The Almanac (Sydney) Lunch – The Juniors Kingsford
Saturday 29 March 2025
Kudos to Ian Hauser, Mark Courtney and John Harms for organising this wonderful occasion.
A great several days for this South Sydney member! A thumping win over Penrith on Thursday night at the Olympic Stadium, a Friday morning flight from Adelaide to the ‘big smoke’ of Sydney, all in preparation for Saturday lunch at The Juniors.
Saturday started well: I enjoyed a slow jog around Sydney Park (in Alexandria – South Sydney territory!) at the St Peters Park Run. The weather in Sydney was a complete contrast to South Australia: rain, more rain, even more rain! It is difficult to describe the positive feeling of running in the rain – perhaps natural, nostalgic and therapeutic …
A brilliant start to the day.
A relaxing light rail commute from Town Hall station to Kingsford Juniors, with my backpack well filled with books for signing, and all was in readiness for a great afternoon of rugby league camaraderie.
Such was the strong rugby league flavour of the afternoon when we learned that our Souths Juniors hostess, Emily Lyons, had family ties to both Graham (niece) and Cliff Lyons (cousin).
Ian Hauser was a great host and Master of Ceremonies. Each of the guest speakers were given three questions to answer.
Blake Solly, South Sydney CEO spoke first, sharing his rugby league upbringing, including family ties with the Rabbitohs, his journey to the UK, his time in the Super League, subsequently meeting Russell Crowe and other Souths hierarchy when Souths demolished St Helens in the 2015 World Club Challenge. Blake also outlined a ‘week in the life of an NRL CEO’ – the week just gone included several highs and a low here and there – from ‘Mascot (Reggie the Rabbit) issues’, meetings at board level and ‘Souths Cares’ through to Thursday game day.
Sitting at the same table as Blake, he was very engaging, discussing Bob Dylan at length with Karl Dubravs. I also learned that Blake is a big fan of Roy Slaven and HG Nelson. My answer to Blake’s question ‘whereabouts in the Barossa do you live?’ (Nuriootpa) was met with an immediate ‘Oh, HG Nelson’s hometown … home of the Nuri Tigers!’
Alan Whiticker, prolific writer, including 24 rugby league books, was next cab off the rank. A proud resident of Penrith, Alan’s lifetime of involvement in rugby league started at high school. Alan, by his own admission, was ‘never good enough to play’ schoolboy football. Instead, he wrote match reports and kept the tackle counts. After a long and successful teaching career, Alan moved into full-time publishing and writing. The entire rugby league community should stand an applaud Alan for his contribution to the game we all love.
Alan spoke about his time growing up in Penrith – the ‘big country town’, the Commonwealth Bank Cup and the schools, numerous Penrith rugby league identities including Tim Sheens, Greg Alexander, through to the present day. He also gave insight into the changing world of publishing, as today’s generation are podcast listeners, and not generally readers in the same way of those gathered at the tables at The Juniors.
I found Patrick Skene to be a fascinating speaker. Chief Creative Officer is the first of six descriptors on Patrick’s LinkedIn profile. His creative mind certainly is reflected in the way Patrick spoke. He is extremely knowledgeable, well researched and described various contexts – including NRL expansion, New Zealand, the Papua New Guinea NRL team, the Polynesian impact on the NRL – all in a very wise and succinct manner.
In the same way both Blake and Alan spoke about their early experiences with rugby league, Patrick spoke of watching his childhood hero Olsen Filipaina playing for Balmain on Sunday afternoons at the Tigers’ spiritual home, Leichhardt Oval.
Patrick’s first book The Big O – the life and times of Olsen Filipaina has a list of seven pages of references. This attention to detail, along with his passion for sport, history and culture, make Patrick a strong advocate for rugby league, particularly from a multicultural perspective.
Perhaps the words Patrick wrote in my copy of The Big O go some way to explaining his world view:
“Dear Russel, one for the true believers! Patrick”.
Mark Courtney spoke last, and what a way for proceedings to finish on an absolute high, before question time! Mark covered many topics Souths diehards love to talk about: the 2014 premiership, Redfern Oval memories, the tough times, disdain for a variety of people and things, including Rupert Murdoch, Super League, and the Roosters!
Mark has his unique experiences, including writing the Book of Feuds (2007), at the request of the ‘other Russell’ (Crowe) as well as Moving the goalposts (2000) with a foreword by Andrew Denton.
Mark wrote the following words in my copies of his books:
Moving the Goalposts:
“Russel, so glad to finally meet the RITV. Love your weekly work, and hopefully we will get to sit together at a game sometime soon, cheers mate, MC”
In the Book of Feuds:
“Russel, this all came about because of that other *Russel(l) and what an adventure it was! Rabbitohs forever, cheers, MC”
*Crowe
Thank you, Mark.
Mark Courtney and RITV finally meet!
It was also great to meet Andrew ‘Dougie’ Fraser and discuss, among other things, the Brisbane Boys’ College Pipe Band.
A great weekend was had in Sydney, including an excellent pub meal at the iconic Lord Nelson on Friday evening.
A very impressive number of Barossa Valley drops on the Lord’s wine list, including my Barossa Red Wine of the Week – at the Lord Nelson: 2022 Teusner Moment of Clarity Shiraz.
Thank you again, Footy Alamac Sydney Lunch chapter.
Russel Hansen, South Sydney football club diamond member 6199, lives in Nuriootpa, Barossa Valley, South Australia. His golden retriever, Murray, is named after the South Sydney captain. Twitter/X: @Rabbit in the Vineyard @Russel_Hansen
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About Russel Hansen
Russel Hansen Has worked in schools for over thirty years – as a teacher, coach, coach educator, sports coordinator and in pastoral care roles. Whilst at Brisbane Boys’ College as Director of Athletics, he led teams to six GPS premierships in track and field, and cross country. He has coached (athletics) at all levels from school to international. His squad at the University of Queensland (to January 2023) included Lachlan Kennedy OLY, Paris 4x100m relay runner, Australian record holder. He is married to Heidi, a Primary school principal, and is father to two adult daughters. Twitter: @Russel_Hansen
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RITV – is there much better than an Almanac lunch?
Looks like an excellent weekend and it began terrifically before you boarded your flight. I toyed with the St Peters parkrun in January but settled upon Pirrama as it was closer to Balmain but hope to undertake it next trip. And a most impressive roster of speakers – I remember when Patrick first appeared on this site. He’s done impressively.
Well played!
Mickey – my LUNCH debut (excluding the Rick Darling dinner at the TC)
No, there is not much better! … breaking the bread with the South Sydney CEO!!
The St Peters Park Run was 8am, Centennial Park 7am (start in dark?!)
Patrick was great, as were the other 3 on the roster
Now – to Melbourne at some point for an Almanac lunch!