LARRY DONOHUE:   The easy-going popular big man played 105 games for  the Cats from 1973-80 and booted a remarkable 339 goals. Recruited 
from suburban club Thomson, Larry’s best seasons were 1976 when he  kicked 105 goals to win the VFL’s coveted Coleman Medal, almost 
repeating the effort in 1978 with 95. He also topped Geelong’s goal kicking in 1975 and ’77. In between his goal-scoring escapades, he worked as a bank officer and later became the genial licensee of the Winchelsea Hotel. An outstanding, articulate raconteur.  

PETER BEDFORD:   One of state’s finest all-round sports stars. Played 178 games as a centreman-forward for South Melbourne from 1968-76 
and scored 325 goals. He won the Swans’ best and fairest 5 times and captained the club from 1973-76. He claimed the 1970 Brownlow Medal 
but was always torn between his allegiance to cricket ahead of football. Peter was a talented Sheffield Shield cricketer and was on the verge of 
international representation when a hamstring injury blocked his selection in an Australian ‘B’ Team to tour New Zealand. Born in 1947, this amazing 
77-year-old still plays competition cricket for the Crusaders at a relatively high level in Melbourne.  

BRUCE NANKERVIS:  Bruce was the junior member of the famous Nankervis “twins” who played an illustrious 578 games between them for 
the Cats from 1967-83. Along the journey, older brother Ian - born in January, 1948 - won three Carji Greeves medals, and Bruce (14/8/1950) 
two. Bruce played his best football as a ruck-rover, but in 1977 he broke a bone in his neck and was sent to the United States for treatment, 
fighting his way back into the Cat’s senior line-up upon his return. He represented Victoria 11 times. Elder brother Ian developed into one of 
the VFL’s most astute back-pocket players and captained the Cats in 110 matches. Like Bruce, he played for the big V on 11 occasions. Between 
them, they skippered the club for 5 seasons.  

ISAAC SMITH:   Originally from rural New South Wales, Isaac’s distinguished AFL career began with Hawthorn in 2011 and concluded with 
the Cats in 2023. He played 210 games and scored 165 goals during 10 seasons with the Hawks – netting three consecutive premiership medals, 
from 2013-15. The speedy midfielder/forward transferred to Geelong in 2021 and the accolades continued. He starred in the Cats’ 2022 Grand 
Final victory against the Swans and was awarded the Norm Smith Medal as best afield. In all, he lined-up 70 times in his three seasons in the 
blue-and-white hoops and snared a further 40 goals. When playing for Redan in the Ballarat Football League in 2010, he was selected in the 
Victorian Country Football League team which triumphed in the Australian Country Football Championship in Canberra. He has a sports management 
degree from the University of Ballarat. 

 GUESTS :KATHY WATT:  Australia’s greatest all-round women’s cyclist – the first Aussie female bike rider to win an Olympic gold medal (181km road race, Barcelona, 1992). Kathy also won four Commonwealth Games gold medals and 24 national titles in road, track and mountain biking. She competed at two Olympics, four Commonwealth Games, six world championships and finished second in the 1994 Giro d’Italia. Her cycling career was studded with controversy; she was single-minded and did not suffer interfering officials. She was awarded an OAM for her services to cycling, and in 2015 was inducted into the Australian Sports Hall of Fame.

DR PETER LARKINS: This superbly-gifted athlete won 10 Australian steeplechase titles (three junior and seven open) and represented Australia at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. He lined-up again in the green and gold colours at the 1982 Brisbane Commonwealth Games. At his peak, he was ranked the world’s No.4 steeplechaser. Among modern-day fans, this sports medicine expert is probably best known as a boundary rider for radio station Triple M’s AFL footy coverage. He provided live assessments of players’ injuries, which led to an appointment at Channel 9. In 2012, he moved to 3AW and the Seven Network. 

DAVID RAMAGE: An awesome rower and fascinating character. When hot shot Australia finished runner-up in the coxed four at the 1962 Perth Commonwealth Games, he hurled his silver medal into the Canning River. He didn’t like losing. Six years onwards at the Mexico Olympics, Ramage and partner Paul Guest were raging favourites to win gold in the coxless pairs. They cruised through their heat and had a mortgage on the semi-final. David suddenly collapsed in the boat in the semi, a tragic victim of Mexico City’s oxygen-depleted air and the Aussies missed the final. Relegated to the B Final, the Ramage-Guest combo slaughtered their opposition. Their winning time was nearly seven seconds faster than the gold medal-winning East Germans: a travesty.

JEFF SYKES: Although he never competed at an Olympic Games, mainly because of business pressures, the name of Geelong-born Jeff Sykes is synonymous with Australian and international rowing. A boat builder of universal renown, Sykes joined the Corio Bay Rowing Club as an 11-year-old in 1955. Over the next five decades, he received countless accolades as a competitor, designer, coach, businessman, administrator, philanthropist and – of course – boat builder. He won the Australian lightweight single sculls championship in 1962 and, at age 22, opened his own boat building business in 1966. By 1976, he employed 40 personnel. Among his numerous titles, his best result on the global stage was a silver medal for Australia in the Eights crew at the 1978 world lightweight rowing championships in Denmark. His innovative boats have been rowed by at least a dozen nations at the Olympic Games – with gold, silver and bronze success.

GUESTS :
KELVIN BOURKE: The laconic Warrnambool-born “Bourkey” is one of Geelong’s favourite sons in horse racing ranks. A champion jumps jockey in the 1970s/80s,  he won the Grand National Steeplechase at Flemington three times (Ramlegh,  Strasbourg, So and So), the Grand National Hurdle twice (Faux Pas, Our Leo), and  Warrnambool’s famous Grand Annual Steeplechase on two occasions (Olympic 
Choice, So and So).  
As a 13-year-old, Kelvin was designated to have his first ride as an amateur jockey at a meeting in Koroit in 1961. He was set to pilot the top weight who was handicapped at 9 stone 7lbs. However, officials could not find enough lead on course to make up the outstanding 4 stone and the young hoop was stood down by stewards. The replacement jockey won the race. “Bourkey” has no idea how many winners he rode. He doesn’t even have an accurate recollection of how many broken bones he sustained: “a couple of damaged vertebrae, a few smashed ribs and I don’t know how many busted collarbones.”  On retirement after 20 years in the saddle, Kelvin eventually became a prominent trainer, winning the Geelong Cup in 1995 with Anfitrion. From 1268 starters, his horses have won 119 races, with a further 236 placings.  
 
ROD NICHOLSON: A popular legend of Australian sports journalism. During an illustrious 47-year career with the Herald and Weekly Times organisation, “Nico” specialised as a cricket, racing and football writer at the highest level. He covered more than 200 Test matches, wrote books on Sir Donald Bradman, Merv Hughes and the Fitzroy Football Club among others, and twice won racing’s coveted Bert Wolfe Award. 
In May 2024, his latest production, ‘Heroes of the Heath’, a history of the Melbourne Racing Club, was awarded the Bill Whittaker prize – the highest honour in Australian racing writing 

SHARYN RODERICK: This Hamilton-born lady, first cousin of the Briseis Club’s vice-president Trevor Beaton, is one of horse racing’s great characters. She also knows how to enjoy herself, especially at the track. Herself a BC member, she and partner Dave Tipker have just completed a terrific winning streak with their part owned outstanding stayer Just Folk which recently won the Hawkesbury Cup in 
NSW, finished second in the prestigious Hollindale Stakes on the Sunshine Coast and followed up with victory in the Lord Mayor’s Cup in Brisbane on June 1. The impressive looking chestnut amassed nearly $350,000 prizemoney during its short campaign, taking its overall earnings to $1.39 million.  
Sharyn, a computerisation project manager, has owned horses with some of Australia’s best trainers along the journey – Peter Tennent, John McArdle, Mick Price, Chris Waller, Ciaron Maher, Josh Julius and currently Gavin Bedggood, Just Folk’s trainer. Just Folk has secured entry into the $3 million Big Dance, to be raced at Randwick on Melbourne Cup Day. 

 THE YEAR THAT WAS:  2023

 WELCOME DINNER:The Briseis Club’s comeback was kick-started with a wonderfully-entertaining Welcome Dinner at the Royal Geelong Yacht Club on 
April 5th, attended by 144 patrons. Compered by the brilliant Master of Ceremonies Ian Cover, Guests of Honour were Test cricketer Paul Sheahan, netball great Simone McKinnis, world record-breaking swimmer Peter Doak, triathlon superstar Greg Stewart, champion canoeist John Jacoby and the Geelong Football Club luminary Damian Bourke. It was a fabulous introduction to a reinvigorated Briseis Club which vowed to expand its horizons into becoming more involved in the Geelong community through support of young athletes.

 
BARWON SPORTS ACADEMY ALL-STARS DINNER:

While not an official Briseis Club function, the Barwon Sports Academy’s All-Stars dinner at the Yacht Club on May 11, was an important milestone for our club.
 
Attended by an impressive 108 patrons, the dinner’s Guests-of-Honour line-up was a cracker: New York Yankees baseball legend Graeme Lloyd, Geelong Football Club captain and American gridiron star Ben Graham, dual Olympic Games sailor Addy Bucek, Geelong’s fastest-ever female sprinter Jess Gulli, Aussie rules champion Barry Stoneham, badminton legend Judy Nyirati, record-breaking Melbourne Cup race commentator Greg Miles, and the Tour de France cyclist and Olympic medallist Leigh Howard.
 
During proceedings, the Briseis Club – represented by members Greg Borrack, Trevor Beaton, Paul Harrison, John Brain, Ray Sharawara, Denis Craven, Peter Loney, Robert Windmill, Freya Fidge, Leanne Freeman, Bob and Mark Thompson, Rob McLay, Diana Nardi, Caitlin Williams, Gary Verfurth, Greg Wells, Bob Merriman, Barry Fagg, Wayne Chenery, Rob Cameron, Peter Landers, David Breheny, Tom Quinlan and Wayne Carroll, presented the academy’s CEO Cameron Loftus with a cheque for $5000. (Cameron is a Briseis Club member).
 
The donation was earmarked to assist the BSA’s 2023 induction program, supporting 126 budding athletes across a whole range of sports.

 GOOD OLD COLLINGWOOD LUNCH:
Damian O’Keefe’s Centra Hotel was the popular venue for the club’s Good Old Collingwood lunch on May 31.

  A revved-up 63 patrons, some of them vocal Magpie supporters, were treated to a feast of humourous Collingwood propaganda from goal-scoring icon Peter McKenna, “Captain Courageous” Des Tuddenham, and the passionate black-and-white supporter Fr. Joe Giacobbe. Tremendous day out. Following the success of the Magpie show, there were urgings among our members to organise something similar involving Geelong players. They got their wish.

Peter McKenna & Des Tuddenham

 DINNER: FAMOUS ON-FIELD INCIDENTS IN THE HISTORY OF THE GEELONG FOOTBALL CLUB.This July 5 shindig at the Yacht Club was a huge winner, lauded as one of the best nights in Briseis Club history – thanks largely to the terrific contributions made by guest speakers Billy Goggin, Ray Card, Neville Bruns and Mark Yeates.

Backed-up by mesmerising vintage footage of some crunching moments in Cats’ history (and professionally presented by the Yacht Club’s catering manager Nigel Newton and our secretary Diana Nardi), the 68-strong audience revelled in the revealing tales told by our guests-of-honour. Ray Card? A natural-born comedian.

 PUNTERS’ CLUB RACE DAY:

Organised by the Geelong Racing Club and staged on the Geelong track on August 11, this innovative concept was supported by the Briseis Club to assist the GRC in the promotion of horse racing throughout the region.
 
The GRC bravely put up $3000 prizemoney and assembled approximately 100 patrons, divided into tables of 10, to do battle against each other in a unique tipping competition. Great fun.
 
The Briseis Club fielded three tables, aided by Caribou Publications and the GRC. The outcome was a $1500 prizemoney triumph for the Caribou squad of David McDonald (capt), Bob Hesketh, Tom Kerr, Buck Jones, Denis Craven, Don Royce, Tom Quinlan, John Brain and Ian Bell, a recipient of a regular supply of useful tips from none other than Paul Preusker who trained a double.
 
BRISEIS GOLD CUP:
Held at the Geelong Racing Club on September 15, and patronised by 70 members/guests who enjoyed a thoroughly-convivial day over a long lunch in the Briseis Stand, the Briseis Gold Cup reaffirmed its status as a notable event on the local racing calendar.
 
Guests were entertained by a comical interview with the former champion jumps hoop and prominent trainer Kelvin Bourke, plus an in-depth discussion with the in-form Irish jockey Declan Bates. Winning trainer Liam Howley rounded-off proceedings in fine fashion through a jovial question-and-answer session with our patrons after his New York Hurricane conquest.
 
The cup was well-supported by the GRC. President Peter Murrihy addressed our gathering early on and CEO Luke Rayner, aided by operations manager Sophie Favre, acted as bar manager. Peter and Luke are Briseis Club members, as are committee members Sam O’Dwyer, Dean Harvey and Warick Brown.

 CRICKET GEMS:

Billed as an evening with the celebrated author/journalist Ken Piesse, this dinner on October 11, at Buckley’s Entertainment Centre was a worthy grand finale celebration of the club’s 2023 activities. Melbourne-based Piesse, author of 60 cricket books and some 20 others on mainly football, was joined on the billboard by noted broadcaster/writer Geoff Poulter and Geelong’s own cricket icon Ian Redpath. It was a case of fine dining for the 64 patrons in attendance, with most heaping praise on the meal quality. Buckley’s directors Bill Brebner, Tom King, Neville Whitley and Richard Holz are Briseis Club members.

 INTO THE FUTURE:

Aside from reports on the fortunes of Briseis Eclipse, the Briseis Club will tread quietly until early February when it is proposed to conduct our annual general meeting. Members will be advised of the date and venue.

In the meantime, please enjoy the festive season with those who are close to you.
 
In signing-off, I would like to thank club member and our in-house photographer, the effervescent Caitlin Williams, for providing the pictures used in this newsletter.

Regards, thanks and good luck.
John Craven
President

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THE YEAR THAT WAS: 2023

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