Latest news with #WesternSuburbs
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Rugby league in mourning after shock death of star fullback - 'wicked sense of humour and a killer smile'
Footy fans are mourning the death of Danny Peacock, who was a cult hero with Western Suburbs and the Gold Coast Seagulls before finishing his career in England with Bradford. Peacock, 57, was found at a Toowoomba motel in Queensland on Thursday. The sad development follows the break-up of his marriage earlier this year. Peacock made his first-grade debut with the Magpies in 1988, and was a crowd favourite due to his speed. Next was a move to the Seagulls three seasons later, before finishing his time on Australian shores with the South Queensland Crushers in 1996. In the twilight of his career, Peacock was a standout for the Bulls in England before retiring in 1999 due to a knee injury. On the field, 1997 was also a year to remember for Peacock, who was named in the Super League 'Dream Team' following a strong debut season with the Bulls playing in the centres. Former teammate Allan Fallah said a number of Magpies were devastated by the news. 'Danny was a popular guy, quiet, but he had a wicked sense of humour and a killer smile,' Fallah told Wide World of Sports. 'He had a horrific injury against Parramatta, a dislocated hip, and it looked like that would end his career, but he came back from that.' A number of supporters paid tribute to Peacock - a utility back - online. 'Fondly remember his time at the Magpies, rest in peace mate,' posted one. 'I remember watching Danny Peacock play as a kid. Very sad news,' said another. 'One of the greats, legendary bloke and will be remembered (by many). Rest in peace,' a third weighed offered.
ABC News
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- ABC News
Dominic Amerena writes about a literary fraudster in his debut novel, I Want Everything
Since the Ern Malley affair of the 1940s — where two poets pretended to be a recently deceased mechanic who penned a sheaf of modernist poems — Australia has produced an array of literary fraudsters. Notorious examples include Norma Khouri, Helen Demidenko and John Hughes, who was revealed to have plagiarised extensively from the work of others in his 2022 novel The Dogs. "Once you start looking back across Australian literary history, you see it's littered with notable scandals and hoaxes," author Dominic Amerena tells ABC Radio National's The Book Show. He believes "there's something very Australian" about this pattern of fakery, borne from a sense of unbelonging that comes from living on colonised land. "These writers are expressing an instability in settler identity," he says. Amerena draws on this rich history in his debut novel, I Want Everything, the tale of a modern-day literary heist set in Melbourne's western suburbs. I Want Everything's unnamed narrator is an unpublished author who nevertheless dreams of writing a great Australian novel. But there's a problem: he lacks the discipline or creativity necessary to become a serious novelist. "We know that he is roiling with ambition and that he has no talent and no stories of his own to tell," Beejay Silcox tells ABC Radio National's The Bookshelf. Instead, he has lived a life of "noble precarity" for a decade, funded by submitting himself to paid medical trials. He exists in the shadow of his talented girlfriend Ruth, a "Melbourne-famous" writer whose essay mining her problematic relationship with her mother goes viral. "[He] has this idea that greatness can be something that is almost stolen from other writers," Amerena tells The Book Show. "He has an extractive view of talent and how to tell stories." But, in an apparent stroke of good luck, he encounters a woman at a local aquarobics class who is "maddeningly familiar". Eventually he puts a name to the face: Brenda Shales, a cult 70s author who disappeared from public view after publishing two wildly successful and controversial novels. Reeling from the realisation he has unwittingly stumbled across Australia's most notorious living literary recluse at the local pool, he tracks her down to a nursing home in Yarraville in Melbourne's western suburbs, hoping she will somehow revive his anaemic literary career. "The nurse who's bringing him to her room introduces him as her grandson, and, strangely, Brenda Shales doesn't seem to correct the nurse's mistake. In fact, she seems to recognise him as a long-lost relative," Amerena says. This subterfuge — framed by the narrator in the novel's opening line as "an innocent mistake" — drives the narrative. Although he's beset by guilt at his actions, the narrator fails to reveal the truth to Shales at crucial points in the narrative. "The novel is about the self-deceptions that we tell ourselves to permit ourselves to do unconscionable things," Amerena says. The Shales character — spiky and quick-witted with a "grim hyphen of a mouth" — is an amalgam of some of Australia's greatest women writers. Amerena used Helen Garner's three-volume diaries as a guide when developing the "cadence" of Shales's voice, which made for an interesting encounter when he met the revered writer at the Sydney Writers' Festival. Heart in mouth, he told Garner she'd been a great influence on a central character in his novel. "And she said, 'Well, I bet she's a real bitch, isn't she?'" he says. "It was so perfectly Helen Garner and so perfectly Brenda Shales as well. It was very fitting." Another source of inspiration was Elizabeth Jolley's novel The Well, a "strange psychosexual gothic story", which won the Miles Franklin in 1986. The book explores the relationship between two women — one older than the other — who live together on a farm in the country. The story takes a macabre turn when they hit something, or someone, in their car and dispose of the body in the nearby well. "It's a very strange, opaque text which can be read in many, many different ways," Amerena says. He relished using these points of reference to fashion Shales and her fictitious literary works. I Want Everything is also concerned with the ethics of storytelling. "Writers are always coming up against these ethical considerations [about] what parts of other people's lives are fair game to use, what parts of your own lives are fair game [and] who owns a story," Amerena says. "These are questions that I don't think have a clear answer, but [they're questions] my novel is trying to explore." Amerena says he tried to avoid autobiography in his novel, using instead "small snippets of the world". But he soon discovered how difficult it can be to discern memory from make-believe. "I come from an Italian background, and I have this distinct memory of my grandfather telling me about his father, who'd been interred in a labour camp during World War II, which is what happened to a lot of Italian immigrants. It stuck in my mind for a few years … and it ended up in my book in a very, very small way. "Eventually I came back to my family to get the full story, and they were very confused. They were like, 'What are you talking about?' I somehow completely made it up." The episode was instructive. "It taught me that the boundary between fiction and life is more porous than I'm often conscious of," he says. While I Want Everything is a work of fiction, Amerena and his narrator share some common traits. At a recent literary event, an old schoolmate reminded him how, after reading Les Misérables as a 14-year-old, he, too, announced his intention to write the next great Australian novel. While Amerena laughs at the anecdote now, he says ambition can be a "dirty word" in our literary culture. "Artists have to pretend that they're not ambitious; they pretend the work flows out of them. It's a struggle Amerena knows firsthand. He rewrote a prize-winning but unworkable manuscript to produce I Want Everything, discarding several storylines in the process. "Part of writing this book … has been getting in touch with my own ambition and feeling comfortable with saying that I am proud of this book and … I'm happy people are reading it," he says. I Want Everything is published by Summit Books (Simon & Schuster).
News.com.au
01-07-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
‘Slap in the face': Galvin‘s ‘unnecessary' Tigers swipe as ‘bullying' saga re-emerges
Fellow Tigers defector Lachlan Galvin has delivered a cheeky sledge to his former club, congratulating Tallyn Da Silva on his move to the Eels which has been labelled 'unnecessary'. Galvin, 19, signed with the Bulldogs at the end of May, ending a drawn-out and messy transfer saga that saw him decline a Tigers extension worth a reported $5 million. Da Silva became the latest talented Tigers young gun to depart the club on Monday, joining Parramatta immediately after putting pen to paper on a fresh four-and-a-half year contract. During their time at the merger club, Galvin and Da Silva were reportedly best friends according to Code Sports, having won a 2022 Harold Matthews premiership with Western Suburbs. Galvin took to Instagram on Monday, sharing the Eels' post announcing they had signed Da Silva with a winking face emoji in a clear swipe at his former club. That dig came after Jarome Luai and Sunia Turuva took to social media in the wake of the news the young five-eighth would be negotiating with rivals for a new contract. Luai took to Instagram sharing an image that read 'team first' while Sunia Turuva, posted a story for his close friends which went even further. The post featured a shot of Galvin's locker with the music underneath being former WWE wrestler Shane McMahon's theme song, which is called 'Here Comes The Money'. Galvin's management issued a legal latter to the Tigers claiming he was being bullied in his workplace, and now the young gun has done something 'quite similar' himself. 'I didn't particularly like it to be fair, we condemned those at the Wests Tigers that went online to criticise Lachlan when he was leaving the club,' The Daily Telegraph's Dean Ritchie said on NRL360 on Tuesday night. 'It ended up being a bullying allegation and now Lachlan has gone and done something quite similar, there's no individuals involved in this case. 'But Lachlan's clearly having a dig at the Tigers with the good luck emoji and the smiley wink. I just think it was unnecessary. 'He copped the brunt of it when he was there and didn't particularly like it, so now I am wondering why when he's left he wants to throw a couple rocks back at the Tigers?' Fox League's Paul Crawley echoed Ritchie, saying: 'It's just dumb, isn't it? Social media gets a lot of people into trouble. He probably didn't mean much by it. 'I personally thought at the time (Luai and Turuva's posts), that wasn't bullying. That was them making a statement about their own coach and their club. 'The cheeky emoji there, that's a slap in the face for the Tigers, no question in the world.' The 20-year-old hooker was allowed to depart the Tigers with a fresh extension for skipper Api Koroisau looming, blocking his path in the No.9 jersey until the end of the 2027 season. Following the release, Tigers chief executive Shane Richardson explained that the decision came down to the club wanting to win now. 'The kid wants to play NRL and I think he can. We had to make a decision for the betterment of the club,' he said to News Corp. 'We want to win games now and the kid didn't want to hang around for another two or three years waiting to get his shot at first grade. 'It was also a cultural thing about leadership with Api – that we wanted him to finish his time at the club. 'Once we decided we were going to re-sign Api, it would have been wrong of us to hold him back.' But Crawley wasn't buying it, comparing the Tigers' handling of their rising stars to the Storm, who have a plethora of talent stuck behind the likes of Jahrome Hughes and Cameron Munster. 'I can't make sense of what the Tigers are doing here. I sat here last week and said that Selwyn Cobbo should have been released,' he said. 'But I see that as a completely different situation, because one the Broncos don't want him for next year, they insulted him with the offer they did to keep him. 'He doesn't have a future at the club. Tallyn Da Silva has told 'Richo' he wanted to stay at the club, yet they have let him go? 'What happened to fighting for the top spot in that team? You look at clubs, and here's a good comparison, you look at what the Tigers have done with these players. 'The system that is almost forcing these young players out, then you go to a club like Melbourne where you've got Jonah Pezet, you've got Tyran Wishart, (Su'a) Fa'alogo. 'Playing back up roles but they are more than prepared to spend three years of their career to be apart of that Melbourne system, learn under Craig Bellamy, learn alongside these great players... the Tigers happily let them walk out the door.' NRL360 host Braith Anasta went on to explain that the blame should be put on the Tigers for losing another talented player — not Da Silva who was given the chance to leave. However, the legendary playmaker still couldn't make sense of the move. 'I find it odd, this would happen a lot at different clubs. If you aren't starting, it's not the end of the world,' Anasta said. 'If you are at his age, you have your whole career and whole life ahead of you. 'You don't need to be a bull out of a gate and if you don't get your own way it doesn't mean you just leave the club 18 months in advance. 'It's okay if that's his prerogative, if that's what he wants to do. But we all want to do things in life but we can't because we have signed contracts or made deals with people. Too bad. 'But you don't just get out? They have let him go, so it's not his fault. It's the club's and I don't see how it would have been untenable if he still liked the place and was happy. 'You don't need to play Api for 80 minutes either, you can play (Da Silva) more. Api could get injuries, it doesn't make sense.' Speaking to News Corp, Luai weighed in on the situation, explaining he was frustrated to see yet another talented player in Da Silva depart the Tigers. 'It's a bit disappointing to be honest,' Luai said. 'I think he was on his way to becoming a great player, I still think he is. But I think he just wanted more opportunities. 'Obviously we have Api (Koroisau) there, he is our skipper. 'Api still has a lot of footy in front of him as well, I believe that he definitely has a few more years left in those legs. 'In the end Tal (Da Silva) wanted more opportunities for himself. I loved my time around Tal and I wish him all the best. 'What he can bring to a team, I think he is going to be a really good player for a long time.'
ABC News
01-07-2025
- ABC News
Childcare worker charged with more than 70 offences including sexual assault
Over 1,000 children have been recommended to undergo health screening after a childcare worker in Melbourne was charged with more than 70 offences, including sexual assault. Joshua Dale Brown, 26, was charged in relation to alleged offences that took place at a centre in the western suburbs. The accused man had worked at multiple centres between 2017 and 2025. Adele Ferguson has been investigating the childcare industry for 7.30.
ABC News
28-06-2025
- Health
- ABC News
Family of Victorian firefighter's battle with WorkCover over cancer dependency claim
Mick Hughes loved being a firefighter, serving his community and the camaraderie that came with the job — but it was a job that would claim his life. Last year, he died less than a year after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. His widow, Heather, has little doubt the cancer was caused by decades of exposure to toxic chemicals in fires. After a battle with WorkCover his disease was recognised as an occupational illness, but when Heather made a dependency claim after he died, it was rejected. "I was quite shocked because initially I thought, well, you've already accepted liability," she said. "You've already paid for his medical expenses, paid for his wages while he was sick, and now that he's gone, he's not covered. "It's double standards." Dependency claims entitle a worker's dependents to financial support following a work-related death. The rejection is a decision Ms Hughes is now fighting, and her family's plight has highlighted deficiencies and inconsistencies in a system that is meant to recognise the high risk firefighters have of contracting deadly cancers. "He was a very fit man, but was always concerned about attending all these toxic fires," Ms Hughes said. "He attended about six metal recycling fires in the western suburbs and then he would come home, and he'd say, 'I just try and keep away from the smoke'." In Victoria, 15 cancers are part of presumptive rights, meaning firefighters who get them automatically get compensation and assistance because of the link between the disease and firefighting. Similar schemes exist in other states. Throughout his nearly 35 years in the fire brigade, Mr Hughes attended dozens of toxic fires, including the Coode Island disaster in 1991. Victoria's WorkCover system, through provider Gallagher Bassett, recognised that his cancer was a work-related illness and provided him with assistance. But it wasn't without a fight. Pancreatic cancer is not one of 15 cancers that automatically qualify for compensation, and the claim was initially rejected. "I said, 'Mick we're fighting this'," Ms Hughes said. "He didn't have the strength to fight it, but I said, 'I'm going into battle for you, Mick. Someone needs to have a voice for you'." After conciliation, Gallagher Bassett accepted the claim. But there was more heartache after he died. Gallagher Bassett told Ms Hughes she could make a dependency claim, which she did, only to have it rejected. The company referred questions to WorkCover, who said it did not comment on individual claims. It said dependency claims were assessed differently to those made by an original recipient. Ms Hughes has appealed the decision, but she is speaking out because she wants the law changed to protect other firefighters who will get cancer. In other states, firefighters are covered for pancreatic cancer, as are federally employed firefighters at Melbourne Airport. Ms Hughes said she would fight to set the same standard in Victoria. "I would like to set a precedent for the other firefighters that are coming through that are going to get pancreatic cancer, colon cancer, all the cancers that aren't under the designated cancers at the moment," she said. "Presumptive legislation should cover every single cancer, full stop" In 2023, the state government expanded the eligible cancers to include cervical, breast and ovarian cancers. The then-Minister for Emergency Services, Jaclyn Symes, told parliament that officials were assessing pancreatic and five other cancers to see if they would be added to the list. Current minister Vicki Ward said she had the deepest sympathies for Mr Hughes' family. "We are incredibly grateful for the invaluable service of emergency service workers and the critical work that they do which can increase their exposure to certain types of cancer,'' she said. "We will continue to monitor whether Victoria's presumptive compensation legislation appropriately reflects the increased risks emergency service workers can face due to their service." United Firefighters Union secretary Peter Marshall said Ms Hughes had suffered from "breathtaking hypocrisy". "The claim is supposed to be there for the dependencies, for the family members,'' Mr Marshall said. "Firefighters are not an expendable commodity, where they can just send them into burning buildings and not provide the protection to their family in the event they get ill. "It's just wrong." The Victorian Opposition is also backing an expansion of the scheme. Liberal MP Nick McGowan said there was "something wrong" if the state couldn't look after those who risked their lives in service. "It's obviously a travesty, it's wrong and we're looking to the government to reverse it,'' Mr McGowan said. Ms Hughes has vowed to keep fighting. "This man served his community for 35 years," she said. "He put his life at risk for the community and ultimately, he lost his life. "Was it worth it? No, it wasn't worth it. Being a firefighter was not worth losing his life."
