1943, and as a young lad displayed a keen interest in all forms of motor racing. After competing for some years at local level, Peter decided to step up to higher competition and in early 1970 he began racing at Castlereagh International Dragway.

By May 1970 he had set a new National Best Gas time and speed record at 12.69 seconds and 118mph for the quarter mile distance. In June 1970 he had reached 124.65 mph and became the first driver to attain a speed of over 120mph in Australia.

In May 1971 Peter set a new gas class Australian record of 11.35 seconds at 123.45mph that made his VW the fastest sedan of any size in Australia and the fastest four-cylinder car in the world.

In October 1972, with a new motor fitted to the VW, Peter turned in a time of 10.82 seconds at 126.8mph to be the first four-cylinder car under 11 seconds anywhere in the world. In December of the same year he recorded 10.8 seconds and reduced this to 10.69 seconds in May 1973. He further reduced this in 1974 to 10.5 seconds.

His success continued in November 1975 when he won the Australian Drag Racing Final with a new record of 10.41 seconds. In May 1976 he lowered his own record to 10.29 seconds at a speed of 132mph.

From 1977 to 1981 Peter continued to set track records in various Australian states and in New Zealand, before retiring to concentrate on his business in Orange.

Max C Stewart

1935 – 1977

Champion Racing Driver

Max Stewart began his career on motorcycles and was selected to represent Australia at the Isle of Man in 1955 but had to withdraw due to apprenticeship commitments. The period 1957-1961 saw him build and race the then fastest FJ Holden in Australia. From 1961-1964 he took out four State titles at the National Championships in Go-kart racing. From there he moved to a Triumph 2000 and competed in the Bathurst 500 in 1964, 1965 and 1966.

In 1965 he moved into open wheeler racing cars in a Renmax Formula II and then a Mildren where he was runner up in 1965 and winner in 1967, 1968, 1969 and 1970 for Australian Formula II. In 1970 Max contested the Japanese Grand Prix in a Mildren, coming second to world Champion Jackie Stewart. In 1972 Max won the Singapore Grand Prix and came second in the Macau Grand Prix. This prompted his move to the ultimate in racing cars – Formula 5000.

In 1975 Max contested the L & M Series in the United States and after six races he was in fourth position overall but had to return home with a fractured wrist. In 1974 he was placed second outright in the Tasman Series and that year made history by winning five of six rounds in the Gold Star Formula 1 Drivers Championship. He also won the Australian Grand Prix at Oran Park in the Sydney Round of the Gold Star, driving a Lola T330.

In 1975 at Surfers Paradise he won his second successive Australian Grand Prix in a Lola T400 under the most appalling conditions. In New Zealand in 1976 he recorded good wins at Levin and Mansfield and also won a round of the Australian Drivers’ Championship at Oran Park.

1977 started well for the Orange driver with a number of wins including a Rothmans Series race at Sandown, Melbourne. Unfortunately on 19 March 1977 whilst practising for a race at Calder Raceway, Melbourne he was involved in a collision that was to claim his life at the age of 42.

Phil Sargent

Phillip Sargent was born in Orange on 20 September 1969. At the age of seven, Phil won the ACT State Titles and by the time he was twelve, had won the 50cc, 60cc and 80cc Australian National Titles and numerous Victorian, South Australian and Queensland MX State Titles.
By 1983, Phil had won the 125cc Australian MX National Titles and at the age of 16, won the Australian Kid Motorcross, came first in the Senior Gold Cup MX Championship, was a finalist in the MR Motorcross Title and first in the 125cc and 250cc Supercross Championships. Phil also raced in America for a year and in Indonesia for Supercross Titles.

In 1997, he made a change in his racing career, choosing off-Road Motorcycle Racing and rode his first ever Australian 4 Day Enduro at Oberon, riding for 4 days and coming in 3rd outright. After this, Phil was selected to represent Australian in a 6 man team in the International Six Day Enduro in Victoria. After 6 Days of hard Enduro racing, the Australian Team came in at 3rd place in the World, winning gold and the highest placing ever achieved by an Australian Team.

Phil semi-retired from racing and started to teach Motorcycle School to students. Since 2001, Phil and his wife Samantha and children have been promoting motorcross and off- road racing events throughout Australia. Phil is currently the Director of Dirt Bike Promotions and promotes the Yamaha Australian Off-Road Championship, Yamaha MX Cross Cup, the Hog’s Breath Café Australian 4 Day Enduro and the four day Enduro event held in Orange this year.

Boys Jordan aged fourteen and Cooper aged seven, also race bikes, with Jordan racing a Yamaha WR 250 in the 13-14yrs at the Off-Road & Motocross events and Cooper racing a KTM 50cc in 7-9yrs Motorcross events. Phil’s children’s involvement in racing and with Rainey aged nine undertaking competition dancing, keeps them all very busy. Phil and his family now reside in Kurri Kurri, NSW.

Stuart Jefferson Bennett

Stuart Jefferson Bennett was born on 27 September 1966 in Orange and rode his first motorbike at the age of 4 in his family backyard. The motorbike became a favourite and it wasn’t long before the backyard and the spare block next door were not enough for Stuart.

At the age of 9, Stuart started competitive racing in dirt track and motorcross, winning the Australia Dirt Track Championship and Australian Motorcross Championship at the age of 10. He continued winning these races until a broken leg left him unable to compete in the Australian Motorcross Championship in 1979. Stuart kept the Australian Dirt Track Champion until he was 15, then at the age of 16, suffered a broken arm but continued to race again to win the ‘Orchy’ Summercross the following year.

Stuart took a breather from racing to be a teenage, drive cars, water ski, hang out with his mates and discover girls. It was also time to get a job. Stuart became a fully qualified panel beater.

In 1991 Stuart went as a spectator to a Supercross but didn’t think they were going that fast, so he thought he would take another crack at racing. Sponsorship didn’t come easy, but with the help of his parents Clive and Susan, Stuart continued to race, train and work. There was a break for him in 2000 when he was offered a deal, racing with the KTM team and later becoming part of the Husqvarna Team. Stuart currently holds sponsorship with Yamaha Australia.

For the past 17 years Stuart has been competing in Supercross, Motorcross, Thumpernats, Super-Motard, Enduro, Dirt Track, Australian Four Day Enduro’s and International Six Day Enduro’s, winning the Australian Four Day Enduro in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2009.

Stuart was selected to represent Australia on the International Australian Six Days Senior Enduro team, travelling to Brazil in 2003 and Poland in 2004, coming first both years. Stuart manages his time between his four children, wife Georgina, a successful Motor Vehicle Repair business and racing.

Stuart is currently leading the National off-Road Championship, with four rounds to go.

Marianne Murphy

1969 –

Netball International

Marianne Murphy was born in Orange on 10 March 1969 and her schooldays were spent at Sacred Hearts Infants School, St Josephs Primary School and James Sheahan Catholic High School. Her netball career began in primary school as a 10 year old and she took only a one-year break between then and 1995.

Marianne played State Age Netball with Orange for four years and during her last year at State Age as an under 15 she was spotted by State Coach Margaret Corbett. Marianne was invited to attend a talented training camp. This was to be a major turning point in her career, as this camp saw her elevated to the New South Wales under 17 team.

Marianne played in the State under 17 team in 1984 and Captained the side in 1985. She was then promoted to the State under 19 team in 1986 and Captained the team in 1987. She was awarded an Australian Institute of Sport Scholarship and was also the Orange Sportsperson of the year for 1987.

In 1988 Marianne joined the Sutherland Club and again came under the guidance of State coach Margaret Corbett. Two years later she became a member of the State under 21 team and she was vice captain of this team in 1989. Marianne also played for Australia in this age group. 1990 saw Marianne selected into the New South Wales open team and she remained a member of the very powerful State team for three years.

Marianne travelled to England in 1993 and took a year away from netball and it was generally considered that she lost her opportunity to represent Australia. However National Coach Joyce Brown had other ideas and invited Marianne to join the National Squad after her return from England in 1994. On her return from England Marianne joined the Ku-Ring-Gai Club and regained her place in the New South Wales squad. Her dynamic play forced her selection into the Australian open team to play Trinidad – Tobago in a four test series.

Marianne played her first Test in July in 1994 in Adelaide and her second in Brisbane. She continued her good form and represented Australia again in February 1995 with Tests against South Africa in Sydney and Brisbane. She was selected to tour England in July 1995 as part of the Australian Team to contest the World Championship at Birmingham.

JR (John) Ranch

1940 –

Rowing

John Raymond Ranch was born in Bondi on 26 November 1940 and moved to Orange when he was four years of age. John’s father Ray was the Licensee of the Tourist Hotel, recently re-named Hotel Orange.

John commenced his school days at Santa Maria Convent in Byng Street and then moved on to high school at De La Salle when it was situated in Summer Street where the Summer Centre now stands.

John had an interest in rowing during his school days in Orange from 1945 to 1958, but it wasn’t till he went to Sydney University in 1959 that his opportunity to participate in the sport was available.  He also joined the Bondi Surf Club where he rowed surfboats, as well as rowing still water with the University. John had a big advantage in that he was able to row at either Bow or on the Stroke side.

John had the distinction of rowing for Australia before he had been selected for NSW.  In 1965, John was chosen to represent Australia against New Zealand in a series where he rowed in the “engine room” in the Six seat.

John was coached by the renowned rowing coach Allan Calloway who miraculously survived a Kamikaze raid in the Coral Sea.  Under the guidance of Calloway, John and the Australian VIII took out the Silver medal at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics and this was not equalled until the Sydney 2000 Olympics with the Australian VIII also taking out the Silver medal.

Calloway was again at the helm of coaching when John represented Australia at the World Championships in Bled, Yugoslavia in 1966.  In all, John won four representative blazers for NSW and four Australian blazers.  In 1985, John represented Australia at the World Masters Games in Toronto, Canada.

On retirement, he coached at Sydney University and the Sydney Rowing Club.

In 1994, John presented his Silver medal to James Sheahan Catholic High School as a means of thanking them for the wonderful education in Orange.  The medal was returned to John by the school in 2000, which thought it more appropriate that his family have possession of such a valuable award.  John then presented the school with his Olympic Relay torch where it remains permanently in Orange.

Joe Donnelly

1951 –

Rowing

Joe Donnelly was introduced to rowing at St Ignatius College Riverview in 1965, where he was the smallest student in the school at 28 kilos. At that time there was no weight limit for coxens in the Head of the River and Joe’s lack of stature became a distinct advantage for the Riverview crews.  Having left Riverview in 1969 after coxing 5 GPS crews, he joined the Sydney University Boat Club and coxed a combined Sydney University/NSW University VIII to 2nd place in the 1970 State Championships coming 2nd by one foot. The rowers from that crew all retired or left the club.  At the end of the 1970 season Joe, who did not attend Sydney University, stayed with the club and a new intake of boys who had just left school.

A crew of eager boys looked for a coach in John Ranch, who was unable to give the necessary commitment to the students and in turn organised Maurice Grace to coach the Sydney University Junior IV at the end of 1971.  This crew went on to win the State Championships and then along with a second crew of young eager students went on to win the National Championship in the Junior VIII in 1972. The coxen, coach and six of the Sydney University VIII were then selected to represent NSW in New Zealand as the NSW U21 Colts VIII.

Joe was honoured to be named the Captain of the team, which was a first for a coxen at the time.  The crew competed in New Zealand against the strongest competition and returned to NSW undefeated. In 1973, Joe was selected to cox the Kings Cup VIII for NSW, as a result of the Sydney University VIII winning every  race throughout the season, with the exception of the State Championship, which was the main race of the season.

As a result of failure in the 1973 Kings Cup, the University boys trained solidly through the winter months to rectify the loss of the 1973 season.  In 1974, the Sydney University VIII went on to win the State Championships that had not been achieved by the club for 20 years. The bulk of the University VIII was then selected into the NSW Kings Cup crew to compete at Ballarat in Victoria.  This crew, as underdogs, went on to win the event by 3/4 of a length from South Australia and the coach, coxen and five of the rowers went on to represent Australia at the World Championships in Lucerne in 1974.

Having learnt from the experiences of the World Championships, where the crew finished 7th, the University boys took the club to the top of Australian Rowing in 1975.  The team of University students won the Champion Coxed Pair, Champion Cox IV and the Champion VIII at the NSW Championships in 1975. Once again, the bulk of the crew, including the coach, coxen and five rowers went on to represent Australia at the World Championships in Nottingham where the crew finished 5th in the final.

In 1976, the University team had a difficult year with injury and at the end of that season Joe retired from rowing at the age of 25.  He then became serious about a paying career, working for Unilever Australia, Rexona Pty Ltd and Berger Paints in Sydney.

In 1982 he moved to Orange as Bursar of Kinross Wolaroi School. From 1982 to 1991, he had no further involvement in rowing, but concentrated on his farming interests outside Orange.

In 1991, his sons entered secondary school at Kinross Wolaroi and showed an interest in sculling.  Joe purchased two boats and coached his sons on Lake Canobolas while they were at school.  Both were successful as individual scullers, competing in the finals at State and National level. His youngest son Damien, who was also small like his father, coxed in three Head of the Rivers while attending Riverview.

Once his sons had left school, Joe no longer had anyone to coach and he raised the idea of introducing rowing to Orange with the School Council of Kinross Wolaroi.  He highlighted the fact that no school in the Central West of NSW offered rowing as a sport and the only country schools that offer rowing at all in a small way were TAS and NEGS in Armidale. He also highlighted the fact that there were only two co-educational schools in NSW offering rowing (Newcastle Grammar and SCEGGS Redlands offered rowing on a limited basis).  It was seen that offering rowing at Kinross Wolaroi and Orange would enable the school to advertise a sport that was not available to the schools competitors and over time, would attract students from the Sydney schools, as well as those students from the country that were bypassing Kinross Wolaroi to row.

The other attraction to introducing rowing to Orange, was to enable boys and girls to compete at the highest level, at both the NSW and Australian championships.  At the time, competition at this level in any other sport was not available to Orange teams, nor school teams such as Kinross Wolaroi.  Joe put the challenge to the School Council that if the Kinross Wolaroi crews were good enough, they would bring recognition and advertising to the school and to Orange, as there were no other sports played in Orange that enabled you to compete against the top schools in Australia.

The School Council supported the arguments put forward by Joe and introduced rowing to Kinross Wolaroi in 2004.

The proposal to use Spring Creek dam on Orange southern outskirts for rowing practice was put forward in April 2000.

Use of Spring Creek was key to the  plans to introduce rowing to Orange, as it is the only viable venue to allow training to take place and to get competitors to a standard which will enable victory at National and International levels.

The plan for rowing in Orange was put to the City Council not just as a program for Kinross Wolaroi, but as a program for Orange as a city.  Joe put the vision to the City Council of the ‘Oarsome Foursome’ coming from Orange. Without rowing on Spring Creek, this opportunity would never be possible.  He argued that there was no reason that a crew such as the Oarsome Foursome could not originate from this city and, particularly as the students that leave Kinross  will continue to row and have the opportunity to do so on the Orange waterway.

Debate over the plan continued for a number of years ending in the Land and Environment Court with a ruling in favour of the City Council and the school in May, 2003.

The Kinross Wolaroi Rowing program started with 30 students in Year 8, with those students now in their final season at the school in 2006/2007.  The school has already been extremely successful, winning three State Championships, winning numerous medals at club and ISA Regattas, competing at the Head of the River for girls in 2006 and the club being awarded the Kevin Webb OAM Achiever of the Year from the NSW Rowing Association for the 2005/2006 season.

At the 2007 National Championships, the goal that was set in 2004 to reach the A Final of the Nationals was achieved by the 13 founding students of the club.   The Boys Coxed IV finished 5th in the A Final, the Schoolboys U17 VIII finished 5th, with a crew of Year 9 students and the Girls VIII finished 6th in the A Final of the Women’s U19 VIII, as well as finishing 2nd in the B Final of the Schoolgirls VIII – coming from 5th position to finish 2nd. The girls VIII rowed the 5th fastest time of the 24 VIIIs that had entered the competition.

The club has now grown to 82 rowers and coxens since its inception and it is anticipated that it will expand to 100 rowers. The club now comprises 30 boats of which two are VIIIs and most have been donated by generous benefactors and parents of the students who have been caught up in the rowing fever of Orange.   The culmination of the 4 year plan for the initial intake of students was to compete in the finals of the Nationals in 2007. This has now happened and the goal that was set has now been achieved.

Since 2007, the Kinross Wolaroi Club has continued to grow and excel with numerous State and National Medals being achieved by the Club.  In December 2009, the Club won 8 Gold Medals, 3 Silver Medals and 3 Bronze Medals at the NSW Sprint Championships, following on from 2 Silver Medals and 2 Bronze Medals at the 2009 National Championships in Tasmania.  In 2010, the Club reached the pinnacle of success, winning three State Championships in the Long Course Events and numerous silver and bronze medals followed by 1 Gold, 2 Silver and a Bronze Medal at the 2010 National Championships in Victoria.

The Club went on to win the Schoolboys Head of the River Trophy for the second time and the Boys Quad Scull won the Sporting Team of the Year for Orange.  Joe Donnelly was then named the NSW Schoolboy Coach of the Year for the 2009/2010 season.  At the end of the season, Joe Donnelly stood down as Coach of Kinross Wolaroi to further develop his ambitions with the Vietnamese Rowing Team.

Joe developed an association with the Vietnamese Women’s Rowing Team throughout 2009/2010.  This relationship culminated at the Asian Games in Guangzhou in China, where the Womens Lightweight Quad Scull and the Womens Heavyweight Double Scull both achieved the first medals for Vietnam in the Asian Games, winning silver medals behind the Olympic champions from China in the Quad Scull and the heavyweight crew from China in the double scull.

In 2011, a team of 5 women and 1 man came to Australia for a 6 week training camp and competition in Sydney at the Sydney Olympic Course.  The team were extremely successful, winning a number of gold and silver medals against the NSW opposition.  In November 2011, Joe coached the Vietnamese men and women’s team of 20 athletes for the South East Asian Games in Indonesia.   The team had its most successful result, topping the medal tally for rowing at the games with 3 Gold Medals, 4 Silver Medals and 2 Bronze Medals.

In 2012, a group of 8 athletes again trained at Kinross Wolaroi in Orange and competed at the NSW State Championships in February.  The men’s and women’s lightweight double sculls and the men’s and women’s heavyweight single scullers  then competed at the Asian Qualifying Regatta in Korea on the 26/ 27 April.  The Lightweight Womens Double Scull had an outstanding competition in Korea, qualifying for the 2012 London Olympics by .02 of 1 second, which was a first for Vietnam.

Since the Olympic Games in London in 2012, Joe has continued to work with the Vietnamese Rowing Team, winning numerous gold medals in Asian competitions with the most notable being 14 gold medals at the 2014 Asian Championships in Singapore.  In 2013, the Lightweight Women’s Quad Scull produced the best performance for Vietnam Rowing in the history of the sport, just missing the A Final of the Championships by .2 of a second, but easily winning the B Final by 2 lengths from China.

In September 2014, a team of 7 rowers competed in 5 boats at the Asian Games in Korea. The results were better than expected, winning 2 bronze medals and 1 silver medal .The Lightweight Women’s Quad scull was the best performing crew at the games winning 2 medals (a silver in the Lightweight women’s quad scull and a  bronze medal in the Heavyweight women’s quad scull). The Vietnamese crew was the only crew to achieve the result of 2 medals. Following on from the crews 7th place at the 2013 World Championships , it is realistic surmise that the crew would now rank 5th in the world as the Chinese crew that won the gold medal by a very narrow margin finished 4th at the 2014 World Championships only 4 weeks before the Asian Games.

Joe plans to continue to develop the relationships with the Vietnamese Rowing Team, with the aim of increasing the profile of the sport in Vietnam and to give the Vietnamese Team the opportunity to achieve to their potential at the International Level.  In August 2014, Joe left Kinross Wolaroi after 32 years and has taken up a coaching contract with Vietnam, living and coaching in Vietnam for one month in Vietnam and one month in Australia.

Alan Ridley

1910 – 1993

League International

Alan Ridley was born in Gulargambone on 18 July 1910 and played his early football with Queanbeyan Acton Rovers in the Canberra competition. His rise to international honours was meteoric and he developed into one of the greatest wingers in league history. At the age of 18 he was chosen from the Canberra competition to represent Group 8, Southern Division, New South Wales Country and Australia, all in the same year without having played first grade football.

Alan was a big man at 14 stone and 6 ft. He won the 100 yard sprint for the Federal Territory in a time of 10.1 seconds, and he was the first sportsman from the Federal Territory to represent Australia in any sport.

He was the ‘baby’ of the 1929 Kangaroos and was highly acclaimed in England. In a match at Castleford which Australia won 53-2, Alan scored five tries, a feat that was not equalled until achieved by Terry Lamb in 1986. Ridley was reserve for the first Test but suffered a knee injury before the second and underwent surgery in London. He did not play again on tour.

Prior to his surgery, he played in seven games and scored 11 tries. He joined Western Suburbs in 1931 and between then and 1936 the club won two premierships. Ridley was selected, along with Wests captain Frank McMillan, for the 1933-1934 Kangaroo tour. On this tour he played 27 matches and scored 25 tries, the highest for the team, and was second in point scoring only to the immortal Dave Brown who scored 19 tries and kicked 82 goals.

Alan Ridley moved to Orange when offered a position with Radio 2GZ in 1933. He continued to travel to Sydney each weekend to play with Wests until 1936. He played in all three Tests against England in 1936 and then retired just as suddenly as he had entered the game.

He married Edna Pritchard who captained the New South Wales women’s cricket team and played basketball for New South Wales. Alan was Mayor of Orange in 1956-1957 and retired in Orange, the city he represented with pride and great distinction.

Paul Dunn

1963 –

League International

Paul Anthony Dunn was born at Molong on 7 August 1963. His family moved to Orange in 1967. His first Rugby League experience was with the Holy Family under 8’s team, where he filled the role of prop forward and quickly gave indications that he had an outstanding talent. From 1971 Paul played with De La Salle College teams, up to the under 13 division before his family moved to Blackheath and then to Bathurst in 1979.

After one session with St Pats in Bathurst Paul moved to Railway and from there he represented Western Division under the age of 18 before moving to Sydney to join Eastern Suburbs. Paul played 30 first grade matches with Easts between 1983 and 1985 and then moved to Canterbury Bankstown for the 1986 season. During his time with Canterbury, Paul was to represent Sydney Firsts, County Origin and New South Wales and Australia on 15 occasions.

His first Test was against Papua New Guinea on 4 October 1986. That was followed by the undefeated Kangaroo tour of England and France. Paul played in New Guinea as a second row forward, but after several lead-up matches in England he was chosen as a prop for the second and third Tests. He retained this position for the two Tests against France and then a further Test against Papua New Guinea. Paul also played in the World Cup final against New Zealand in 1988. At the end of the season he was awarded the prestigious Clive Churchill Medal.

Between 1986 and 1990 Paul played over 100 first grade matches with the Canterbury Bankstown Club. His early training in Orange junior teams gave him the inspiration to pursue a career in league and also instilled in him the sense of fair play for which he was noted throughout his representative career.

Darren J Britt

1969 –

League International

Darren James Britt was born in Orange on 9 October 1969 and attended Holy Family Infants School which also produced another Test and Bulldog star in Paul Dunn. He attended De La Salle which later become James Sheahan Catholic High School, where Darren completed Year 10. On leaving school Darren played for two years with the CYMS Under 18s before moving to Sydney at the age of 18.

His introduction to Sydney football was with Western Suburbs Magpies in 1988, where he remained until 1993. In his first year with the Magpies in 1988, the hard running prop forward powered his way to selection for City Under 19s and NSW Under 19s.

Darren joined the Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs in 1994 and in 1995 achieved a career highlight with a win over Manly in the Grand Final. In 1997 he took over the captaincy and led the Bulldogs to the Grand Final only to lose to the Brisbane Broncos.

Darren continued to impress everyone with his tremendous dedication and high work rate, but it was not until 1998 that his efforts were recognised by the national selectors and he donned the Green and Gold for Australia in his first Test against New Zealand. Darren has now played four Tests against the Kiwis and one against England.

Up to the 2000 season, Darren had represented the Bulldogs on 130 occasions, 124 of which have been in first grade, 6 in reserve grade and 2 World Cup Challenge games. Well known Bulldogs player/coach Terry Lamb probably summed up Darren when he said recently: ‘Darren’s an old-style type of footballer, who is much respected by both his team mates, and by his opposition’.

Tahnee Norris

1974 –

Rugby League

Tahnee Gaye Norris was born in Orange on 26^th June 1974 and was educated at St. Joseph’s Primary School and James Sheahan Catholic High School where she excelled in a number of sports with her early interest being in Netball.  Tahnee represented MJSH in Netball and won selection in the Australian Catholic Schoolgirls team to tour New Zealand and was recruited as a Junior Development Officer for Netball NSW.

A move to Sydney, saw Tahnee follow her interest in Rugby League where she joined the South Sydney Rabbitohs Women’s Team. From there she won selection in the NSW State of Origin Team in 1998 and then the Australian Women’s Rugby League Team the same year and has since played in every Australian team right through to 2013. Tahnee is the most capped player ever to represent Australia and her career has seen her play in successive World Cups in England (2000), New Zealand (2003), Australian (2008) and England in 2013 where Australia won the World Cup for the first time, defeating New Zealand in the final.

Following the World Cup matches in 2003, 2008 & 2013, Tahnee was named in the World XIII and she captained the Australian team in 2008 and was co-captain of the World Cup team in England in July 2013. The brilliant Lock Forward has her sights set on one more All Stars game in February 2014 after which she has plans to finish her illustrious Rugby League career.

From 1998 to 2001 Tahnee represented NSW in State of origin and from 2002 to the present time Tahnee represented Queensland in State of Origin and is the equal highest capped player for Queensland and missed only one State of origin match in 15 years, due to work commitments. Tahnee was Captain of the Queensland team in 2007, 2008 and 2009 and was Vice-Captain of both Queensland and Australia during most of these years. From 2010 to 2013 Tahnee was named in the NRL All Stars Women’s teams.

Tahnee currently plays for the Burleigh Bears in the Brisbane & District Women’s Competition and resides on the Gold Coast where she is employed as Manager of the AIS facility for Canoe, Triathlon and BMX. To add to her impressive credentials, Tahnee was Manager of the Australian Canoe team at the London Olympics of 2012 where her team scored a Gold medal in the Men’s K4.

Christopher (Chris) Hobart McKivat

1879 – 1947

Rugby Union & Rugby League International

Christopher Hobart McKivat was born on 27 November 1879. His family moved from Cumnock to Orange in c.1888. He was educated by the Patrician Brothers in Orange and Brother Meagher was his first coach.

Chris McKivat captained ‘Our Boys’ from 1901 to 1904 and then joined the Glebe Club in Sydney. In 1906 he represented New South Wales and the following year he was in the Australian team against New Zealand. In 1908 he toured England with the Wallabies. During this tour, the Wallabies competed in the Olympic Games and defeated Cornwall 32-3 for which each team member was awarded an Olympic Gold Medal. Chris captained the team due to the injuries to captain Dr Moran and vice captain Fred Wood. The team members were awarded an Olympic gold medal, and Three members of the Gold Medal winning team were from Orange – in addition to McKivat, two other Orange players, Bede Smith and Charles McMurtrie were members of the gold medal team.

His rugby union career continued in 1909, but at the end of the tour, Chris McKivat and 10 other Wallabies defected to rugby league. Chris was generally recognised as the ‘ring leader’, but this was also credited with helping to establish rugby league in New South Wales.

Chris played his first league test on 18 June 1910 in Sydney under the great Dally Messenger. He played in the second test in Brisbane and the third test, but this was dropped by the league as and official test, being classified as an ‘Australasian’ side contained two Maoris.

The 1911-1912 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain saw Chris captain in all 3 three tests and until 1963, this was the only Australian league team unbeaten in a test series in England.

Chris McKivat played 32 matches on tour and scored 13 tries, and is recognised as one of the finest halfbacks in Australia.

Bruce G Wells

1937 –

Rugby International

Bruce ‘Dealer’ Wells began his Rugby career at Shore School before serving a stint in outback Queensland as a jackeroo. When the family purchased a newsagency in Orange, Bruce joined the Emus Club and soon made his presence felt as a nippy five-eight.

At the age of eighteen he was selected for the 1957 tour of Ceylon by the Australian Colts and he capped a great career by being chosen in the Australian team to play the Maoris in the first test in Brisbane in 1958. Australia won the match in the last 60 seconds 15 – 14 and it was a late tackle on Bruce that gave Australia the penalty.

Bruce Wells turning in an impressive running and kicking game in his Test debut and it came as a shock to many when he lost his place to Arthur Summons for the remainder of the series. In the same season under the leadership of Don Strachan, Bruce played against the Maoris in a match won by the Central West at Wade Park.

Bruce took the following season off and toured the world with the Queensland Collegians Cricket team, but played rugby again for the Central West in 1961. Central West won Country Week and Bruce played another representative match against the Fijians at Wade Park in Orange, but it was to be his last season. He retired somewhat disillusioned with the administration and treatment given to him.

Many followers of the sport felt that Bruce was unjustly treated and a career, which may have seen him become one of Australia’s greatest players, was cut short. In later life Bruce moved with his family to the sunshine of Queensland’s Gold Coast.

William (Bill) John Gunther

1931 – 2009

Rugby International

William John Gunther was born at Bathurst and attended St Joseph’s College in Hunters Hill before moving on to Wagga Wagga Agricultural College. In his early career Bill played a few one-season stints with Wagga Wagga, Bathurst and Wellington and when he moved back to Orange in 1953 he played with the Emus Club.

From 1954 to 1961 Bill signed up with Molong and between1955 and 1962 he was a regular member of the New South Wales Country team. After a powerhouse display for Country in 1957 he won selection for New South Wales and from there he was chosen for Australia in what was to be his only test against New Zealand and Brisbane.

Few critics tipped Bill for a place in the 1957/58 Wallaby side to tour Britain, France and North America, but the selectors thought otherwise and Bill proved to be a very valuable tour member, playing for his country on 15 occasions during the tour. Unfortunately a persistent knee injury prevented him from any chance of a test place during the tour.

Bill was described as an aggressive, sometimes wild, breakaway whose courage was outstanding. He was a raw talent, hardworking and seemingly tireless who revelled in heavy conditions.

Bill Gunther was an Emus team mate of Don Strachan and like Don, was a farmer just out of Orange for all of his adult life.

Bill passed away in a nursing home in Orange in June 2009.

Edward John (Eddie) McIntyre

1883 – 1974

Rugby Union International

Affectionately known as ‘Daisy’ Edward John McIntyre was one of five rugby union players from Orange who toured with the first Wallaby team in 1908. Along with Charles McMurtrie, Eddie was presented with a purse of sovereigns by the citizens of Orange prior to the team’s departure for Britain and North America. This gift was often used against the two Orange men, with frequent reference by the English critics of their professionalism.

Edward McIntyre played seven matches for New South Wales, two of which were against Great Britain in 1908. He was highly regarded in rugby circles. He was a powerful front row forward. However, in addition to the criticism handed out by the English critics he was given poor treatment on the Wallaby tour, playing in only 5 five tour matches which drew persistent criticism of the selectors.

Eddie was one of four players who played in five or less fewer matches on tour, while 10 of the players appeared in at least 22 of the 31 matches played. Two Orange players, Ken Gavin and Charles McMurtrie were extremely vocal in their criticism of McIntyre’s treatment while on tour.

Writing in the Sydney Mail, Tom Richards, star of the tour, said “in all fairness to the four who played so few games, it must be said that they were steady, kept themselves in good condition and waited patiently and anxiously to be at least given a chance to show their real worth. I am extremely sorry for them. Their behaviour under the circumstances was admirable and worthy of better consideration by the selectors”. Eddie said, ‘ that on the ship Omrah on the way to England in 1908, the players had to vote on a name for their team.  It was suggested they be called “Rabbits” but Paddy Moran the team captain said it would not be appropriate to name the team after an imported English pest. The team finally settled on Wallabies after a very close team vote.’

On the return of the Wallabies Rugby Union and Kangaroos Rugby League teams from England in 1909 Eddie McIntyre accepted 100 pounds to play in matches between the two teams and so automatically lost his amateur status and then disappeared from football.

Eddie passed away at a retirement village in Greenwich on 12th September 1974 at the age of 91, the last survivor of the first Wallabies who won an Olympic Gold Medal in 1908.

Robert (George) Bouffler

1874 – 1956

Rugby International

Robert George Bouffler was a foundation member of the Orange Waratah Club and his strength and determination saw him represent at Central West New South Wales and Australian level. During his career with the Waratah Club, George Bouffler had a strong association with the legendary Larry Dwyer, with Bouffler guiding the club as coach and then President and Dwyer being Captain of the side.

George Bouffler was selected for New South Wales to play Queensland in 1905, and the same season her was selected as a loose forward for the Australian Test Team to play the British Isles in Sydney.

George was the second son of Robert Bouffler who was one of the pioneer families of the Orange District. His older brother, William was a Mayor of Orange.

During the time that he was coach of the club, three players were selected to represent Australia, Larry Dwyer, Charles McMurtrie and Ken Gavin. George also persuaded the Smith cousins Bede and Mac to play a season with the Waratahs, giving them a record of six international rugby players in a period of five years.

George always retained his association with the Waratah Club until it folded with the coming of League in the 1920s. At first George had no interest in league, often stating that sportsmanship suffered once money became involved. However, he was finally persuaded to join the league executive and at one stage he was the sole selector of league teams in Orange.

His association with the amateur code was renewed when rugby was revived in Orange. He took a particular interest in the Emus Club, of which his grandson Leon Bowyer was a prominent member. Leon represented New South Wales in 1962 and toured New Zealand in the Australian under 17 rugby team in 1984 and continued the line of representative rugby players from George Bouffler’s family.

Donald (Don) John Strachan

1929 –

Rugby Union

Donald Strachan was born on 18 February 1929. His early football at Hurlstone Agricultural College saw him as a rugby union prop forward. At school age he was a solid 92kg and revelled in hard work, either as a lock or front row forward. His versatility was displayed when he represented Australia in a match in New Zealand as breakaway. One of his notable captains in CHS Football was the legendary Trevor Allan.

Don returned to the family property in 1947 and was invited to play rugby. Shortly afterwards he and a number of friends formed the Emus Rugby Club. He captained Emus from 1953-1958. He also served as president and coach of Emus and has retained a lifelong association with them.

One of his early representative matches was against the Maoris at Wade Park in 1949 and in 1951 he played against the All Blacks at Parkes. From there he was chosen for an Australian Tour to Ceylon but had to withdraw. Two years later he toured Fiji with the Australian Colts. Between 1949 and 1955 he represented and captained New South Wales Country on many occasions. He toured New Zealand in 1954.

Don’s greatest honour came in 1955 when he was chosen for the Wallaby tour of New Zealand where he played in nine of the twelve matches, including the second and third Tests where he partnered Nick Shehadie and Jim Cross in the front row. Don continued to play regularly for New South Wales during 1955 and played one match for the State in 1956 before retiring due to personal and business commitments.

In 1958 Don captained Central West to a memorable win over the Maoris at Wade Park, in a team he described as the greatest country team he had ever been associated with. He helped form the Central West Referees Association and was a first grade referee from 1962 to 1970. In 1990 he was still actively involved in rugby as a selector for the New South Wales Country Under 21 team.

Lancelot Machattie (Mac) Smith

1885 – 1956

Rugby International

Lancelot Machattie Smith was born at Bathurst in 1885 and from early days he became known as ‘Mac’ Smith, a name that he was known by throughout his life. He represented the All Saints First XV at the age of 13, then continued his education at St Edwards in Oxford, England, where he played in the first XV in 1901 and won an honours Cap.

Returning to Australia he represented the Kings School in 1902 and 1903 and in the season of 1903 he scored a total of 188 points, which remains a school record. During the years at Kings he formed a brilliant three quarter combination with his cousin Bede Smith, with Bede the blockbuster and Mac the speedster.

Both players toured with the first Australian side to visit New Zealand, under the leadership of another Orange player, Stan Wickham, and they played alongside each other in the only test of the tour in atrocious conditions in Dunedin.

‘Mac’ represented New South Wales on eleven occasions but managed only the one Test, with a brilliant career cut short by an injury that today would only require minor surgery. He was chosen for the first Wallaby tour in 1908 but had to withdraw with a cartilage problem in the final trial match and never played again. This team was to go on to win the Gold Medal at the London Olympics of 1908.

Lance ‘Mac’ Smith was well known as a breeder of top quality merino sheep and a great lover of horse racing. He was on the committee of the Orange Jockey Club. He also had a great love of children and this found an outlet in his active participation in the scout movement.

Lance ‘Mac’ Smith of Boree Cabonne died at a private hospital in Orange in March 1956 at the age of 71.

Dr. Walter (Wally) Frederick Matthews

1884 – 1954

Dr Wally Matthews was one of Orange’s most respected sporting administrators, having an enormous influence on both cricket and rugby in the district. He was also Mayor of Orange from 1936-1944 and 1948-1950. Wally played rugby for New South Wales in 1906, 1908 and 1910 and was considered unlucky not to gain selection in the Wallaby team of 1908.

At the end of World War I, Wally Matthews was in England and the AIF Sports Control Board joined an inter-services and dominion services competition where 16 matches were played. Wally managed the AIF team and he continued his close association with the game on his return to Australia.

In 1933 he was paid the great honour of being selected as Tour Manager for the Wallabies team to South Africa. This team was generally considered to be the first Australian team to make a tour to a major rugby nation with a truly Australian representation. A notable omission from this side was the great Cyril Towers, it was generally considered that he was omitted because he could not get on with Dr Matthews and found his forthright manner too disruptive.

The team played 23 matches on tour, winning 12, drawing one and losing 10, and caused an upset after early poor form to defeat the Springboks in two tests.

In 1937 the visiting Springboks played in Orange and tour Manager, Percy Day said that on the 1933 tour, Dr Matthews proved to be one of the most popular Australia sportsmen to visit South Africa.

F B (Bede) Smith

1886 – 1954

Rugby International

Bede Smith was a cousin and schoolmate of ‘Mac’ Smith during their time at school at All Saints in Bathurst and then at Kings School, Parramatta. They developed a wonderful understanding of each others play and formed a great three quarter combination which was to progress onto the International stage.

A powerful, hard running three quarter Bede weighed 81 kg and stood 182 cm stall. He started his representative career with Western Districts before proceeding to New South Wales and then Australian selection.

Bede was persuaded to play with the Waratahs Club in Orange together with his cousin ‘Mac’ and over this five-year period the Waratah Club was to claim six Internationals. As well as his partnership with ‘Mac’ Smith he also partnered legendary Dally Messenger in two of his fours tests as a centre.

He was described as a hard running centre with nothing tricky or fancy about his game, but he was a brave and heavy tackler and for him, manliness was a great virtue. He represented New South Wales on eighteen occasions against Great Britain in 1904, Queensland 1905-08, New Zealand 1905-07 and Great Britain again in 1908. Three of his Tests were against New Zealand in 1905 and 1908, and in the Test of 1905 he played alongside his cousin Lance ‘Mac’ Smith.

Bede toured Britain and North America with the first Wallabies in 1908-1909 and even though he missed selection in the two Tests on tour he won a place in the Australian team for the Olympic Games match in London.

Rugby was a demonstration sport in the 1908 Olympics and the Australian side defeated Cornwall. Each team member received a Gold Medal. Orange was represented with three players in this historic match.

Bede Smith was a grazier, highly respected throughout the Western Districts. He died in Wellington in 1954 at the age of 68.

Stanley (Stan) Montgomery Wickham

1876 – 1960

Rugby Union International

Stanley Montgomery Wickham was born at Lucknow near Orange on 1 January 1876 and learned his early football in district junior teams and represented the Central West. He attended secondary school at Parramatta Marist Brothers, joined Parramatta in 1893 and went on to play 83 first grade matches with the Club. At age 19 he was selected for New South Wales and played 30 matches for his State over 10 seasons.

Stan was appointed captain of the first Australian team to play New Zealand in 1903. He also captained Australia on a seven-match tour of New Zealand in 1905. He played three tests against Great Britain in 1904 and has the dubious distinction of never having played in a winning test side, which is a sad record for a person regarded as one the most exciting ball carriers of his time. He scored 120 points for New South Wales and this remained the record until broken by Cyril Towers with 130 points in 1930.

Stan played a major role in organising the first Wallaby tour to Britain and North America in 1907/08 and his selection as assistant manager of the team was widely applauded. He worked closely with manager James McMahon and Captain Dr Herbert (Paddy) Moran to ensure the success of the tour. On his death in March 1960 many old-timers recalled vividly the excitement of his brilliant running and side stepping displays.

Charles H (Mac) McMurtrie

1880 – 1951

Rugby Union International

Mac McMurtrie played rugby for Orange, New South Wales Country, New South Wales and Australia. Although he was well known in the Orange district as an all round athlete, his selection in the Wallabies 1908-08 touring side to Great Britain and North America came as a complete surprise in rugby circles.

Charles McMurtrie and Eddie McIntyre were two Orange players in the Central West side and from here McMurtrie was selected for New South Wales Country to play City in 1908.

Mac was a big, strong, running forward coming in at 88 kg and 178cm tall, but as he had virtually played no top presentative rugby he was not even tipped for a place in the Wallaby side. As a result of his inexperience, Mac played in very few of the important matches on tour. Along with Bede Smith and Chris McKivat he won an Olympic gold medal in London in the match against Cornwall, who were representing Great Britain at the Olympic Games.

At the completion of the Wallaby tour and the subsequent defection of many of the players to rugby league, Mac played one more game for his State against Queensland and then dropped out of first class football.

David Codey

1957 –

Rugby International

David Codey was born in Sydney on 7 July1957 and played his early rugby with Manly Juniors. He attended Shore School for four years and then Balgowlah High School before joining Northern suburbs Suburbs where he played his first senior rugby. In 1982 David moved with his family to Orange and he joined the recently formed Orange City Club.

The following year he was selected for his first international match for Australia against Argentina in Brisbane. David had the misfortune to be kicked whilst on the ground and he had to be replaced in the thirty-fourth minute of the match.

David represented New South Wales Country in 1983 -1984 and in the 1984 season he had the distinction of being the only rugby player in history to play for both New South Wales and Queensland in the same season. David played the early part of the 1984 season with New South Wales, then moved to Queensland for the second half of the series where he was selected to represent Queensland.

In 1984 David was selected for the Wallabies Grand Slam tour of the British Isles where he played Tests against England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. In addition to these countries, David represented Australia against Argentina, France and the United States of America for a total of 12 matches.

David played for Australia in the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in 1987, and at the completion of the World Cup he was chosen as the Australian Captain for the one- off match for the Bledisloe Cup against New Zealand. In the playoffs at the end of the World Cup in 1987-1988 David achieved another distinction by being the first Australian sent off in a test match, when English referee Fred Howard dismissed him for stomping on an opponent in the opening minutes of the match against Wales.

David Codey retired from Rugby in 1988 and caused further controversy when he accompanied Australian captain Andrew Slack to South Africa to try and arrange a rebel tour in defiance of the Australian Rugby Union.

David now lives in Brisbane and enjoys Rugby from the sidelines.

Norman (Norm) Ogilvie Street

1935 – 1977

Rugby International

Norman Ogilvie Street was another product of the mining days at Lucknow, where he represented the village in local matches before progressing to western districts selection. Norm was a teammate of Stan Wickham who also went on to Australian selection. He was small for a front row forward, but his consistent rugged play earned him a place in the New South Wales team at the age of 21 in 1897. He was to continue to represent the State on 18 occasions between 1897 and 1901. On each of his State appearances he was required to make the long and boring trip from Orange to Sydney by train and then return after each match.

His dedication was finally rewarded when he gained a place in the Australian team to play Great Britain in the second test at Brisbane on 22 July 1899. This was only the second tour made by a Great Britain side, and was the first tour in which an official test was played against Australia. Australia lost the match 11 – 0, but reports indicated that Norm had turned in a good performance. In this test only six New South Wales players were selected, and the reason given was it was to save travel costs to Brisbane. However, in the next test, played in Sydney, only three Queenslanders were included in the side. For some inexplicable reason, Norm was dropped from the team, and even though he continued his good form, and represented New South Wales for a further two years.

Norm Street was never again selected for Australia, and finally he dropped out of first class football at the age of 25 and continued his work in the goldfields at Lucknow.

James C Grant

1964 –

Rugby International

James Grant was born in Canowindra on 22 May 1964, and attended Canowindra Central School where he played his early rugby. His secondary schooling was at St. Stanislaus College in Bathurst where he represented the First XV before moving into senior rugby with Orange City Club in 1983.

In his first season with Orange City, James was selected for Central West and New South Wales Country and in 1984/1985 he moved to Kiama for two seasons where he played for Illawarra, New South Wales Country and New South Wales. James moved back to Orange in 1986 and again made the State senior side, and in 1987 he played in the Sydney competition with Gordon but failed to make State selection.

Moving back to Orange in 1988 James hit top form and gained selection for New South Wales and Australia when he was chosen in the National side to play a World XV at Concord.

James was retained in the Australian squad where he was reserve for one Test against England, and then played his first Test at Ballymore. In the series against New Zealand, James was reserve for the first test but then played in the remaining two tests of the series. The flying Centre was then chosen for the Wallaby tour of the UK and Italy where he played in nine of the fifteen matches on tour, and – this included the first test at Twickenham against England.

Many critics felt that the selectors unjustly treated him after being dropped for the remaining tests. There was media speculation on his defecting to rugby league when the Wallaby tour ended. With a degree in Sports Science, James was unable to pursue his career in Orange and could not find suitable employment to allow the time off that was needed to play the amateur code. James was made an excellent offer by the Balmain Rugby League Club and commenced his career in professional football at the beginning of 1989, after having represented New South Wales on 15 occasions and Australia in four tests and one unofficial test.

James moved to England for two years to coach Bradford and he eventually returned to Orange in 2003 and established his own fitness Gymnasium.

Lawrence (Larry) Joseph Dwyer

1884 – 1964

Rugby International

Lawrence Joseph Dwyer was born in Orange of poor Irish parents and he was educated at Patrician Brothers, where he played football in street shoes, as football boots were a luxury few could afford. Larry left school at the age of 12 to assist with the family’s finance, and he gained employment as a solicitor’s clerk and joined the famous Waratahs club.

Larry appeared certain of selection for the first Wallaby tour in 1908, but a knee injury forced him out before the side was announced. His first class career began in 1909 when he was appointed Captain of the Australian Rugby Team for its touring of Canada and North America. He was to go on and play a total of 30 representative matches, which included seven Tests. He played three Tests in America but missed the first two Tests due to a knee injury. He resumed the captaincy for the third test, won won 16 – 5 by Australia. In this match, New Zealand critics rated him among the greatest ever fullbacks from any country.

Larry played his final two Tests against New Zealand in Australia in 1914, still travelling back and forth by train from Orange to play. The outbreak of World War I ended his first class career, but in 1922, at the age of 38, he was persuaded to play rugby league for Patrician Brothers, captaining the side until he turned 40, and he continued as a referee until he was about 50.

Larry Dwyer died in Orange in August 1964, he is remembered as the greatest fullback of this era and one of the all time Greats Of Rugby.

Kenneth (Ken) Australia Gavin

1883 – 1956

Rugby Union International

Kenneth Australia Gavin was born at Cudal near Orange, the grandson of Michael Gavin who came to Australia from County Cork in Ireland in the 1930s. His father Mr G Gavin was an early farming pioneer of the farming in the Cudal district. Ken Gavin and his brother Roy were the twelfth and thirteenth children of the family and both learned to play rugby in Cudal. One of their teammates was Lance ‘Mac’ Smith, another international rugby union player.

When the Gavin Family moved to Orange the boys played with the famous Waratahs Club and both represented the Central West in an historical match at Bathurst that saw the only defeat on tour of the British side. The defeat of the touring side drew the selectors attention to the talent that was available in the Central West, in particular to have a closer look at the Gavin brothers. Ken had previously played for New South Wales in 1906 and 1907 against Queensland and again in 1907 against Western Australia.

Ken Gavin was considered unlucky to miss selection in the 1909 Wallaby touring team, but when two of the team were injured Ken was rushed to England as a replacement and the brawny forward established himself as one of the world’s greatest forwards of that era.

Ken missed the Test against Wales, but played in the back row in the First Test against England, which Australia won 9 – 3. On his return, Ken was critical of the selectors and played in the league match between the Wallaby’s and the Kangaroos, thus forfeiting his amateur status; he dropped out of first class football.

Ken Gavin was a commercial traveller for many years and was a genial character who became a better-than-average lawn bowls player with the Orange City Bowling Club. He died at his home in Orange at the age of 73.

Gilbert Hill

Gilbert (Gib) Hill
1898 – 1959

Long Range Rifle Shooting

Gilbert (Gib) Hill was born at Spring Hill near Orange on 12 January 1898. He was the son of well known rifle shooter T.B.Hill, who was a farmer at Spring Hill. Gib fought in World War I with the 30th Battalion, and it was not until the war ended and he returned to Orange in 1919, that he took any real interest in rifle shooting.

No doubt inspired by his father and with his war experience behind him, Gib joined the Orange Rifle Club and competed on a regular basis, gradually building up a reputation in the surrounding districts.

After only 18 months of competition shooting, Gib took out many district prizes and at the age of 22, he had the distinction of winning the State title at Chatsworth, near Casino, and this propelled him into the Australian Team to compete at Enoggera, in Queensland for the prestigious Kings Cup.

On 17 October 1920 in what was described as a day of torrential rain and exasperating conditions, Gib Hill wrote his name in the records books by taking on the best in the world, and winning the Kings Prize, generally regarded as the unofficial world championship of rifle shooting.

Hill led the field at the end of the second stage, but after the 800 yard range he had dropped into third place. In the concluding round Hill opened with two bull’s eyes, dropped his third shot to an inner, but then shot seven perfect bull’s eyes to win the event with a score of 278, four points ahead of his nearest rival.

Gib Hill remained an active member of the Orange Rifle Club and went on to represent Australia in several prestigious events, even though he never again achieved the success of the 1920 Kings Cup. He was also a keen supporter and foundation member of the Pinnacle Road Cricket Club and for many years teams in the Orange District Cricket Association competed for the Gib Hill Trophy. Gib passed away in Orange on 3 May 1959 at the age of 61.

Ron Matthews

1934 –

Long Range Rifle Shooting

Ron Matthews was born at Wooton Bassett, England on 22nd. December 1934. Introduced to the sport at age 15, Ron enjoyed instant success with the small bore rifle and at 18 he was called up for National Service and was introduced to big bore rifles in the British Army shooting team. After leaving the army Ron joined a fullbore rifle club.

Ron migrated to Australia in 1965 and continued to develop his association with Rifle shooting.He was a founding member of the Qantas Rifle Club where he was captain for 9 years in which time he led a club team 8 times to Zimbabwe and once to Hong Kong.

In 1997 Ron won the British Commonwealth long-range championship and has competed on the African continent no less than 12 times winning 9 Presidents badges plus Australian Queens Badges and Grand Championship Badges and Spoons. Ron also found time to be a founding member and Vice President of the NSW Shooting Association. He was also a member of the Australian Goodwill Team to South Africa in 1998.

In 2000 Ron declined a chance to represent Australia at the Veterans World Championships to take up the position of manager of the Australian rifle team of the Millennium Games. In 2002 Ron competed in the world masters championships at Bendigo, Victoria where he won three gold, three silver and two bronze medals.

Ron continued to compete in 2002/2003 winning many bars and medals but in addition to being a competitor, he also managed and coached various teams at State and National level. Some of these appointments included four years as Manager of the NSW Country team against City and he was ‘wind’ coach of the Wiltshire County Rifle team and the Malaysian Rifle team at Bisley in 2004. From 1997 to 2006, Ron has been the Royal Marines target coach teaching Target Rifle shooting and Marksmanship.

As a competitor, Ron participated at Bisley in England in 2003, 2004 and 2005. Bisley is regarded as the ultimate in world rifle shooting competition and in the 2003 competition, Ron competed in the World Long Range Championship, gaining a place in the top 100 shooters in the world.

In 2006 Ron did not compete in rifle shooting due to a shoulder injury but he went to the British open Championships where he was invited and accepted the role of Range Officer for the Championships. He was given the honour of being the first Australian ever to be asked to Range Officer Her Majesty the Queen’s Prize at the 137th Imperial Meeting.

Ron captained the NSW team in the National Championships in Victoria in 2007 with his team winning two gold medals and two silver medals to emerge as the top team at the championships. England again beckoned and once again in 2007 Ron was off to Bisley to help County team Wiltshire and to officiate at the British Championships.

Dean Brus

1966 –

Pistol Shooting

Dean Brus was born in Grenfell 14th January 1966 and grew up on the family farm between Grenfell and Forbes. On the land he became familiar with long- arms shooting but on moving to Orange in 1990, took an interest in Pistol Shooting and joined the Orange Pistol Club in 1992.

Joining the Committee in 1993, Dean has had a great involvement in Pistol Shooting and has contributed much towards the growth of the sport in Orange as an Administrator and active participant. Dean has been the President of the Orange Club for seven years from 2001.

Dean started with Service Pistol in 1994 and represented NSW at the National Championships in 1997 where he won his first Australian Title. Between 1994 and the present time in 2008, Dean has represented NSW and been the National Champion 14 times over the twelve years.

He has also been National Champion in 18 Teams events and at the present time holds four National Records and six State records. In 2007 he was ranked number 1 in the world.

Dean represented Australia in the World Championships held in Germany in 2007, returning with a Silver medal in the International Two Man Team Event and a Bronze medal in the All Nations World team Event. In 2008, Dean was selected to represent Australia in the Tyrol International Shooting Championships held in Austria.

His impressive record shows him as Ranked Number 1 in Australia for the past 10 years in a variety of events. In 2008, Dean was again selected to represent Australia in the World Championships in Austria.

Dean has been very fortunate to have as his coach, Philip Adams from Forbes, a Champion Pistol Shooter in Olympics and Commonwealth Games. Dean has also contributed not only to Orange Pistol Club as an Administrator but to gaining accreditation as a Level 1 Coach and serving for some time on the NSW Amateur Pistol Association Committee. He is a qualified carpenter by trade but in 2008 he is currently employed as a full time Fire-fighter with the NSW Fire Brigade.

Suzanne Balogh

Suzanne (Suzy) Balogh OAM

1983 –

Clay Trap Shooting

Suzy Balogh was born in Queanbeyan New South Wales on 8 May 1973. Suzy started competing in clay target shooting when she was 15. At the age of 16 she was the youngest woman to win the Women’s Australian Down the Line Clay Target High Gun Title.

She has represented Australia in four disciplines of Clay Target shooting – Down The Line, American Skeet, Double Trap and Olympic Trap.

She stopped competing for 4 years whilst at the University of New England completing her Rural Science Degree.

In 1998 she began competing for Australia on the International Scene in Olympic Trap and in 1999 in Double Trap. Crowning her shooting career with a Gold in Women’s Trap Shooting at her Olympic debut in Athens 2004.

Suzy has won National, Oceania, Commonwealth, World and Olympic Titles.

Shooting has always been a part time sport for Suzy. She continues to work for the NSW Department of Primary Industries where she has been for 9 years as an Agricultural Protection Officer, based initially in Wagga Wagga and now in Orange. Suzy’s role is in training, advisory and liaison on invasive animals and plague locusts for State environmental and primary industry agencies and private and public land managers to prevent agricultural loss and protect the natural environment. Her areas of expertise are in fox and feral cat management, providing practical skills training and control program planning and goal setting.

Other interesting employments Suzy has had, have been as a veterinary assistant, jillaroo and as and urban fencing contractor. She was Primary School Captain, Prefect in high school and Secretary/Treasurer of the Rural Science Undergraduate Society. Along with this she was selected to participate in the Foundation for Young Australians ‘developing young leaders’ Forum. Suzy is a National Ambassador for Breast Cancer and has been ambassador for several other charities and organisations such as Sids and Kids and the Red Cross Blood Bank. Suzy is the female athlete representing the Australian Olympic Committee to attend the 2005 International Olympic Academy forum for young participants, held in Olympia, Greece biennially. Suzy was an ambassador for the 2005 Sydney Youth Olympic Festival, with the honour of officially opening the ceremony, and she is a newly elected committee member of the Olympians Club NSW.

Shooting Achievements

Olympic Results

2004 Athens
Olympic Trap: Gold

Commonwealth Games

2002 England
Double Trap pairs: Bronze

Commonwealth Shooting
Federation Championships

2005 Australia
Double Trap pairs: Silver
Olympic Trap Pairs: Bronze

2001 England
Double Trap: Gold
Double Trap pairs: Gold
Olympic Trap: Gold
Olympic Trap Pairs: Bronze

1999 New Zealand
Double Trap: Gold

World Cups

2004 Greece
Double Trap: 6th

2002 China
Double Trap: 6th

2001 Korea
Olympic Trap: 5th
Double Trap: Gold

World Cup Finals

2004 Final Slovenia
Olympic Trap: Bronze

2001 Final Qatar
Olympic Trap: Bronze
Oceania Championships

2003 New Zealand
Olympic Trap: Gold

2001 New Zealand
Olympic Trap: 6th
Double Trap: Silver

1999 Australia
Olympic Trap: Gold
World Championships

2003 Cyprus
Olympic Trap: 5th

2001 Egypt
Olympic Trap: 6th
International Grand Prix

2001 Australia
Olympic Trap: Gold

1998 Brunei
Olympic Trap 4th

Peter Worsley

Peter Michael Worsley

1968 –

Paralympic Rifle Shooting

Peter Michael Worsley was born at Jerilderie on 9 January 1968 and spent his early days on the family farm at Inverell where he developed a love of shooting. Peter’s primary school days were at Inverell and he attended Farrer High School at Tamworth. It was while Peter was attending Wagga Wagga Agricultural College that he met with an accident that was to totally change his life at the age of 19.

Playing hooker for the Agricultural College in a Rugby match, a scrum collapse saw Peter with a broken neck and a long rehabilitation ahead at Prince Henry Hospital. It was during his rehabilitation that Peter met Alan Chadwick, a prominent rifle shooter, and his discussions with Peter influenced him to try the sport.

Peter took up a voluntary position for five months with NSW Agriculture and in 1992 moved to Orange. After completing his Honours Degree in Agriculture, he obtained a position in Tamworth, and in 1993 he married Michelle, who became his greatest asset in both his personal life and his future in shooting. Peter and Michelle moved back to Orange in 1994 and in the same year he took part in his first competition shoot at the National Disabled Championships in Melbourne, coming home with three Australian records.

From the Nationals, Peter was selected to represent Australia in the FESPIC Games in Beijing. This was his first taste of overseas competition and he responded by taking out the Gold Medal in the Prone section. The European Championships in Finland followed in 1995, where he was placed fourth in Prone. From this he won selection for the Paralympics in Atlanta in1996.

At the Atlanta Games, Peter was placed seventeenth overall. The World Championships followed in Spain in 1997 where Peter again was placed seventeenth overall. At the Oceania titles in Sydney, Peter turned in a creditable fourth overall. Needing a score of 585 for Prone and 580 for Standing to qualify for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, Peter shot 596 and 585 out of 600.

At the Swiss Open in May 2000 Peter was placed first and set a new Australian record for Standing over 10 metres. He currently holds three Australian records in Standing, Prone and 3 x 40 and is rated fourth in the world in his class. He will always retain the 3 x 40 record, at the Atlanta Games was the last time it was competed.

Peter’s best scores are 598/600 for Standing, and 1,177 for the 3 x 40. Peter’s wife Michelle acts as his driver, coach, trainer and critic in his travels to various competitions. Peter and Michelle are both employed by NSW Agriculture at Orange.

Peter also represented Australia in his third Paralympics when he was selected for the Athens Games in 2004.

DAVID  OATES

1964

David James Oates was born in Orange in 1964 and he was educated at Calare Primary School and Orange High School. After completing High School he attended TAFE in Orange to study Farm Technology then on to the Orange Ag. College (Now CSU), to graduate in Horse Management before moving on to CSU Wagga where he graduated with a Diploma of Education.
His father Vic. Oates was a very well-known Air Force Officer and at a very young age of about six years, David was taught to use and respect firearms by his father where he mainly practiced shooting at tin cans and rabbits on the family property.
David initially started pistol shooting in 1984 when he joined the Orange Pistol Club for 2 years. However  due to ongoing work and education commitments he did not return to Pistol shooting until 1993 when he rejoined Dubbo Pistol Club for 3 years before returning to Orange in 1995.

He commenced NSW State Representative duties with fellow club mate Dean Brus in 1997 and has represented NSW for 11 years having had a 4 year lapse due to having to go back the University to obtain a Degree.
He was first selected for Australian Representative duties in 2008 with fellow club mate Dean Brus, competing in Austria where he won 2 gold medals in Distinguished Pistol and High Master Pistol. In 2009 again representing Australia at the World Championships in Germany and teaming with Dean Brus the Orange pair won Silver medals in the International World Cup Team for Pistol, Gold medals for the 2 man team Pistol and a Bronze in the two man Revolver section.
In 2010 David again represented Australia in the German International Open where he and Dean Brus won outright the two man team Pistol and gained a Bronze in the International Teams Pistol.
David has been selected for the 2011 World Cup in Stockholm Sweden to represent Australia again in the Pistol category with NSW team mate Don Pollard from Tamworth.

Dave has won individual 13 state titles (WA 1500 / Service Pistol / Black Powder 25m ) and   4 individual National Titles ( 3 X  WA 1500 and 1 in Service Pistol ) also  15 Australian Team Titles in various categories. He has been selected to represent Australia on four occasions in WA 1500 from 2008 to 2011.

James Campbell

1944 –

Swimming International

James Campbell was born on 4 August 1944 at Calcutta, India where his father was a chief engineer with the Royal Air Force. At the age of 13 he moved with his family to Orange where he attended Wolaroi College and became an active member of the Orange Swimming Club.

A swimming carnival held at West Wyalong was to prove eventful for James as he was entered in the breaststroke event, over 200m, a distance he had never swum and a stroke he had never used. On this day he came a third to future Olympian Terry Gathercole and Australian Champion Don Jones. His performance caught the eye of leading coach Tony Wall who invited him into his training squad.

Six weeks of intensive training at the Orange Olympic Pool in temperatures of 56 Fahrenheit saw the 16 year old Orange swimmer compete in the Country Championships where he ran into future Olympian Ian O’Brien from Wellington. This was the first of many duels between the two and James was only able to defeat Ian O’Brien on one occasion and it was O’Brien who cost Campbell a place in the Tokyo Olympics in 1964.

During 1960 James toured Australia competing against a team of Japanese swimmers and this gave him an excellent preparation for the national titles. But again it was Ian O’Brien who was to push the Orange swimmer into second place. However, the times were so close that both swimmers were selected to represent Australia at the Commonwealth Games in Perth in 1962, where James entered the 100m and 200m events, but narrowly finished out of a place.

James Campbell continued his involvement with the Orange Swimming Club until he was transferred by the police force to the one-man station at Cumnock in 1972, where he was to spend six years. James was transferred to Sydney in 1978 and shortly afterwards was retired from the police force because of severe neck and spinal injuries caused in a bus accident. He remained in Sydney.

Anna Margaret Windsor

1976 –

Olympian Swimmer

Anna Margaret Windsor was born in Sydney on 17 May 1976. When she was eight months old her family moved to Orange. In her primary school days at Orange Public School, Anna showed enormous potential in a number of sports and represented the Western Region in cross country running, athletics, netball and swimming. Her sporting talents continued to flourish at Kinross Wolaroi School where she competed at State level in netball, swimming and athletics and at the age of 10 she came under the guidance of Orange Association Swimming Club head coach Joe Wilkins.

Two years later her coaching was taken over by Robyn James who guided her for the next few years until the cool Orange climate forced her to the Central Coast in 1992. This enabled her to utilise a longer training season. The move to the Central Coast also forced Anna to withdraw from the State Netball talent squad due to her heavy training program. This decision was to prove a wise one with Anna gaining an Australian Institute of Sport Scholarship in 1993.

In 1993 Anna took out six gold and three silver medals in the Country Championships, one gold one silver and one bronze in the State Championships and two silver in the Nationals. This was to gain her selection in the Australian team for the Pan Pacific Games in Kobe, Japan where she won two silver medals.

Anna travelled to Europe and won a bronze medal in an international meet in France and later in the year she represented Australia at the World Short Course Championships in Majorca, Spain. She again won two silver medals.

Nineteen ninety-four saw Anna again start with the Country Championships where she took out six gold and four silver medals and in the State titles she won gold medals in the 50m, 100m and 200 m freestyle and silver in the 200m individually medley.

The Nationals saw Anna win Silver in the 200m individual medley and bronze in the 200m freestyle. This was followed by competition in Spain, France and Monte Carlo leading up to the Commonwealth Games in Canada.

At the Commonwealth Games Anna led the Australian team to take out gold in the 4x200m freestyle. She then returned to Rome for the World Championships and later in the year was back in Europe for the World Cup Series, where she won a gold medal in the 100m individual medley, along with four silver and four bronze medals.

In 1996 Anna represented Australia in the relay at the Olympic Games in Atlanta and again at the 2000 Sydney Olympics in the individual medley. After the 2000 Olympics, Anna retired and continued her studies in medicine; she became a doctor in 2004.