Club pays tribute to long-serving member
Remarkable career hits 50th year
HOCKEY: When it comes to sport passion, longevity and loyalty few would hold a candle to Toowoomba’s Russell Staff.
Staff has been a man for all seasons since first taking to the junior cricket field in 1966.
It was the start of a remarkable Toowoomba sporting journey which this year reached a golden milestone when Staff celebrated a 50-year association with Rangeville Bulldogs Hockey Club.
Staff also became a household name on Toowoomba cricket fields during a lengthy innings which he began as a Souths’ junior in 1968 before eventually hanging up his Railways Cricket Club bat in 2000.
Mixing the two sports over half a century, and excelling at both came as second nature to Staff.
But it’s his contribution to hockey which brought him his greatest rewards in Toowoomba, Queensland and Australian selections.
Staff played his first game for Rangeville, aged eight, in the club’s 1968 C grade team.
Two years later he made his representative debut in the Toowoomba under-10 side.
Staff went on to play numerous representative matches in both hockey and cricket while continuing to excel in Toowoomba competitions where he snared countless awards.
A hockey career high-point arrived in 2006 when he won Vets over-45 selection for both Queensland and Australia.
Staff went on to represent Queensland and Australia at veterans’ over-55 level in 2015.
Staff ’s Rangeville career also includes extensive coaching roles from junior level to A1 women.