May 2, 2016
Sporting greats Ian Chappell, Wally Lewis and Nikki Hudson will be heading to Kingaroy in July for this year’s “Dinner With The Captains” Relay For Life fundraising dinner.
The three captains’ names were revealed by South Burnett Relay For Life patron Carl Rackemann at Friday’s Mayoral Breakfast / Relay For Life launch in Kingaroy.
Tickets for the three-course dinner are available for $80 per person (or $800 for a table of 10) by phoning CROW-FM on (07) 4169-0700.
The dinner will be held at Kingaroy Town Hall from 5:30pm on July 23.
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Ian Chappell should need no further introduction to sports fans.
The former Australian cricket captain played 75 Tests and 16 One Day Internationals for Australia.
He scored a total of 18,680 first class runs.
His highest score in a Test match was 196 against Pakistan at Adelaide Oval in December 1972.
Chappelli also took 20 wickets at Test level as a leg-spinner and 105 catches, mostly fielding at first slip.
Since his retirement in 1980, he has become a high-profile cricket commentator on the Nine Network.
In 1986, Chappell was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame, in 2003 into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame, and in 2009 into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.
His brother Greg was a guest speaker at the “Dinner With The Captains” in 2014.
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Wally Lewis is another household name in Queensland.
The “Emperor of Lang Park” is remembered at the famous footy ground, now Suncorp Stadium, by a life-size statue erected in 1992 from public donations.
The plaque on the statue says it all:
Lewis is arguably the greatest rugby league player of all time. He is one of only a handful of players to be named a Rugby League Immortal and was one of the six inaugural members of the Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame.
He achieved the greatest honour in Rugby League, the captaincy of his country, but it was his feats as Queensland skipper and playmaker in State of Origin that he achieved legendary status. He played 31 Origin games (30 as captain) and a record eight Man of the Match awards over a 12-year period.
The name Wally Lewis is synonymous with State of Origin and Queensland rugby league and continues to be an inspiration to future generations of footballers.
Lewis played 42 games for Queensland between 1979-91, including 31 Origin games. He represented Australia in 33 Tests and one World Cup Game.
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The third guest speaker at the Dinner With The Captains possibly isn’t a household name …. but she should be.
Nikki Hudson has represented Australia in hockey at three Commonwealth Games and three Olympic Games, winning three gold medals and a bronze.
Hudson (nee Mott) was the first woman to play 300 hockey matches for Australia.
When she retired a captain in 2009, Hudson was the most-capped player in the history of the Hockeyroos, finishing with 303 games and 99 goals.
She debuted for Australia at the age of 17 in 1993.
Hudson was in devastating form at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, finishing as the tournament’s top scorer with six goals.
In 2008, she played in her third successive Olympics, captaining Australia at the Beijing Games.
Hudson has also represented Australia in three World Cups and in Champions Trophy tournaments.
