May 23, 2014
Three of Australia’s most famous sportspeople will be coming to Kingaroy in August to help raise funds for the Cancer Council’s annual fundraiser, Relay For Life.
The names of the guests for the “Dinner With The Captains” were officially unveiled at a South Burnett Mayoral Breakfast held at Wondai RSL on Thursday morning.
They are cricketer Allan Border, swimmer Libby Trickett and rugby league star Tommy Raudonikis.
The breakfast, which was a fundraiser for the South Burnett Regional Council’s Relay For Life Team, had a “cricket” feel.
Ex-Kingaroy police officer, and 12-year cancer survivor, Roger Seccombe was sashed as the official “Face Of Relay” by guest speaker, former Test cricketer Ian Healy.
The “Face Of Relay” is someone who has survived cancer and is willing to share their story.
Roger used to be a fairly handy cricketer in his own right, playing for Queensland Colts. He became involved in South Burnett cricket when he was transferred to Kingaroy at age 36.
He watched a young cricketer, Carl Rackemann, play junior cricket on Saturday mornings, B Grade on Saturday afternoons and then A Grade on Sundays.
Carl was also sashed at the breakfast, as the official “Patron” of the 2014 Relay.
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Ian Healy, the former Australian Test wicket-keeper, kept the breakfast guests laughing with anecdotes about his long career behind the stumps.
Healy touched on sledging (“it occurs a bit less than what people think – it’s a tag we just have to wear’) and cricket’s problems with match-fixing.
He sharied an incident that occurred in Karachi in 1994 when Australian bowlers Shane Warne and Tim May were offered $200,000 in cash.
“Our cricket team was the first to dob some corruption in … for them to be so brazen to approach Aussies who were well-known for highly valuing integrity and honesty in sport, suggests to me that probably it had been going on a long time before ’94 so who knows how long it has been going on,” he said.
Shane Warne’s incredible bowling skills also got quite a few mentions, but Healy said Warne’s bowling actually wasn’t that hard to pick.
“But that’s what made him so special. You knew what was coming and he still got you out,” he said.
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On a more serious note, Relay For Life organiser Rowena Dionysius, who has twice been treated for cancer herself, shared some statistics with those present:
- 21,000 Queenslanders are diagnosed with cancer every year
- 7000 die of cancer every year
- One in two men, and one in two women, will be diagnosed with cancer before they turn 85
The funds raised from Relay For Life are used for research, prevention and support services.
The Cancer Council operates six accomodation lodges in Queensland, including the Olive McMahon Lodge in Toowoomba where many South Burnett residents have stayed; 667 patients from the South Burnett have also stayed at other Cancer Council lodges.
Rowena said the South Burnett had been amazing fundraisers, raising a total of just under $750,000 over the years. In 2013, the South Burnett Relay For Life raised $141,000 through 43 teams; in comparison, in the Toowoomba area, 97 teams raised $120,000.
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2014 Dinner With The Captains:
Allan Border is one of Australia’s leading run scorers in Test cricket, amassing 11,174 Test runs and 6524 runs in One Day Internationals. “A.B.” captained Australia in 93 Tests and played in a record-breaking 153 consecutive Tests. For many years he was Australia’s leading run scorer for all time in Tests and ODIs. He also held the record for the most Test catches by a non-wicketkeeper. Border has been inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.
Tommy Raudonikis is possibly the toughest halfback to have donned a rugby league jersey. “Tommy Terrific” played for Western Suburbs and Newtown in the old NSWRL, captained the Kangaroos, played 20 Tests, and was the inaugural State of Origin captain for the Blues. He later coached Brothers, Brisbane Norths and Ipswich Jets in Queensland before returning to Sydney to coach Western Suburbs. He also coached the Blues in the 1997 and 1998 Origin campaigns. He has been named in the list of the 100 Greatest Players.
Libby Trickett is a four-times Olympic gold medallist swimmer. She won gold at the 2004 Athens Games as part of the 4x100m freestyle relay and went on to win gold at the 2005 and 2007 World Championships and the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. In the 2008 Beijing Olympics, she won gold in the 100m butterfly and in the 4x100m medley relay. Her final Olympic gold was at the 2012 London games in the 4x100m freestyle relay team. She also won gold medals at Australian, European and World Championships, and at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. She retired from swimming in 2013.
The dinner will be held at Kingaroy Town Hall on Saturday, August 2. Tickets are $80 per person or $750 for a table of 10. Tickets can be purchased by phoning CROW-FM on (07) 4169-0700.
UPDATE June 12: Council announced today the breakfast raised more than $1000 from raffles and door proceeds, which will go to the Relay For Life.
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