North Queensland rugby league pays tribute to local legend John Moore

The North Queensland rugby league community is in mourning after the loss of one of its greatest advocates. Read the tributes to Cairns’ own John Moore.

Northern Pride Sportsman's Lunch at the Q-Cup game between Northern Pride and Townsville Blackhawks. The Moore family Michael, John, Heather and Sean. PICTURE: STEWART McLEAN

The rugby league community of North Queensland has come together to pay tribute to one of the game’s greatest advocates, Cairns’ own John Moore, who died this week.

Over decades of service to the game, Moore’s resumé reached an extraordinary length, with perhaps his most notable role having been in the founding of the Northern Pride, FNQ’s representative rugby league side.

He was also an inaugural board member of the North Queensland Cowboys, and Chairman of the Queensland Rugby League Northern Division.

His contributions to the game were recognised with life memberships for the Far North Queensland Rugby League (formerly Cairns District Rugby League), QRL Northern and Northern Pride.

Rugby league legend Lionel Williamson remembered Moore as a “man with a big heart”.

Moore (second from right) with fellow Northern Pride board members Anthony Mirotsos, Gail Andrejec, Stephen Tillett, Fred White and Tony Williamson.

“He helped young people grow into good human beings, he was a great family man and a great community man,” Williamson said.

“He never snubbed anyone, was always very polite and just very genuine.

“I love to see his legacy of caring for people and getting the best out of them carried on in rugby league in the region.”

Current Northern Pride CEO Garreth Smith said he was “grateful” for the opportunity to meet and speak with Moore on numerous occasions.

“I’m incredibly grateful for the time that I had with him,” he said.

“It wasn’t heaps, but it was a number of long conversations that we would’ve had over the three and a half years that I’ve been with the club.

“He was always imparting some wisdom onto me about the club or the game or the region, the experiences and things he’d seen over the years.

“When you’re in a position such as mine, you get the privilege of having conversations and meeting some pretty special people, and I think John is definitely one of those.”

Smith said the Pride’s internal workings, processes and procedures may have changed over the years, but the central ethos that Moore imparted would be steadfast.

“At the Pride we’ve tried to keep to the legacy that John wanted for this club when it was founded. It was about local representation and providing a pathway for the kids coming through,” he said.

“That’s something that he was very proud of, that’s a bit part of his legacy. It’s why he believed the Pride should’ve been established.

“He said some pretty special things to me about the work we have done recently for the Far North, and to hear that positive commentary from one of the forefathers of the game up here, that was a pretty big moment for me.

Moore is pictured at his home in Cairns.

“I can 100% say that the intent behind this organisation will not change from that vision that John had. You might evolve it or do it differently, but you still serve that same intent and purpose.”

Cairns councillor and rugby league stalwart Rhonda Coghlan described the significant influence that Moore had on the Cairns community.

“His contributions to rugby league were profound, both within Cairns and beyond,” she said.

“I volunteered with Pride for 15 years, and at every event I can remember seeing him and his lovely wife Heather, who sadly passed on shortly before John.

“He told it how it was. I loved him to bits and I was incredibly sad when I heard the news this week.

“He was such a big advocate for rugby league, and he was always willing to share his knowledge about the game on and off the field. He gave so much time to the game.”

Originally published as North Queensland rugby league pays tribute to local legend John Moore