Wests Heritage Number 578 (1959)
Wests Life Member Number 73
George was a player in the very successful Wests’ era of the late 1950’s and early 1960’s.
*The Vale below was written by Rick Wayde.
GEORGE DOWNIE WAS A PLAYER, A GRADE SECRETARY, COMMITTEE AND BOARD- MEMBER AT WESTERN SUBURBS OVER ALMOST HALF A CENTURY. HE WAS A DEBENTURE HOLDER AT WESTS ASHFIELD FOR OVER TWENTY YEARS.
COMING TO SYDNEY FROM THE FAMOUS RUGBY LEAGUE SCHOOL, WOODLAWN COLLAGE IN LISMORE, GEORGE JOINED WESTERN SUBURBS IN 1958.
George’s first game at Wests played at the SCG.
A star packed Wests First Grade team playing on the same day.
THE CLUB HAD ESTABLISHED ITSELF AS ‘THE MILLIONAIRES’ IN THE PRECEDING FEW SEASONS… ATTRACTING STAR PLAYERS SUCH AS KEL O’SHEA, WORLD CUP CAPTAIN DICK POOLE, HARRY WELLS, IAN MOIR, PETER DIMOND AND DARCY HENRY…WHO HAD JOINED KEITH HOLMAN AND NEVILLE CHARLTON. NOEL KELLY AND ARTHUR SUMMONS CAME ALONG DURING GEORGE’s TIME. HE CERTAINLY PLAYED IN A VERY EXCITING ERA!!
GREAT TO SEE ONE OF GEORGE’S CONTEMPORARIES, DON HALL, HERE TODAY.
Georges debut into Wests First Grade team in 1959 played at Pratten Park.
THAT ERA…AND ALL OTHERS…ARE WELL CAPTURED ON THE ‘WESTS ARCHIVES’ WEBSITE.
THE MAGPIES WERE A STRONG CLUB THAT PLAYED IN FOUR FIRST GRADE GRAND FINALS IN GEORGE’s TIME (1958 TO 1963). WHILE FIRST GRADE COULDN’T SUCCEED OVER ST. GEORGE, GEORGE DOWNIE COULD…HE PLAYED IN TWO SUCCESSFUL THIRD GRADE GRAND FINALS: 1958 and 1961. HE WAS A TOUGH FRONT ROWER WHO PLAYED WELL ABOVE HIS WEIGHT.
1958
1961
A mini reunion of the 1961 Wests Third Grade winning team.
1962
George also appeared in the 1962 Reserve Grade Grand Final this time unfortunately Wests were beaten by a red hot St George side.
Ex Rugby Union player Brian James scored three tries.
Wests played in all three grade Grand Finals in 1962 winning one and losing two.
Wests also won the 1962 Flowers Memorial Pennant aka Club Championship.
ON ROUTE TO THE SCG TO ONE OF THOSE GRAND FINALS, GEORGE AND HELEN FOUND THEMSELVES GRIDLOCKED IN THE CLEVELAND STREET TRAFFIC. GEORGE REALISED THAT IF HE DIDN’T GET OUT AND MAKE A RUN FOR IT, HE WOULD NEVER MAKE THE GAME.
ONLY PROBLEM WAS THAT HELEN DIDN’T HAVE A LICENCE AND DIDN’T DRIVE. SOMEHOW, SHE MANAGED TO KANGAROO-HOP THE CAR TO A SAFE PLACE AND THEN PROCEED TO THE SCG….
OBVIOUS SIGNS OF A RESILIENT AND PRACTICAL RELATIONSHIP THAT WOULD ENDURE FOR THEIR LIFETIMES (63 YEARS MARRIED).
GEORGE PLAYED 112 GAMES FOR THE MAGPIES ACROSS SIX SEASONS, WITH ELEVEN MATCHES IN FIRST GRADE.
George’s first First Grade game.
AS A LATE 50’S- EARLY 60’S ‘ROCKER’, WATCHING THE MAGPIES FROM THE HILL, I ALWAYS IDENTIFIED WITH GEORGE WITH HIS ‘FLAT TOP’ HAIRCUT, AS PER THEIR WEDDING PHOTO WITH HELEN BELOW.
IN THE 1980’s and ‘90’s, WHEN 2WS’s ‘JUKEBOX SATURDAY NIGHT’ APPEARED AT WESTS ASHFIELD, GEORGE AND HELEN WERE STILL ‘FRONT AND CENTRE’ AS ROCK’N’ROLLERS.
GEORGE WAS DOING VERY WELL IN FIRST GRADE, UNTIL A PERSISTENT ANKLE INJURY FORCED HIM TO MAKE WAY FOR A BIG PROP FROM THE NORTHERN BEACHES…DENIS MEANEY. THE REST, AS THEY SAY, IS HISTORY.
Photo of George taken at Pratten Park.
UPON RETIREMENT, AFTER THE 1963 SEASON, GEORGE REMAINED CLOSE WITH THE CLUB. HIS GREAT MATE, RAY BERNASCONI, WAS THE THIRD GRADE SECRETARY FOR MANY YEARS. WHEN RAY MOVED UP TO MANAGE THE SECOND GRADE, GEORGE DEBUTED IN THE THIRD GRADE ROLE IN 1973, OVERSEEING ROY MASTER’S UNDER 23’s PREMIERSHIP IN 1977 AND WARREN RYAN’S GRAND FINAL SIDE OF 1978, AMONG OTHERS.
Back row: *George, Ray Bernasconi, Bob Stutfield, Marshall Rogers, Brian Cook, Tom Arber, Kenny Bourke, Alan Neil and Warren Ryan
Sitting: Paul Houghton, Steve Tamone, Gary Clarke, Peter Lema, David Kennedy, Bill Pearce and Peter Walsh.
Front: Brad Nelson and *Brett Downie.
* Father and son at a PPM Reunion.
IN THE ERA BEFORE LARGE SUPPORT STAFFS, SUCH AS THE NRL HAVE TODAY, VOLUNTEERS WERE ESSENTIAL. GEORGE WAS THE MAN WHO MADE SURE INJURED PLAYERS GOT TO HOSPITAL AND/OR SAFELY HOME AFTER MATCHES.
WHEN I WAS ELECTED TO THE 16 MAN WESTERN SUBURBS COMMITTEE IN DECEMBER 1981, GEORGE WAS MOST WELCOMING… AND IT WAS IMMEDIATELY OBVIOUS TO ME THAT HE WAS THE MAN WHO GOT THINGS DONE.
AT A MATCH AT THE SPORTS GROUND IN 1982, WESTS PROP, CHARLIE KHALIFEH, WHO IS HERE TODAY, WAS INJURED AND GEORGE REALISED THAT HE NEEDED TO BE CHAIRED OFF THE FIELD, SO HE GRABBED ME TO HELP. IT IMMEDIATELY OCCURRED TO ME JUST HOW STRONG GEORGE WAS. I SOMEHOW HUNG ON… AND CHARLIE SURVIVED AS WELL, AFTER THE VERY LOPSIDED RIDE.
GEORGE WAS DEEPLY INVOLVED IN THE CLUB’s EVENTS… AS WEIRD AND WONDERFUL AS FETES AND ROCK CONCERTS.
IN THE DARK DAYS OF 1983 & ’84, WHEN THE LEAGUE EXCLUDED WESTS, GEORGE WAS AN INSPIRATION WITH HIS DETERMINATION TO ‘FIGHT’.
WE’VE HEARD IN THE PAST WEEK THAT KEN ARTHURSON AND JOHN QUAYLE HAVE BEEN VOTED INTO THE NRL ‘HALL OF FAME’. YOU CAN BET THERE’S NO WAY THAT EITHER OF THEM WOULD HAVE SECURED GEORGE’S VOTE!!
THE 1983 ‘EUREKA ROCK’ CONCERT ENABLED THE MAGPIES TO BE FINANCIALLY VIABLE TO CONTINUE THE FIGHT…AND GEORGE WAS RIGHT IN THE MIDST OF THAT, IN PREPARATION AND ‘ON THE DAY’…A VERY EXCITING DAY, WHERE 17,500 PEOPLE TURNED UP TO ENJOY 7 BANDS.
TO HELP FACILITATE THEIR ENTRANCE ONTO LIDCOMBE OVAL, SEVERAL PANELS OF THE BIKE TRACK FENCE HAD TO BE REMOVED. GEORGE WAS THE MAN…AND HE WAS THERE ON THE MONDAY MORNING, AFTER THE CONCERT, PUTTING THE FENCE BACK IN PLACE…THE LAST PLACE HE WANTED TO BE AFTER A FULL-ON ‘AFTER PARTY’ THE NIGHT BEFORE.
AMONG GEORGE’S SKILLS WAS HIS EXPERIENCE AS A WELDER, WHICH ALSO STOOD US IN GOOD STEAD WHEN THE CLUB TOOK 2 OF THE OPEN-DECK GRANDSTANDS FROM LIDCOMBE TO ORANA PARK, CAMPBELLTOWN, WHEN WE MOVED THERE IN THE SUMMER OF 1986-87.
THE STANDS WOULD NEED SPECIAL METAL HOOPS TO HOLD THE BASES OF THE STANDS INTO THE FOUNDATION CONCRETE…. WE FOUND OURSELVES AT HMAS PLATYPUS, THE OLD SUBMARINE NAVAL BASE AT RUSHCUTTERS BAY, WHERE GEORGE HAD A MATE.
IN AN EXHAUSTING DAY, AT THE NAVY’s COST, THE HOOPS WERE READY FOR CAMPBELLTOWN COUNCIL TO USE, TO INSTALL THE STANDS. YOU CAN’T IMAGINE SUCH A ‘SECURITY’ BREACH NOWADAYS.
GEORGE WENT ON TO GAIN HIS DIPLOMA AND ULTIMATELY TEACH WELDING AT THE MEADOWBANK TAFE.
ONE OF HIS OUTSTANDING STUDENTS WAS JIMMY DIXON, ‘ONE OF GEORGE’s BOYS’ AS AN UNDER 23’s PLAYER IN 1976. THEY WERE GREAT FRIENDS, AND JIMMY PUT HIS WELDING EXPERIENCE TO GOOD USE THROUGHOUT HIS WORKING LIFE.
THERE WERE PLENTY OF LAUGHS AND GOOD TIMES WHEN GEORGE WAS AROUND. ONE OF MY MOST MEMORABLE ROAD TRIPS WAS WITH GEORGE ‘ON BOARD’…AS WELL AS ANOTHER GREAT WESTS’ MAN, RAY HILL.
WE WERE OFF TO QUEANBEYAN IN 1983, AS WESTS HAD DECIDED TO PLAY OUR HOME GAME AT SEIFFERT OVAL, TO GET THE MAXIMUM DOLLARS IN THAT FINANCIALLY TOUGH SEASON. NOT EVEN BEING PULLED OVER FOR A SPEEDING TICKET ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF QUEANBEYAN COULD DAMPEN AN OUTSTANDING DAY….AND WE WERE EVEN COURTEOUS TO THE COPPER.
I MENTIONED RAY BERNASCONI. GEORGE AND RAY WERE THE CLOSEST OF MATES. THEIR COMBINED WORK FOR WESTERN SUBURBS ENSURED A SMOOTH CLUB MATCH-DAY OPERATION OVER SEVERAL DECADES.
Carl Ross, George and Ray Bernasconi.
THAT DOESN’T NECESSARILY IMPLY ‘HARMONY’ ON ALL OCCASIONS BETWEEN THE TWO.
GEORGE COULD ALWAYS MAKE HIS OPINION FELT…NOT THE LEAST ONE NIGHT WHEN THE 16 MAN MAGPIE COMMITTEE (WHAT A WONDERFUL CONCEPT…16 PEOPLE MAKING DECISIONS) FINISHED AN EXTREMELY LONG MEETING AT 11PM. THE BOARDROOM DOOR FLEW OPEN, AS GEORGE ARRIVED FROM WORKING LATE AT TAFE.
HE SAID HE HAD A FEW POINTS HE WANTED TO RAISE…AND DID SO…WITH SEVERAL PREVIOUS DECISIONS BEING REVERSED, WITH THE MEETING DRAGGING ON UNTIL 1AM. GEORGE COULD CERTAINLY GET HIS POINT ACROSS.
George, Ken Gentle, Dennis Green and Ken Morris at a PPM reunion.
ANOTHER LIFE LONG MATE OF GEORGE’s IS KEN GENTLE. KEN AND VERONICA ARE HERE TODAY. KEN JOINED WESTS AS A COACH (FROM THE ‘DARK SIDE’…CANTERBURY) WHEN HE TOOK OVER COACHING THE MAGPIES’ THIRD GRADE IN 1980. THEIR FAMILIES HAVE ENJOYED A WONDERFUL FRIENDSHIP EVER SINCE.
SIMILARLY, HELEN AND HERBIE SMAILES, ALSO HERE TODAY, HAVE BEEN LIFETIME FRIENDS. HERB WAS REMINISCING ABOUT SOME EARLY WORK REQUIRED ON THE TOILETS WHEN WESTS MOVED TO CAMPBELLTOWN IN ‘87. GEORGE AND HERBIE WERE IN THE LADIES TOILET, PRESUMING NO ONE ELSE WAS IN THE GROUND. THEY HEARD A TOILET FLUSH AND GOT OUT OF THERE ASAP.
HELEN DOWNIE’S CONTRIBUTION TO THE WESTS ORGANISATION IS EQUALLY IMPRESSIVE. SHE STARTED AS MY SECRETARY IN 1984, IN THE FOOTBALL OFFICE OF THE OLD RED BRICK LEAGUES CLUB…92 STEPS FROM THE PAVEMENT…THERE WAS NO LIFT…WE MUST HAVE BEEN FIT IN THOSE DAYS, HELEN…AND SHE STAYED WITH THE LEAGUES CLUB UNTIL DECEMBER, 2012.
The famous RED BRICK Wests Leagues Club.
HELEN WAS THE ‘FACE’ OF WESTS LEAGUES THROUGH THAT TIME, WELCOMING MEMBERS AND GUESTS INTO THE CLUB AS ONLY SHE COULD DO.
GEORGE IS A LIFE MEMBER OF WESTERN SUBURBS NUMBER 73.
I HAVE NO HESITATION IN SAYING THAT GEORGE DOWNIE WAS THE HARDEST WORKING WESTERN SUBURBS VOLUNTEER, IN MY OBSERVATION OVER THE PAST 45 YEARS.
HIS INTEGRITY WAS SECOND TO NONE AND HE CERTAINLY HAD EVERYONE’S RESPECT.
JOHN WAYNE’s CHARACTER IN THE CLASSIC MOVIE ‘THE SEARCHERS’, HAS A LINE THAT IS APPROPRIATE TO GEORGE AND HIS RELIABILITY… “AS CERTAIN AS THE TURNING OF THE EARTH”.
GOD SPEED, GEORGE DOWNIE…ONE OF A KIND.
“Think where mans’ glory most begins and ends
And say my glory was I had such friends” – Yeats