Canteen Worker
First Grader
0 Jan 09 @ 02:21pm by PETER PETERS Manly Daily
RUGBY League should build a monument out in the far west of NSW and simply mark it Rambo after the former Sea Eagles kamikaze forward Ronnie Gibbs.
Gibbs goes where no man wants to. Each year he travels up to 60,000 kilometres around Broken Hill, Wilcania, Bourke, Lightning Ridge and Walget spreading the word on rugby league, conducting coaching clinics, refereeing games and organising teams.
From time to time Gibbs calls into Sea Eagles headquarters at the NSW Sports Academy at Narrabeen and collects used boots, jerseys and shorts to take to the indegenious kids who play on grounds bone-dried by the scorching sun and as hard as our highways.
Each year I look for Gibbs’ name in the New Years Honours list.
I reckon he has done more for Aboriginal kids than any person I know.
For a start he has lived their dream.
He came to Sydney from the bush as a starry-eyed youngster from a small country town who wanted to test his strength and skill against the best.
He has returned and given more than he took from a game which gave him a premiership, glory, good money and a reputation as a tough but fair man who had simply no fear.
Gibbs wears a variety of club colours at work for NSW Sport and Recreation and the Country Rugby League when he is on his coaching trips many hours away from his family home in Dubbo.
But everyone knows “Rambo†Gibbs has maroon and white blood.
“I played at Easts, Wests, Manly and on the Gold Coast but Manly was the club I felt most at home at,†Gibbs said.
“It was where I was most welcome and played my best football in 1987 when I was part of a great side.
“The support for the Sea Eagles out west is unbelieveable.
“They are a very popular side with the youngsters who just love the likes of Brett Stewart, Jamie Lyon, David Williams and Anthony Watmough.
“As an old Sea Eagle I’m proud of the style of play they produce.â€Â
His 1987 premiership teammate Noel Cleal considers Gibbs a jewel for the game.
“The work he does, the kilometres he travels and the enthusiasm in which he does his work is uplifting,†Cleal said.
“He was the same when he first left Bourke as a young fullback and joined the Roosters - without him the game could be dead west of Dubbo.â€Â
Each year the NRL call for nominations for the Ken Stephen Medal for services to the game.
They should forget about calling for nominations in 2009 and just give it to the still fit-as-a-fiddle indigenous man with freckles galore they call Rambo.
SOME wet-behind-the-ears sporting journalists are embarrasing themselves with their work on sporting websites.
Fox Sports is normally one of the better sporting sites but under a section of “Five Players To Watch in 2009†the number two “player†was new Dragons coach Wayne Bennett.
Now Bennett was more than a handy winger in his playing days but they have been over for several decades.
Bennett’s arrival at the Dragons has long-suffering supporters talking of a premiership in 2009.
They should be a big improver but a premiership may still be a little beyond them.
RUGBY League should build a monument out in the far west of NSW and simply mark it Rambo after the former Sea Eagles kamikaze forward Ronnie Gibbs.
Gibbs goes where no man wants to. Each year he travels up to 60,000 kilometres around Broken Hill, Wilcania, Bourke, Lightning Ridge and Walget spreading the word on rugby league, conducting coaching clinics, refereeing games and organising teams.
From time to time Gibbs calls into Sea Eagles headquarters at the NSW Sports Academy at Narrabeen and collects used boots, jerseys and shorts to take to the indegenious kids who play on grounds bone-dried by the scorching sun and as hard as our highways.
Each year I look for Gibbs’ name in the New Years Honours list.
I reckon he has done more for Aboriginal kids than any person I know.
For a start he has lived their dream.
He came to Sydney from the bush as a starry-eyed youngster from a small country town who wanted to test his strength and skill against the best.
He has returned and given more than he took from a game which gave him a premiership, glory, good money and a reputation as a tough but fair man who had simply no fear.
Gibbs wears a variety of club colours at work for NSW Sport and Recreation and the Country Rugby League when he is on his coaching trips many hours away from his family home in Dubbo.
But everyone knows “Rambo†Gibbs has maroon and white blood.
“I played at Easts, Wests, Manly and on the Gold Coast but Manly was the club I felt most at home at,†Gibbs said.
“It was where I was most welcome and played my best football in 1987 when I was part of a great side.
“The support for the Sea Eagles out west is unbelieveable.
“They are a very popular side with the youngsters who just love the likes of Brett Stewart, Jamie Lyon, David Williams and Anthony Watmough.
“As an old Sea Eagle I’m proud of the style of play they produce.â€Â
His 1987 premiership teammate Noel Cleal considers Gibbs a jewel for the game.
“The work he does, the kilometres he travels and the enthusiasm in which he does his work is uplifting,†Cleal said.
“He was the same when he first left Bourke as a young fullback and joined the Roosters - without him the game could be dead west of Dubbo.â€Â
Each year the NRL call for nominations for the Ken Stephen Medal for services to the game.
They should forget about calling for nominations in 2009 and just give it to the still fit-as-a-fiddle indigenous man with freckles galore they call Rambo.
SOME wet-behind-the-ears sporting journalists are embarrasing themselves with their work on sporting websites.
Fox Sports is normally one of the better sporting sites but under a section of “Five Players To Watch in 2009†the number two “player†was new Dragons coach Wayne Bennett.
Now Bennett was more than a handy winger in his playing days but they have been over for several decades.
Bennett’s arrival at the Dragons has long-suffering supporters talking of a premiership in 2009.
They should be a big improver but a premiership may still be a little beyond them.
