NRL Grand Final Weekend Review – Rabbit in the Vineyard on Tour

 

 

Report: written in Kenmore, 4069 – that’s in Queensland!

By the time my younger daughter’s Kia Rio had swung into the driveway in Kenmore on Sunday evening, minutes before kick-off in the Penrith-Melbourne decider, I had driven over 400 kilometres since Saturday lunchtime.

Mrs Hansen and I made the trip from the Barossa to Brisbane to visit our daughters.

Last Saturday, I was also able to attend a forty-year reunion of the class of 1984 at Concordia Lutheran College, Toowoomba. I was a boarder there from 1980-1984.

The week in Brisbane was a strong reminder of several life values.

Education and connection – relationships are close to the top of my values list.

My parents, both St Peters Lutheran College, Indooroopilly (Brisbane) old scholars, attended that wonderful school as boarders in the 1950s.

They saw Christian education as most important, so my brother, sister and I all attended Concordia Memorial (now Lutheran) College, Toowoomba, as boarders, in the 1980s.

After our (delayed, so 2024) flight from Adelaide mid last week, I was able to enjoy a steak in West End with a group of wonderful humans I worked with at Brisbane Boys’ College for fifteen significant years, 2007- 2021.

I also enjoyed more Queensland beef at the iconic Regatta Hotel in Toowong with a couple of other great men from that ‘green-white-black-black-green-white -black’ (Brisbane Boys’ College’s colours) era.

Mrs Hansen and I moved from Brisbane to the Barossa in January 2023 after thirty-two years in the big smoke. It was great to be back for a week of family time, relaxation, and catch-ups.

 

2024 Grand Final Day timeline:

Toowoomba-Warwick (with Allora detour)-Brisbane

Morning walk in the crisp mountain air from my four-star motel in Herries Street, Toowoomba – managed to find a newsagent to purchase the Sydney Telegraph, Sun Herald and the Saturday edition of the Toowoomba Chronicle.

A wonderful breakfast at ‘The other bird’ café after walking back up Magaret Street, past the picturesque Toowoomba Grammar School campus.

September-October in Toowoomba is Carnival of Flowers time. The flowers in the gardens at the top of the range were in magnificent bloom, with purple and yellow seemingly the prominent colours – was this a sign for the Melbourne Storm?

A drive along South Street, past the Concordia chapel, and Warwick Street campus took me to the cemetery where my parents are buried. Retired farmers from Kingaroy, in the fertile South Burnett region, Toowoomba was their retirement destination.

Their graves needed a tidy up. Clifford Gardens shopping centre to the rescue for some cleaning products.

Whilst striding through the shops, I noted four men enjoying a late breakfast at the Coffee Club. All were decked out in retro Wests ‘Victa’ sponsored Magpies’ jerseys, and shorts, from the wilder days of rugby league!

The Roy Masters era at Lidcombe.

In hindsight, I should have introduced myself as a fellow rugby league fanatic, however I was conscious of my return trip to Brisbane via Wayne Bennett country (Allora and Warwick). I did pause long enough to notice the player names Donnelly, Boyd and Cooper on the backs of three of the jerseys!

John ‘Dallas’ Donnelly, Les Boyd, the controversial recent addition to the rugby league Hall of Fame, and Bob Cooper … what a fearsome trio.

As Wayne James Bennett told us at the Spotted Cow back in 2019: the Toowoomba region remains a rugby league stronghold.

Onwards towards Allora, hometown of Olympic discus thrower Matt Denny, to Warwick, to pay my great friend at former ‘green-white-black’ colleague Dave Marriott a visit. DJM, or ‘Matrix’, is now Head of Boarding at Scots College.

It was an important catch up with Dave. His wife Jodi is battling cancer. The three of us chatted, before Dave and I toured the spacious campus on the banks of the Condamine River. We journeyed into town, enjoyed the beer ‘Icarus’ at the local brewery before my departure to Brisbane, with a brief detour into Allora to pay homage to the discus throwing legend.

Matt Denny: fittingly, there is a mural of the man mountain painted on the side wall of the Allora pub, across the road from the local IGA supermarket. The town is justifiably proud of their Olympic medallist.

The Grand Final itself. I agree with Citrus Bob. The better team won. Hughes played below his best due to injuries he carried into the big dance. The Storm missed big Nelson. In his first full NRL season, Brisbane Boys’ College old boy Jack Howarth certainly trended post-match. Try? No try? The Bunker … blow it up, seriously.

The Channel Nine commentary team is a difficult listen. Intensity and fatigue were mentioned continually. They quote each other regularly. Brad Fittler: “As you were saying earlier, Joey, this game is next level.”

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Andrew Moore, Matt Elliott and Michael Carayannis call the State Cup Grand Final – Brisbane Norths Devils v Newtown Jets – on ABC radio as I drove from Toowoomba to Warwick earlier in the day.

 

 

Was there rugby league talk at the Concordia College Class of 1984 reunion? Some.

As we stood on the first-floor veranda of the magnificent ‘Redlands’ building at Concordia, one can admire the ovals on both sides of the long driveway from the Stephen Street entrance. One old scholar was overheard to say: “I don’t know about those four posts at each end of the oval?!” … “where are the rugby posts?!”

And a boarder friend, originally from the South Burnett region, Stephen Edwards, amongst many success stories, is involved in boxing, as a trainer and cut man. He was cut man for Jeff Horn. He also was cut man for Storm prop Nelson Asofa-Solomona.

Stephen’s comment about big Nelson: ‘the man has huge hands!’

At Concordia in the 80’, all boarders had jobs around the dormitory areas. The ‘plum’ job was that of ‘paper boy’ – a responsible lad would walk to the Warwick Street newsagent to collect the newspapers. Each Wednesday during rugby league season, the paper boy would be handed the correct amount in coins for ‘the bible’ (Rugby League Week).

 In 1983-1984, Stephen and I would get our own jobs done as quickly as possible on those mornings so that we could be waiting for the ‘chosen one’ (the responsible paper boy) to return with ‘the bible’. After all, we wanted to read as much of ‘the bible’ before the Chapel bell rang, signifying the start of the school day!

Those were good days. No, better than good, they were great days.

Gratitude. Thanks Alan and Audrey Hansen (my parents).

 

 

Barossa red wine of the week:

From the Kenmore Tavern Bottle shop: great to see Greenock represented in downtown Kenmore!

Kalleske Clarry’s GSM

Visit Cellar Door – Kalleske Wines

 

 

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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