Who are the best sports people to come from Bundy?
Bundaberg has produced some quality athletes over the past few decades. We’ve compiled a list of the best.
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Bundaberg sportsmen and woman have produced some incredible moments on the national and international sporting stage over the past century.
Across multiple sports, Bundaberg exports have shown they can match it with the best.
We’ve compiled a list of those who have gone on to dominate at either state, national or international competitions.
Here is the list, in alphabetical order.
You can also vote in our poll of who is the best sports star below.
Mick Bolewski
Bolewski was one of the first Bundy players to ever play for the Kangaroos in rugby league after first playing union. He made his debut in 1908. Bolewski became the first overseas player to play more than 100 games for English club Leigh in competition. Bolewski was a pioneer in the sport alongside his three other brothers with one of them, Henry, also playing for Australia.
Clint Bolton
Bolton made more than 400 appearances in the NSL and the A-League for five clubs winning three titles in those leagues. The Brothers Aston Villa junior also made four appearances for the Socceroos in his time with the national team.
Josh Brillante
Brillante is one of three Bundy players to play for the Socceroos, making his debut in 2013. The 29-year-old has also won two A-League premierships and two A-League championships with Sydney FC. He also played overseas with clubs in Greece and Italy. The midfielder is one of two Rum City players to make more than 100 appearances in the A-League and has played for five clubs in the competition.
John Bylsma
A two time Olympian and a Commonwealth Games silver medallist, Bylsma is one of Bundy’s best track cyclists. Bylsma won the national title in the individual pursuit nine times and was a member of seven teams who won the national title as well. Byslma won silver at the 1966 Games in Kingston in the individual pursuit.
David Carter
A former top 100 singles player, Carter is one of the best tennis players to come from the region. Carter, also a top 150 doubles player, won six ATP doubles titles in his career and made the quarterfinals in doubles at the Australian Open and the French Open.
Isaac Cooper
Cooper is already an Olympic medallist despite being just 18-years-old. The talented swimmer was part of the 4x100m mixed medley relay team which won bronze at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. He has since gone on to win silver, earlier this year, in the same event at the world championships. Competing in the 50m and 100m backstroke, Cooper is one of the fastest athletes in the world for his discipline and is on the verge of becoming a star.
Allan Davis
Davis is one of only a handful of Bundy athletes to claim gold at a Commonwealth Games, winning the men‘s road race in 2010. He also won bronze in 2006 at the Melbourne games. Davis also conquered the world, competing at the Tour de France, Giro d‘Italia and the Vuelta a Espana. Davis’ biggest success came in 2009 when he won the Tour Down Under, becoming the first and only Bundy rider to achieve the feat.
Vow and Declare
The 2019 Melbourne Cup winner is part owned by Bundaberg family Anthony and Siobhan Lanskey and their sons Ben and Lachie. They are part of 13 owners of the horse. Vow and Declare won Australia’s greatest horse race three years ago and is in contention to win it again this year.
Frank Donnelly
Bundy‘s best ever squash player reached world number two at one stage of his career as he played on the professional circuit for almost a decade in the 1970s and 1980s. He also won the 1979 Australian, New Zealand and Spanish singles titles in the amateur era. Donnelly was also a successful coach in the sport.
Troy Elder
Elder is the only Bundy sporting athlete to win gold at the Olympics and the Commonwealth Games. The hockey player achieved the feat for the Kookaburras at the 2004 Athens Olympics and the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games. Elder also won bronze in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, scoring a hat trick in the match. A talented striker he was also part of one of the most successful Queensland teams that claimed four titles in five years from 2003 to 2007 in the Australian Hockey League. When he retired he had the most appearances ever for his state.
Thomas Edgar
One of Bundaberg’s best ever volleyball players. Edgar has represented Australia at the Olympics, in 2012, and been part of the national team for almost 15 years now. He also won silver with Australia at the Asian Championships in Tehran in 2019. Edgar currently plays overseas for Galatasaray in Turkey and has played for clubs in seven other countries in his career.
Ameliaranne Ekenasio
The former The Waves netballer has been one of the best for New Zealand, the Silver Ferns, in the past few years. She is now the captain of the Kiwis and has made more than 50 appearances for the national team. The talented shooter qualifies for the national team through her father. Ekenasio helped New Zealand win the 2019 World Championships, beating Australia, but missed out on this year’s Commonwealth Games due to fitness and injury. She’s still chasing an elusive medal at the Games after missing out on one in her only Commonwealth Games appearance in 2018 on the Gold Coast.
Daph Geddes
A pioneer for the sport of netball, Geddes was an accomplished player and a selector for Queensland and Australia. She also helped create the Nippers program for children in Bundy and across the state and helped the sport thrive in juniors. The previous netball courts at Kendalls Flat are named in her honour.
Nerida Gregory
Not many players can say they’ve beaten Steffi Graf on grass, but Bundaberg’s Nerida Gregory did it in 1983 at Wimbledon. The tennis player is one of the best female players to come from the region. Gregory is a two-time girls doubles champion at the Australian Open and made the quarterfinals of the same event in doubles twice. She also made three finals, one in singles and two in doubles, during her career on the WTA.
Rebecca Greiner
The 23-year-old has had a stellar year so far, entrenching herself as one of the leading female hockey players in the country. The attacker was part of Australia’s team which won the silver medal at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and bronze at the World Cup this year. She’s made more than 20 appearances for the Hockeyroos and is on track to compete in her first Olympics in 2024. Greiner is a former St Luke’s student.
Taryn Gollshewsky
The athletics star narrowly missed out on a medal at the recent Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in the discus. She was 0.14cm short of bronze in her third Games. Gollshewsky is one of Australia’s best in the sport. She’s won two national championships and an Oceania championship in her career so far.
Lucy Hamilton
Don’t be surprised if Lucy Hamilton is a name involved in the Australian women’s cricket team in years to come. At just 16, Hamilton has already represented Queensland in the Women’s National Cricket League and recently made her debut for the Brisbane Heat in the WBBL. Hamilton, who is a The Waves junior, plays her cricket for Sunshine Coast in the premier cricket competition. A left arm fast bowler who can bat as well, she is set for big things in her career.
Noel Hazzard
A rugby league centre who played for Australia and Queensland in the 1950s. He made 14 appearances for Queensland and 13 for Australia. Hazzard played for Natives in Bundaberg during his career and was put in Bundaberg’s team of the century for rugby league.
Bill Heidke
Heidke will always have a special place in Bundy history as the first player to captain the Kangaroos. He played four matches for his country and captained just once. Heidke was also the first Bundy player to represent Australia alongside Mick Bolewski. He also represented the Queensland Maroons four times in his career.
Coen Hess
The second rower has made more than 140 appearances for the North Queensland Cowboys since making his debut in 2015. Hess has represented Queensland in State of Origin and also played in the 2017 NRL grand final. Hess was born and bred in Bundaberg before moving to Townsville at the age of six.
Antonio Kaufusi
Kaufusi was the first Bundy league player to play for two countries, representing Australia and later Tonga.
He also represented Queensland and played over 200 NRL games for four clubs. Kaufusi is currently the coach of The Waves in the Bundaberg Rugby League and won a premiership with the club in 2018.
Felise Kaufusi
Kaufusi has done it all in rugby league during his career and he is one of Bundy’s best talents. He’s won the NRL premiership twice with Melbourne and represented Queensland, Tonga and Australia. Kaufusi won the World Cup with Australia in 2017 and is trying to win this year’s World Cup with Tonga. Next year he’ll create history, being one of the first players to play for the Dolphins as the team enters the NRL.
Patrick Kaufusi
Kaufusi has played NRL, Queensland Cup and even represented his country Tonga. Kaufusi has represented Melbourne, North Queensland and St George in the NRL, making 31 appearances in all competitions. This year, playing for the Townsville Blackhawks in the Q-Cup, he was the best player for the club. In 2018, playing for Easts Tigers, he also won the second rower of the year award.
Aaron Kemps
The former professional cyclist rode for multiple international times during his career. Kemps won a couple of stages in the Herald Sun Tour and was also a national criterium champion in 2010. He also finished third on a stage of the Paris-Nice tour in 2005 and competed in the Commonwealth Games in 2006.
Les Kiss
Kiss has not only forged a successful career in league but he has done the same in union. Kiss represented Australia and Queensland during his time at the North Sydney Bears. After retiring he then coached some of the biggest teams in union including the NSW Waratahs and test teams Ireland and South Africa. He is currently coaching in England.
Aaron Kleinschmidt
Kleinschmidt is a former gold medallist for Australia in hockey, helping the Kookaburras to Commonwealth Games gold in 2018 and also a Champions Trophy success in the same year. He made more than 50 appearances for Australia during his career. Kleinschmidt might have been based in Melbourne for the majority of his childhood, but he did grow up in Bundaberg and has plenty of family in the region.
Mitch Langerak
The former The Waves junior is Bundy‘s most capped Socceroo with eight caps. He is also the only Rum City player who has won an overseas title. He’s won a German Cup, two Bundesliga titles and a Bundesliga 2 title while at German clubs Borussia Dortmund and Stuttgart. The goalkeeper is currently playing in Japan with Nagoya Grampus.
Lachlan Lam
Lam might have been born in Sydney but he has connections to Bundy through his mother. The halfback is currently with Papua New Guinea, playing in their rugby league world cup team. He joins his father, Adrian Lam, who also played for the PNG during his career. Lam is currently playing for Leigh, in England, who just got promoted to the English Super League.
Rosemary Lassig
Lassig was Bundy‘s best swimmer and was unlucky not to win gold at the Olympics during her career. The talented swimmer became the first Queenslander to break a world record, breaking the 110 yards breaststroke mark in 1960. She became the first and more than likely only person in history to set the time in Bundy with a swim of 1.21.22. Lassig‘s performance qualified her for the 1960 Olympics in Rome but she was unable to compete in her pet event as it wasn’t an event at the games. She won silver in the 4x100m medley relay in Rome. Her career ended not long after at the age of 19. She died at the 76 in 2017 after a battle with Alzheimer‘s disease.
Kyle Laybutt
The former North Queensland Cowboys player is currently in the Papua New Guinea squad at the Rugby League World Cup, playing at half back. He scored his first try for the country earlier this week as PNG defeated Cook Islands. The 26-year-old has made more than 100 appearances for the Townsville Blackhawks in the Queensland Cup and has the talent to be back on an NRL list sometime soon.
Dick Marks
Bundaberg’s most capped Wallabies player with 17 appearances. He moved to Brisbane early in his career to go to school and pursue his sporting dreams. He made his debut for Australia in 1962 and is the only Bundaberg player to win a game in New Zealand against the All Blacks. He was later a director of coaching for the Australian team from 1974 to 1995, guiding the team to one of the most successful eras in their history.
Rheed McCracken
The only Bundy athlete to ever win medals at three Paralympic Games and the 25-year-old could certainly add to it in the next few years. He’s won silver in the T34 wheelchair 100m event at the 2012, 2016 and 2020 Games and also bronze in the 200m (2012) and 800m (2016). McCracken is also a former world record holder in the 100m in the same class.
Tate McDermott
The Bundaberg-born Wallaby is currently one of the top scrumhalfs in the country. McDermott has made more than 60 appearances for the Queensland Reds, helping the team to the Super Rugby AU title in 2020. He made his debut for the Wallabies later that year and has made 16 appearances for the team. But he hasn’t played any games this year for Australia.
Graham McKenzie and Noel Bullpitt
The duo were members of Bundaberg Surf Life Saving Club‘s famous march past team which won 17 national titles between 1959 and 1989, a record which might be hard to beat. The duo and the team have been inducted into the Surf Life Saving Hall of Fame.
Mal Meninga
The Bundaberg-born player was one of the best to play rugby league, representing Queensland and Australia and leading both sides to glory. He made 32 appearances for Queensland during a 16-year career for the Maroons but his best was yet to come for Australia. Meninga is the only player to represent Australia in four Kangaroos tours and captain two of them. He also scored the most points and goals for Australia at the time when he retired. At club land, he led Canberra and Souths to titles in the Australian Rugby League and Brisbane competitions. He then coached Queensland to a record eight straight State of Origin titles before guiding Australia to the 2017 World Cup. He is on track to win another for Australia at this year’s World Cup in England.
Tom Miles
The only Bundaberg racer to ever win the Stawell Gift, Miles achieved the feat in 1927. A year later, he became the best in the world, winning the World Sprint Championship in Melbourne. Miles attended Bundaberg South State School as a junior. He died in 1961.
Clinton Moore
Moore won the freestyle moto cross world title in 2015 by claiming the Red Bull X-Fighters title in Mexico City. He has also promoted the city to the world with his famous trick, the Bundy, named after the Rum City. Moore has also had success in one of the most famous sporting events in the world, the X-Games.
Ken Nagas
The Bundaberg rugby league player has represented Australia and won an NRL premiership as well. The winger made more than 140 appearances for Canberra from 1992 to 2002, playing in the Raiders 1994 premiership success. He scored 59 tries for the club during that time. Nagas’ performances earned him selection for New South Wales in the State of Origin in 1994 and 1997, in the Super League era. He also represented Australia in the Super League era.
Tracey Oliver
Oliver was a successful Paralympian swimmer who won medals at two games in 1992 and 1996. She won silver in the S7 50m freestyle in Atlanta after claiming bronze four years earlier in Barcelona. Oliver had a short career in the sport, retiring at the age of 21 after the games in 1996.
Bill Pearson
Pearson never played for Australia in rugby league but the five eighth did play against England and Australia in his time playing for Queensland and Bundaberg. He played for Queensland six times in the 1950s while playing in Brisbane’s premier competition. Pearson then returned to guide Brothers, in Bundaberg, to multiple titles in the late 60s. His performances put him in Bundaberg’s team of the century as he was named as captain and coach of the side.
Michelle Pearson
One of only two athletes from Bundaberg to win a medal at an Olympic and Commonwealth Games. Pearson won bronze in swimming in the 200m individual medley at the Los Angeles 1984 games before winning gold in the 4x200m freestyle relay at the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh.
Prince of Penzance
The 2015 Melbourne Cup winner is part owned by connections who live in Bundaberg. Bruce Dalton, a lawyer, owns part of the horse which stunned the world a few years ago. Prince of Penzance was more than 100-1 to win but defied the odds to claim Australia’s most prestigious event.
Chris Pitt
A two-time Paralympian, Pitt has represented Australia in shooting at the 2016 and 2020 Paralympic Games. In his first ever Games, he almost medalled, finishing fourth in the mixed 25 metre pistol event after a shoot off for bronze.
Ian Prior
One of only three players in the history of the Western Force to play 100 games, Prior is another standout scrumhalf from Bundaberg. Prior has represented Australia in under-20 and at one stage could have represented Zimbabwe. Prior will be playing until 2024 after signing a two-year-deal with the Force earlier this year.
Jim Quaite
Hockey Queensland wouldn‘t be what it is now without Bundy’s Jim Quaite. He helped form the peak body and set up the State Hockey Centre as he became president. The formation led to a Maroons dominance in the sport. Quaite was also a state player and coach and guided The Waves Cities in Bundaberg to 16 straight titles in the 1960s and 1970s.
Tony Rea
Rea made more than 120 appearances for North Sydney in the NRL before heading overseas to play for the London Broncos in England. He made more than 40 appearances for them before coaching the team from 1999 to 2014, in two periods, in more than 190 games. Rea also coached the ACT Brumbies in 2011 after signing as an assistant and then taking over as coach two games into the season.
Sam Reid
The Bundy born AFL player might have only been here for a couple of years but we’ll claim him. Reid grew up on the Sunshine Coast before being recruited by the Western Bulldogs in 2007. He played 10 games for them before moving to GWS and playing another 98. Reid played in the 2019 Grand Final for the Giants.
Ray Reynolds
Bundy‘s second most successful cricketer behind Don Tallon. Reynolds played for Queensland in the Sheffield Shield in the 1950s and 1960s and was unlucky not to play test cricket. Reynolds was a team selector and manager for Queensland from 1979 to 1985.
Connie-Leigh Rixon
The Sunshine Coast bowls player is currently living in Bundaberg, after being with Bundaberg Tourism for the past three years. Rixon represented Malta in bowls at the 2018 and 2022 Commonwealth Games in women’s pairs and fours, winning a bronze in the fours at the 2018 Games on the Gold Coast.
Samantha Schmidt
Schmidt is one of the upcoming rising stars in para-athletics. The 21-year-old represented Australia at the Paralympics last year in Tokyo, finishing sixth in the discus in the F38 class. This year, she won two national titles in the para open class, claiming the discus and shot put titles.
Bernard Schulte
Bundaberg’s first ever Wallaby, Schulte made his debut for the Green and Gold in 1946 after serving in World War II. A talented halfback, Schulte dominated for Queensland just before the war but was never picked for Australia until after the war. His two games for the Wallabies were both losses.
Emma Sheers
The Bundy water skier was the first ever Australian woman to win the jumps world title in 1999 before adding another title in 2003. She also claimed the slalom titles in 2001 and 2003. Sheers was the best in her sport and was named in the Queensland sport hall of fame in 2017 for her achievements.
Michelle Steele
The Bundy speed demon excelled in not one or two sports but an incredible three. Steele was the first female to compete for Australia in skeleton at the Winter Olympics in 2006. She was also a level nine gymnast and a surf lifesaver. Steele finished fourth at the national titles in women‘s beach flags before she changed sports.
Kijah Stephenson
A junior on the rise in football. Stephenson earlier this year signed for the Brisbane Roar in the A-League women after impressing for Brisbane City in the NPL women’s competition. A winger, Stephenson rose to prominence after playing junior for Brothers Aston Villa in Bundaberg before playing for the Sunshine Coast Fire. She should make her debut for the Roar sometime this season.
Don Tallon
Tallon was not only Bundy‘s best cricketer, he was one of the world’s best. The wicketkeeper made his debut for Queensland in 1933 before finally getting a call-up to the Australian team in 1946. Tallon played 21 tests and was part of the Invincibles side that toured England in 1948 and remained unbeaten. His performance during that tour led Wisden, one of the most respected cricket magazines, to name him as one of their five players of the year. Tallon retired from Australia and Queensland duty in 1953. The wicketkeeper lived in the Rum City until his death in 1984 at the age of 68.
Marilyn Tesch
Excelling in tennis, Tesch is a former quarter finalist, twice, at the Australian Open in doubles. A talented player, she was runner-up to Evonne Goolagong Cawley at the 1970 Australian Hardcourt titles and has also won New Zealand championships in the past.
Maxwell Walters
The Bundaberg cricketer played 13 first class matches for Queensland from 1975 to 1979 and also played a couple of one day matches in his career for the state. One of them was 1975/1976 One Day Cup, which was Queensland’s first ever national title in cricket. Walters after his career served as the Queensland Cricket CEO from 2015 to 2019.
Chantel Wolfenden
The Paralympian was the star of the 2004 Athens event, claiming gold in the 400m freestyle in S7 class and winning five other medals at the Paralympics. She was Australia‘s most successful swimmer and retired before the Beijing games in 2008. Wolfenden was awarded with an Order of Australia medal for her performances.
Emma Zielke
Zielke is one of Bundy’s finest AFL footballers. She created history by becoming the first ever captain of the Brisbane women‘s AFL team and helped guide the team to the AFL women’s premiership in 2021. The 34-year-old has also won three Queensland women‘s AFL titles and was one of the players that formed the Coorparoo women’s club, who she plays for now. She is a pioneer of women’s AFL hitting the national stage.
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