WA sporting legend passes away after battle with cancer
South West sporting luminary Malcolm 'Chick' Elson died last week after a long battle with cancer.
Elson featured in more than 250 league games for the Boyanup-Capel-Dardanup — now Eaton — Football Club between 1969 and 1985.
While his football career saw him suffer injuries including a punctured lung and numerous broken bones, Elson told the Times in 2020 his battle with cancer had been far tougher.
'The cancer hasn't taken over any one time, it keeps moving around, but the oncologists say if you can survive 10 years with cancer, you're a miracle,' he said.
'It's a bit like cards, you either play with the hand you're dealt or chuck him in and give up, and I'd rather keep playing the game.'
In his later years, Elson continued his association with sport through masters competitions, playing football with the Bunbury Sharks and Mandurah Makos and representing the Bunbury Bears at basketball's Country Championships.
Elson took to the court for the final time at the 2024 edition of the tournament and was on the sidelines in March to cheer on his team for their last go-around. Malcolm 'Chick' Elson. Credit: Nicolette Barbas / Bunbury Herald
Earlier this year, Elson told the Times he was confident continuing to play sport had 'helped a hell of a lot' in his fight.
The Bunbury Basketball Association said they were 'deeply saddened' by Elson's passing.
'Chick's dedication, passion, and unwavering commitment to the sport and the people around him have left an incredible legacy that will not be forgotten, fostering a love for the game that will continue to inspire generations,' they said.
'Our thoughts are with his family, friends and all who had the privilege of knowing him.'
Eaton Football Club called Elson 'one of the greats who loved our club with a passion'.
'You always looked forward to our jumper presentation nights where you would proudly present your beloved No.7,' they said.
'Chick, we will all miss you greatly.'
Elson is survived by wife Michelle, daughters Jaye, Carly and Kyra and seven grandchildren.
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News.com.au
2 days ago
- News.com.au
Warren, Corowa Monday previews: Country Champs winner chasing a treble
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The Advertiser
2 days ago
- The Advertiser
Sinner in the most devilish form at Roland Garros
Poor old Jiri Lehecka won't forget the day he ran into the world No.1 Jannik Sinner at his most demonically ruthless - and still earned a standing ovation. Lehecka is no mug, a 23-year-old Czech who reached the Australian Open quarter-finals a couple of years ago, who's been on the verge of the top 20 and is still a force to be respected on tour at No.34. None of which proved any defence against a supreme champion back on a mission on Saturday as Sinner gave Lehecka such a hiding that the only decent thing the crowd on Court Suzanne Lenglen could do was to rise and roar when he finally won a game at the 12th time of asking. Lehecka acknowledged the sympathy with an ironic raised arm and fist pump. It didn't get any easier, as he eventually left the arena schooled and shell-shocked, marmalised 6-0 6-1 6-2 in just over an hour-and-a-half. 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Lehecka is no mug, a 23-year-old Czech who reached the Australian Open quarter-finals a couple of years ago, who's been on the verge of the top 20 and is still a force to be respected on tour at No.34. None of which proved any defence against a supreme champion back on a mission on Saturday as Sinner gave Lehecka such a hiding that the only decent thing the crowd on Court Suzanne Lenglen could do was to rise and roar when he finally won a game at the 12th time of asking. Lehecka acknowledged the sympathy with an ironic raised arm and fist pump. It didn't get any easier, as he eventually left the arena schooled and shell-shocked, marmalised 6-0 6-1 6-2 in just over an hour-and-a-half. That's now 17 grand slam match wins in a row for Sinner, looking as if the only thing his doping ban provided was a welcome bit of R and R for the 23-year-old. This was his most dominant win ever at a grand slam. "He played amazingly, the only dominator on court today, did everything right. I felt like I was playing against myself because he was a thousand times better in everything," sighed Lehecka. "I thought I wouldn't win any games." Sinner, who'll meet a doubtless fearful Andrey Rublev in the last-16 on Monday, said: "We try to improve. "Today, I don't think there are many things I can improve." No-one was arguing. He hit 31 winners, made just nine mistakes, earned seven breaks and saved the only break point he faced. Lehecka reckons only defending champ Carlos Alcaraz can beat him. Novak Djokovic will take some beating, though, after his latest 6-3 6-4 6-2 evening stroll against Austrian qualifier Filip Misolic set him up for a date with Cameron Norrie, who won an all-British clash with Jacob Fearnley 6-3 7-6 (7-1) 6-2. Djokovic had hoped he'd be spared the night match so he could watch the Champions League final, but his contest finished just as Paris Saint-Germain were completing their consummate 5-0 thrashing of Inter Milan. It's fair to say the locals' interest really lay elsewhere as Paris just went firecracker crazy. The adventures of wonder boy Joao Fonseca were ended ruthlessly later on Lenglen by Britain's increasingly impressive Jack Draper, the US Open semi-finalist who tamed the 18-year-old Brazilian 6-2 6-4 6-2. Draper still saw enough of the kid to muse: "It's just only going to go up for him. It's going to be scary what he's going to be able to achieve, for sure." Alexander Bublik, the Kazakh maverick who sent Alex de Minaur home in a second-round sensation, continued his fun with a 7-5 6-1 6-2 dismissal of Portuguese qualifier Henrique Rocha and will meet Draper next. Bublik had everyone chuckling as he suggested the secret of his revival may have been that he had been working actually too hard to stay in the top 20 so he decided to go off on a tip to Las Vegas instead. Not a training trip, he explained, but "a three-day hangover thing". "I said, 'OK, let's go to Vegas'. We enjoy. We change the racquet. We did many things. I said, 'OK, if it goes, it goes. If not, thank you very much, tennis' - and it worked." Suggesting the tour was now populated by health and fitness-obsessed "robots", Bublik's clearly proud to be anything but. Poor old Jiri Lehecka won't forget the day he ran into the world No.1 Jannik Sinner at his most demonically ruthless - and still earned a standing ovation. Lehecka is no mug, a 23-year-old Czech who reached the Australian Open quarter-finals a couple of years ago, who's been on the verge of the top 20 and is still a force to be respected on tour at No.34. None of which proved any defence against a supreme champion back on a mission on Saturday as Sinner gave Lehecka such a hiding that the only decent thing the crowd on Court Suzanne Lenglen could do was to rise and roar when he finally won a game at the 12th time of asking. Lehecka acknowledged the sympathy with an ironic raised arm and fist pump. It didn't get any easier, as he eventually left the arena schooled and shell-shocked, marmalised 6-0 6-1 6-2 in just over an hour-and-a-half. That's now 17 grand slam match wins in a row for Sinner, looking as if the only thing his doping ban provided was a welcome bit of R and R for the 23-year-old. This was his most dominant win ever at a grand slam. "He played amazingly, the only dominator on court today, did everything right. I felt like I was playing against myself because he was a thousand times better in everything," sighed Lehecka. "I thought I wouldn't win any games." Sinner, who'll meet a doubtless fearful Andrey Rublev in the last-16 on Monday, said: "We try to improve. "Today, I don't think there are many things I can improve." No-one was arguing. He hit 31 winners, made just nine mistakes, earned seven breaks and saved the only break point he faced. Lehecka reckons only defending champ Carlos Alcaraz can beat him. Novak Djokovic will take some beating, though, after his latest 6-3 6-4 6-2 evening stroll against Austrian qualifier Filip Misolic set him up for a date with Cameron Norrie, who won an all-British clash with Jacob Fearnley 6-3 7-6 (7-1) 6-2. Djokovic had hoped he'd be spared the night match so he could watch the Champions League final, but his contest finished just as Paris Saint-Germain were completing their consummate 5-0 thrashing of Inter Milan. It's fair to say the locals' interest really lay elsewhere as Paris just went firecracker crazy. The adventures of wonder boy Joao Fonseca were ended ruthlessly later on Lenglen by Britain's increasingly impressive Jack Draper, the US Open semi-finalist who tamed the 18-year-old Brazilian 6-2 6-4 6-2. Draper still saw enough of the kid to muse: "It's just only going to go up for him. It's going to be scary what he's going to be able to achieve, for sure." Alexander Bublik, the Kazakh maverick who sent Alex de Minaur home in a second-round sensation, continued his fun with a 7-5 6-1 6-2 dismissal of Portuguese qualifier Henrique Rocha and will meet Draper next. Bublik had everyone chuckling as he suggested the secret of his revival may have been that he had been working actually too hard to stay in the top 20 so he decided to go off on a tip to Las Vegas instead. Not a training trip, he explained, but "a three-day hangover thing". "I said, 'OK, let's go to Vegas'. We enjoy. We change the racquet. We did many things. I said, 'OK, if it goes, it goes. If not, thank you very much, tennis' - and it worked." Suggesting the tour was now populated by health and fitness-obsessed "robots", Bublik's clearly proud to be anything but. Poor old Jiri Lehecka won't forget the day he ran into the world No.1 Jannik Sinner at his most demonically ruthless - and still earned a standing ovation. Lehecka is no mug, a 23-year-old Czech who reached the Australian Open quarter-finals a couple of years ago, who's been on the verge of the top 20 and is still a force to be respected on tour at No.34. None of which proved any defence against a supreme champion back on a mission on Saturday as Sinner gave Lehecka such a hiding that the only decent thing the crowd on Court Suzanne Lenglen could do was to rise and roar when he finally won a game at the 12th time of asking. Lehecka acknowledged the sympathy with an ironic raised arm and fist pump. It didn't get any easier, as he eventually left the arena schooled and shell-shocked, marmalised 6-0 6-1 6-2 in just over an hour-and-a-half. That's now 17 grand slam match wins in a row for Sinner, looking as if the only thing his doping ban provided was a welcome bit of R and R for the 23-year-old. This was his most dominant win ever at a grand slam. "He played amazingly, the only dominator on court today, did everything right. I felt like I was playing against myself because he was a thousand times better in everything," sighed Lehecka. "I thought I wouldn't win any games." Sinner, who'll meet a doubtless fearful Andrey Rublev in the last-16 on Monday, said: "We try to improve. "Today, I don't think there are many things I can improve." No-one was arguing. He hit 31 winners, made just nine mistakes, earned seven breaks and saved the only break point he faced. Lehecka reckons only defending champ Carlos Alcaraz can beat him. Novak Djokovic will take some beating, though, after his latest 6-3 6-4 6-2 evening stroll against Austrian qualifier Filip Misolic set him up for a date with Cameron Norrie, who won an all-British clash with Jacob Fearnley 6-3 7-6 (7-1) 6-2. Djokovic had hoped he'd be spared the night match so he could watch the Champions League final, but his contest finished just as Paris Saint-Germain were completing their consummate 5-0 thrashing of Inter Milan. It's fair to say the locals' interest really lay elsewhere as Paris just went firecracker crazy. The adventures of wonder boy Joao Fonseca were ended ruthlessly later on Lenglen by Britain's increasingly impressive Jack Draper, the US Open semi-finalist who tamed the 18-year-old Brazilian 6-2 6-4 6-2. Draper still saw enough of the kid to muse: "It's just only going to go up for him. It's going to be scary what he's going to be able to achieve, for sure." Alexander Bublik, the Kazakh maverick who sent Alex de Minaur home in a second-round sensation, continued his fun with a 7-5 6-1 6-2 dismissal of Portuguese qualifier Henrique Rocha and will meet Draper next. Bublik had everyone chuckling as he suggested the secret of his revival may have been that he had been working actually too hard to stay in the top 20 so he decided to go off on a tip to Las Vegas instead. Not a training trip, he explained, but "a three-day hangover thing". "I said, 'OK, let's go to Vegas'. We enjoy. We change the racquet. We did many things. I said, 'OK, if it goes, it goes. If not, thank you very much, tennis' - and it worked." Suggesting the tour was now populated by health and fitness-obsessed "robots", Bublik's clearly proud to be anything but.
West Australian
3 days ago
- West Australian
Sinner in the most devilish form at Roland Garros
Poor old Jiri Lehecka will not forget the day he ran into the world no.1 Jannik Sinner at his most demonically ruthless -- and still earned a standing ovation. Lehecka is no mug, a 23-year-old Czech who reached the Australian Open a couple of years ago, who's been on the verge of the top 20 and is still a force to be respected on tour at No.34. None of which proved any defence against a supreme returning champion on a mission on Saturday as Sinner gave him such a hiding that the only decent thing the crowd on Court Suzanne Lenglen could do was to rise to their feet and roar when he finally won a game at the 12th time of asking. Lehecka acknowledged the sympathy with a raised arm and fist pump, happy to take the rise out of himself. It didn't get any easier, though, as he eventually left the arena schooled and shell-shocked, marmalised 6-0 6-1 6-2 in just over an hour and a half. That's now 17 grand slam wins in a row for Sinner, and it really looks as if the only thing his doping ban provided was a welcome bit of r and r for the 23-year-old. This, too, was his most dominant win ever at a grand slam. "We try to improve," said Sinner, who'll meet a doubtless fearful Andrey Rublev in the last-16 on Monday. "Today, I don't think there are many things I can improve." No-one was arguing. He hit 31 winners, made just nine mistakes, earned seven breaks of serve and saved the only break point he faced. At least Rublev will be rested for his big date as his third-round match against Frenchman Arthur Fils never materialised with the French hope sidelined because of a stress fracture in his lower back. The adventures of wonder boy Joao Fonseca were ended ruthlessly later on Lenglen by Britain's increasingly impressive Jack Draper, the US Open semi-finalist who tamed the 18-year-old Brazilian 6-2 6-4 6-2. Alexander Bublik, the Kazakh maverick who sent Alex de Minaur home in a second-round sensation, continued his fun with a 7-5 6-1 6-2 dismissal of Portuguese qualifier Henrique Rocha. Alexander Zverev, last year's finalist, negotiated a potentially difficult hurdle in the shape of Italian Flavio Cobolli, prevailing 6-2 7-6 (7-4) 6-1.
