CHANGES AND LEGACY

Q League writer Jacob Grams this week suggested renaming the Gold Medal. One respondent called for the Pat Bailey Medal. A That would be lovely. It’s had a few changes over the years and it’s grown more and more. Q You must have met quite a few different characters in footy over the years? A We had Wayne Pearce up as a guest speaker when his son was very young. You get to meet a lot of interesting people. We had Gorden Tallis come up, as well as Matty Johns. I remember a family from Yarrabah were having a baby and they loved Gordie so if it was a boy it was going to be called Tallis. It ended up as a girl and they called it Tallice. On the Gold Medal night, the baby would have been about four weeks old, and Gorden was up on the stage and the MC said: “We’ve got a surprise for you”. I’m walking towards him with the baby and Gorden says: “I haven’t been here for two years so it’s not mine!” Q Have you got a favourite game from the many you would have watched over the years? A My favourite is the Cairns Connection games against the Broncos with 11 Origin players. We drew 6-6 in 1990 and then beat them the next season. Then there have been some great Cowboys trials matches over the years. That assisted us greatly to be where we are financially. But we take a huge risk with costs on those matches every year.