A blast from the past is the above circa late 1950s photograph of the Wallabies Rugby League time in the Northern Territory's capital , Darwin , in which a mate, "Gorgeous George" Hunter , in the middle row, second from left, was the hooker. His mop of curly hair was responsible for his nickname . In those days rugby players were real men , took salt tablets to combat cramp due to excessive sweating , had lumps , bumps , gravel rash and slow healing sores to show for playing on a rock hard surface. Matches were played during the humid Wet season because the monsoonal rain allegedly softened the hard ground. During a rugged match "Gorgeous George " collapsed , was taken to hospital and a doctor said he was suffering severe dehydration, like a person brought in from the Sahara Desert .
Coach Noel Turvey is the person in white, long white socks, on the left in the back row in which the tallest person is a British police officer-Alan Barnes?-if I remember correctly. Last person in the back row, with a cigarette and dark glasses , is Kiwi Works and Jerks (Works and Housing) clerk Terry Alderton who organised fight nights.
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Drummer Hunter liked a cigar .
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Hunter played the drums in a pub and other venues , once went to Perth on holidays and returned wearing a beret-most of his Gorgeous locks having fallen out , attributed to something he had drunk during a party in Darwin . He was a firm believer that you should start each day with deep breathing exercises.
This writer played for the Brothers football side, one of only two non -Catholic members , the other being journalist and author Keith Willey , both of us working on the Northern Territory News . I also wrote the rugby reports for the paper and , obviously troppo, used to run up and down the sideline like a rabbit , following the play , at times told to sit down you mug. In a write up for a premiership grand final I wrongly tipped Army-Navy to beat Wallabies and was again called a mug by a large number of fans . At the time I wrote my prediction of a loss by the Wallabies , Keith Willey indicated he thought otherwise. He went on to become a top rugby league and special writer on The Sun, Sydney .
Many years later , I heard that George was living back in Western Australia , driving about in a Rolls Royce . Nobody knew if he had any hair left, if he had an expensive toupe or wore a beret .
