I have met a bit of a mix and got to know some of them a little. In no particular order:
Sheeds, Hirdy, David Hille, Matthew Knights, his brother and father, Michael Long (quite a few Bombers but plenty here would have met more),
Nathan Jones, John Platten, Jason Dunstall, Russell Greene, Justin Madden,
Andrew Gaze, Lindsay Gaze, Brian Goorjian, Shane Heal,
On a trip with Kurt Fearnley, I met Lee Myung Bak, the Mayor of Seoul, who became the President of South Korea, he eventually resigned in disgrace.
Richie Benaud, Bill Lawry, Keith Stackpole, Slug Jordan, Dean Jones, Merv Hughes, Steve Waugh, Greg Blewett, Greg Matthews (at the height of his "Yeah Yeah" Infamy!), Boof Lehmann, Simon O'Donnell, Ian Healy, Greg Chappell (knobend),
Mick Molloy, Allan from early 90's Aussie band the Sharp, (mates and I unsuccesfully tried to get some of his cast offs), Dave Dobbyn (of slice of Heaven fame), Anne Maree from the strongbow ads of the early 90's and the New Price Is Right (the chick that used to get a kiss off Larry Emdur as he walked out to the stage, Colin Thiele Author most notably of Storm Boy, Jamie Briggs (now disgraced former federal MP who was booted out of office by his former secretary that he "allegedly" unsuccessfully tried to romance)
Chris Tarrant (a fkwit in case you were not sure),
Dunlop, Wimmera1, Koala, Scotty.
That is all I can think of, but I am sure there are probably a few more that I have forgotten.
Oh I forgot mike fitzpatrick was almost in punching distance, (BOOOOO!) as was john elliot after the 99 Prelim (BOOOOO!), Gillon McLachlan (surprised me how tall he was), Mark Williams and Bachar Houli.
What was he like ? (I have much admiration for the man)
Kurt was very driven and was all about achieving success. He did the seeming obligatory trip to the cultural park on the Friday arvo (we arrived about 8PM on Thursday night). I think he also went on the Saturday, morning bus trip over the course to familiarise themselves (competitors only). On the afternoon he opted not to go and do some sightseeing with us even though we got back in decent time and he went out very briefly for dinner Saturday night and was back in much earlier than us (we were back about 8:30-9:00 and did not get on any turps at all). However after he won the marathon on the Sunday, he let his hair down and after the dinner which had the most amazing seafood component I have ever enjoyed He was also one of the leaders for kicking on afterwards. He didn''t get smashed but enjoyed his success.
He was very confident but not arrogant and I really admired him. He loves his sport and is a very keen Panthers NRL fan. He was also a qualified PE Teacher and as I had only just started teaching the year before we compared notes.
Olivia Newton John
Al Grasby
Tim Watson
Longy
Members of Iron Maiden (82 version)
Robert Plant
Kim Thayil
Myles Kennedy
Aussie swim team on a plane coming from Malaysia…all annoying except for that Matt bloke who married Bert Newtons daughter.
The Angels with Dave Gleeson just before Doc died ( supported them at Chelsea Gardens)
Gough Whitlam- huge charisma level. Paul Keating- razor sharp and ■■■■■■ funny when not on his guard. Bob Hawke- charmer. Carlos Santana. Sheeds, Longy. The singer from Twisted Sister. Molly. All of Motley Crüe- scary up close. Angry Anderson in a carpet shop in Kabul. Sat next to The Ramones in a Perth hotel coffee shop. Jack Darling walks his dog at the same park I do. Olivia Newton John was absolutely stunning up close back in the day. As was Elle McP. Jackie Chan tapped me on the shoulder at a reception in Hong Kong and asked me what I thought of his JC-branded wine! Jack Mihocek. Spent a day hosting Nicholas Cage in Nairobi- intense but awesome bloke. Oh yeah, and Lemmy in a bar at the Pier Hotel, Frankston. That'll do.
I once caught a long haul flight where I was seated next to James Gandolfini. He was a lovely guy. We really hit it off, chatted most of the flight about life and family and drank a lot of scotch together.
This was around s4 of the Sopranos when he was the biggest name in town. We got off the flight together and he was mobbed by press (arriving for the Emmys).
Olivia Newton John
Al Grasby
Tim Watson
Longy
Members of Iron Maiden (82 version)
Robert Plant
Kim Thayil
Myles Kennedy
Aussie swim team on a plane coming from Malaysia..all annoying except for that Matt bloke who married Bert Newtons daughter.
The Angels with Dave Gleeson just before Doc died ( supported them at Chelsea Gardens)
Olivia Newton John
Al Grasby
Tim Watson
Longy
Members of Iron Maiden (82 version)
Robert Plant
Kim Thayil
Myles Kennedy
Aussie swim team on a plane coming from Malaysia..all annoying except for that Matt bloke who married Bert Newtons daughter.
The Angels with Dave Gleeson just before Doc died ( supported them at Chelsea Gardens)
Thats all I can remember right now.
Where’d you meet Al Grassby?
In an orange orchard somewhere in Griffith perhaps?
Olivia Newton John
Al Grasby
Tim Watson
Longy
Members of Iron Maiden (82 version)
Robert Plant
Kim Thayil
Myles Kennedy
Aussie swim team on a plane coming from Malaysia..all annoying except for that Matt bloke who married Bert Newtons daughter.
The Angels with Dave Gleeson just before Doc died ( supported them at Chelsea Gardens)
Thats all I can remember right now.
Where’d you meet Al Grassby?
In an orange orchard somewhere in Griffith perhaps?
My parents are currently on a cruise at the moment and they met Mick Malthouse. His entire family are on it too. Mum actually said he was lovely. And that's from someone who despised him.
I was lucky enough to meet Natalie Imbruglia, Shane Warne, Nic Cester and Kate Cebrano and then sat next to Warne and his son at a Coldplay concert.
Olivia Newton John
Al Grasby
Tim Watson
Longy
Members of Iron Maiden (82 version)
Robert Plant
Kim Thayil
Myles Kennedy
Aussie swim team on a plane coming from Malaysia..all annoying except for that Matt bloke who married Bert Newtons daughter.
The Angels with Dave Gleeson just before Doc died ( supported them at Chelsea Gardens)
Thats all I can remember right now.
Where’d you meet Al Grassby?
At my joint in the 70’s when I was a nipper. There was a pic of me in one of the papers presenting him with a Geranium.
My ol man was instrumental in setting up the sherbrooke branch of the labour party back then. They put up a guy named Tony Lamb who actually got in. I think it was initially the Upwey branch. There were many party fund raisers held here. My bro and I used to run amok as kids back then.
Theres still some “its time” badges floating around here.
Theres plenty of pollies I ran into in one way or another back then as a kid.
“Horns up comrades” \m/
Timmy once asked me for my Autograph…Longy actually rang here to speak to my mum when he was piecing together his heritage. They share a distant surname…unfortunately the threads didnt connect. Unlike WADA. Boom tish!!
I did meet him a couple of times because of that though…and due to my old foster sister being tied to the long foundation.
I did get my 93 WEG poster signed by him as a result…so all good!
\m/