the official magazine of the sport australia hall of fame VOL 37 DEC 2014 page 07 SALLY PEARSON 2014 ‘THE DON’ AWARD WINNER page 04 2014 GALA DINNER HIGHLIGHTS page 06 YOU CAN NOW FIND US AT: JOHN NEWCOMBE FACEBOOK.COM/THESAHOF 36TH LEGEND OF TWITTER.COM/SPORTAUSHOF INSTAGRAM.COM/SPORTAUSHOF AUSTRALIAN SPORT Major Sponsor Major Sponsor Major Sponsor In celebrating this anniversary it is appropriate In this issue page to salute those Members who helped create and develop this most distinguished national Hall of Fame. In this regard it was a pleasure Chairman’s Message 02 to present Garry Daly with a certificate recognising his role as Founder and Inaugural Major Sponsor’s Message 03 Chairman and to acknowledge his efforts in nursing the concept to reality. Gala Dinner 2014 04 We also salute; the late Sir Hubert Opperman and Dawn Fraser who contributed greatly as Chairs of our Selection Committee and to Robert de Castella, our current Chair. Importantly, Dawn, who holds the honour of 04 chairman’s being our first female Inductee, also played a valuable role as Chair of the Hall of Fame Club for many years. message With thanks to Sir Donald Trescowthick who Partnerships in sport are critical to chaired our Trust and who in 1987, oversaw a success, so it is with pleasure that I open review and restructure which resulted in our with the news of Etihad Airways’ recent organisation becoming a limited company titled 2014 Legend 06 announcement extending their partnership “The Sport Australia Hall of Fame Ltd” - John Newcombe AO OBE with The Sport Australia Hall of Fame owned and controlled by our Membership. through until 2019. 2014 ‘The Don’ Award winner 07 And to Neale Fraser who succeeded Sir Donald This extension will bring our alliance with the as Chairman, holding the position from 1997 “World’s Leading Airline” to 10 years and will see 2014 Inductees 08 until 2005 when I inherited the task of them continue as both our Major Sponsor as well leadership. Under Neale, a Board of Directors as Presenting Partner of our Annual Induction was established. I extend my personal thanks & Awards Gala Dinner. They also continue to Neale, and all before him, for handing me the their support of our Scholarship & Mentoring reins to such a professional organisation. Program providing invaluable international travel opportunities so that together we can help Sponsorship is imperative for us to deliver on next generation athletes achieve their full potential. our Vision. Etihad Airways’ renewal shows great confidence in our organisation as have our The announcement, made on the occasion of Gold Sponsors DrinkWise Australia and the this year’s 30th Anniversary Gala Dinner, was Australian Sports Commission and Silver just one of many highlights of Australia’s most 08 Sponsor Victoria University. I acknowledge prestigious sporting awards ceremony. The and thank them all and also extend appreciation Great Sporting Moments 09 night also included the Induction of eight new to our Media partner News Corp Australia Members and the recognition of tennis great, and all our supporters and suppliers for their Team Sport Australia Award John Newcombe as our 36th Legend of 09 continued support. A very special thanks to Australian Sport. We ‘enshrined’ three ‘Great Lewis Martin, Gordon Bennett and the team at Sporting Moments’ and recognised two teams 2015 Scholarship Channel Seven Melbourne who went above with ‘Team Sport Australia’ Awards. & Mentoring Program 10 and beyond in their support of this year’s Dinner. Sally Pearson took out the prestigious ‘The We have much to look forward to in 2015 as we Celebrating Great Don’ award and we welcomed five outstanding continue our endeavour to be the best custodian Sporting Moments - DrinkWise 11 young athletes into the 2015 Scholarship and of our nation’s sporting history. We hope to share Mentoring Program, each paired with a Member in your company at next year’s Awards Dinner News from The NSM 12 of the Hall as their Mentor. I extend my sincere to be held on Wednesday 21st October, 2015. thanks to David Bell, Catherine Freeman, Life After Sport - Vic Uni 13 Adam Gilchrist, Stan Longinidis and Debbie I, along with our Board, Selection Committee Watson for taking on this important role. and Staff, who I thank for their combined efforts SAHOF Snippets 14 this year, wish you and your families a very In looking back to 1985 when we Inducted our merry and safe Festive season. first 120 athletes, we can be very proud of all Diary Dates 16 that has been achieved since. Our Membership now totals 533; all of whom made a significant VOL 37 Dec 2014 contribution to this nation’s sporting fabric. This group includes our Athlete Members as well as General Members; recognising those from within Front cover photo: Sally Pearson OAM and Greta Bradman. the areas of coaching, administration, sport science, sports history and media. John Bertrand AM Chairman Sport Australia Hall of Fame 02 Chairman’s Message Major Sponsor Major Sponsor extension brings to 10 years Etihad Airways’ We are excited about the arrival of our first commitment to The Sport Australia Hall of Fame. Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Airbus A380 aircraft in December and look forward to offering The ongoing relationship enables us to work our guests an unrivalled air travel experience. closely together to recognise and support the next generation of Australian sporting In other exciting news, at the time of writing, champions and to promote our common goals we are just weeks from the 2014 Formula One of outstanding performance and achievement. Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix which will take place from November 20-23. The race Outstanding performance is core to the Etihad is Abu Dhabi’s premier sporting event and is Airways business. In the same way that athletes expected to attract a crowd of 60,000 from strive to win medals and improve upon their across the world. Etihad Airways is proud to personal best, we aim to deliver a best-in-class have been the event’s title sponsor since the travel experience and to make each flight inaugural race in 2009. better than the last. sponsor’s Sporting sponsorships are as important to It is our goal to exceed our guests’ the airline as the spirit of winning is to our expectations by constantly innovating and DNA. Our sports sponsorship portfolio also reimagining the flying experience. message includes Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Etihad Airways is pleased to have Earlier this year Etihad Airways unveiled the Melbourne City Football Club, Manchester embarked upon another winning year as all-new product and service offering on our City Football Club, the Etihad Stadium in the Major Sponsor of The Sport Australia Airbus A380 and Boeing 787 Dreamliner Manchester, the England Cricket Team, the Hall of Fame. aircraft. Our intention was to transform each Indian Premier League’s (IPL) franchise cricket cabin to offer guests unparalleled levels of team – the Mumbai Indians, GAA Hurling All We are fast approaching the end of 2014 and comfort, space and service. Ireland Senior Championship and Major what an exciting year it has been. We unveiled League Soccer in the US. our ground breaking all-new inflight product and To achieve this ambitious goal, Etihad Airways the smart new livery for our Airbus A380 and invested five years in the development of the We are pleased to count The Sport Australia Boeing B787 aircraft and will have added 10 new product. We conducted comprehensive Hall of Fame among these prestigious sporting new destinations to our global network by consumer research and workshops in Abu sponsorships and look forward to working year’s end. Dhabi, Sydney, London and New York. We together over the next three years to continue asked travellers what makes a ‘perfect flight’ to recognise sporting excellence in Australia. We have also enjoyed another successful and asked them to help us design the perfect year as The Sport Australia Hall of Fame’s guest experience. Major Sponsor. The result of this research and development is Etihad Airways was honoured to be the Etihad Airways’ groundbreaking new First Presenting Partner at the recent 30th Sport Apartments, First Suites, Business Studios Australia Hall of Fame Annual Induction and and Economy Smart Seats and only on the Awards Dinner. The auspicious occasion A380, The Residence, the world’s first James Hogan marked three decades of The Sport Australia three-room private cabin onboard a commercial President and Chief Executive Officer Hall of Fame recognising and celebrating aircraft complete with its own Butler. Etihad Airways sporting excellence. This inflight product is truly game-changing The evening had special significance for the and 80 per cent of the initiatives we partnership between Etihad Airways and The unveiled in May this year were the direct Sport Australia Hall of Fame as it coincided outcome of the feedback from customer with the renewal of our sponsorship for research workshops. another four years until July 2019. The Major sponsor Photo above: Etihad Airways’ Savoy-trained butlers. Photo above right: The Residence by Etihad. MAJOR SPONSOR’S MESSAGE 03 Major Sponsor Major Sponsor ‘30TH ANNIVERSARY’ GALA DINNER 2014 It’s one of the most famous sayings in Australian greats were Inducted as Members into occasion also marked the renewal of Etihad sport and at this year’s 30th Anniversary the Hall of Fame and five young athletes Airways’ partnership with The Sport Australia Induction and Awards Gala Dinner the “who’s were announced as recipients of the 2015 Hall of Fame for another four years, with who” of Australian sport said ‘Bewdy Newk’ in Scholarship and Mentoring Program to assist Chairman, John Bertrand AM delighted with unison as tennis great John Newcombe AO them achieve their sporting dreams.