Toowoomba mourns death of Des McGovern (Glen McCullough – Toowoomba Chronicle)
The Toowoomba sporting community is mourning the loss of one of its most enduring ambassadors with the death of Des McGovern.
McGovern, 84, passed away in St Andrews Hospital at 1am last week following a recent illness. McGovern was an integral part of Toowoomba’s golden era of rugby league during the 1950s.
His career included two Kangaroo tours, seven Test matches and 15 games for Queensland.
McGovern began playing rugby league in Ipswich before moving to Toowoomba in 1947.
He toured as a winger with the Kangaroos in 1952-53 and 1956-57, playing all three Tests against Great Britain on the second tour.
McGovern was a member of the Toowoomba Bulimba Cup teams, coached by Duncan Thompson during the 1950s.
Following his playing days, McGovern became a successful coach in Queensland country regions and Toowoomba, where he coached the Clydesdales.
His many roles in the sport included working as a rugby league writer for the Downs Star and The Chronicle.
McGovern also went on to become one of the Darling Downs best known radio sporting voices during a 36-year working partnership with broadcaster Pat O'Shea.
His funeral will be held at Toowoomba's Our Lady of Lourdes Church, on what would have been his 85th birthday, Wednesday, at 1pm.
New QRL Shop now online
The new Queensland Rugby League online shop is now up and running. Fans of the game are encouraged to visit QRL Shop to stock up on all their supporters gear for the season ahead. You can buy gear to support your favourite NRL team as well as all representative teas, including the might Queensland Maroons.
Position Vacant at Burleigh Bears
The Burleigh Bears in need of a new Beffa Mascot for the upcoming 2013. The club need someone who is available to start immediately. Interested people can email rugbyleague@burleighbears.com.au for more information about the role.
Tiger airlifted out to play trial match (Josh Alston – Quest Newspapers)
There is showing commitment to the team and then there is the effort that Easts' Liam Tyson put in to make sure he played against the Storm last Saturday.
The 20-year-old will bear the nickname “Chopper” for the rest of his time at the club after calling in a mate's helicopter to escape his parent's flooded property outside Goondiwindi.
Ex-tropical cyclone Oswald lashed the coast ahead of the Tigers clash against the Melbourne Storm and a weekend trip away quickly turned into five days for the FOGS Cup grand final man-of-the-match winner from 2012.
Enough was enough. On the phone he got to call in one of his dad's mates from a nearby property to bring in an eggbeater to get him back to Brisbane for training.
“I would have missed the game but somehow a chopper came to the rescue and I got back to Brissie,” he said. “Somehow we wrangled it.”
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Sunshine Coast respond in Bundaberg (Sunshine Coast Sea Eagles Media)
Sunshine Coast Sea Eagles Under 20 players Gbinda Yakubu and Ian Ell were quick to respond following the recent Bundaberg disaster.
The players spent the day lifting and clearing destroyed furniture as well as shovelling mud and handing out merchandise to the locals in need.
Sunshine Coast CEO Phil Reeves said their effort was great “because when the guys get back to training and talk about what they did, it demonstrates to other players that there’s more to life than just footy.
“We want them to understand it’s great to be a good footballer, but more importantly it’s about being a good person and a good member of the community.”
Ell, originally from Bundaberg said it was “life-changing” to see the devastation but “it was a great feeling to be able to help out my home town.”