100 greatest Queensland athletes: The champions who missed out

Picking Queensland’s greatest ever sportsperson was easy compared with picking No. 101. Trying to squeeze so many great Queensland sporting stars into just 100 places was like trying to push all the crown jewels of England into a piggy bank. Here’s the champs who missed out.

PICKING Queensland’s greatest ever sportsperson – Rod Laver – was easy compared with picking No. 101.

Trying to squeeze so many great Queensland sporting stars into just 100 places for the Courier-Mail/Sunday Mail campaign was like trying to push all the crown jewels of England into a piggy bank.

Queensland has produced so many great sporting heroes that a list of 200 would still leave out many household names.

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Two controversial omissions from the Top 100 were surfing icons Stephanie Gilmore and Mick Fanning, who were both deemed to represent New South Wales.

Australian professional surfer Mick Fanning missed out on making the list. Picture: Richard Dobson

Likewise proud Queenslander Ashley Cooper hit the top of world tennis while still living in his hometown of Melbourne. Ray Lindwall, the great fast bowler who ended his career in Brisbane, made his name in cricket and rugby league while in Sydney.

Many popular champions just missed the cut.

As did 7X World Champion Stephanie Gilmore

If you’re favourite Queensland sporting hero failed to make our Top 100, rest assured they were No. 101.

Swimming greats Hayley Lewis and Steve Holland were tied in that spot with code-hopping trailblazer Israel Folau, hockey’s Olympic gold medallist Debbie Bowman, softball veteran Joyce Lester, boxing’s Hector Thompson, cricket’s Peter Burge and basketballer’s Leroy Loggins and Larry Sengstock.

Australian Olympic swimmer Hayley Lewis didn’t make the cut.

There were many others knocking on the door, too, including Queensland’s most successful premiership winning jockey Russell Maddock.

His son Darcy was less than thrilled with Maddock’s omission, writing to The Courier-Mail to say:

``One hopes that a jockey who turned down an offer of 10,000 pounds in 1939 at the age of 21 from John Wren (yes that one) will appear in the 100. John wanted him as his stable jockey in Victoria. Glad he did not accept as I would have been born a Victorian. (shudder). I suppose the only Queenslander to win nine Queensland Premierships would help to get him on the list too.’’

And despite lobbying from his son, Maddock didn’t make it into the top 100.

It didn’t, even though Maddock also rode with success in Singapore, Malaya, France, Sweden, Ireland and the United Kingdom.

In 1959 he was named ``Jockey of the Century” during the Queensland Centennial.

Maddock had a win at his first ride in the UK at Aintree on Mix ‘n’ Match in the Earl of Sefton Plate in 1961.

He couldn’t get past some of the other big name Queenslanders though, showing just how tough the task was for our judges - the doyen of Queensland sportswriting Robert Craddock, three-time Olympic gold medallist Tracy Stockwell, QSport chief executive Peter Cummiskey, trailblazing sports journalist Margie McDonald and me.