Debate rages after Tommy Raudonikis robbed of NSW state funeral
Officials have been left scrambling to give rugby league legend Tommy Raudonikis a hero’s send off after a state funeral was emphatically ruled out.
NSW
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Officials were scrambling last night to give rugby league legend Tommy Raudonikis a hero’s send off after the NSW Government emphatically ruled out a state funeral.
Sports Minister Geoff Lee has agreed to waive the hire cost of a venue to hold a memorial for the former Western Suburbs and Newtown Jets star.
But the final decision on whether any memorial will go ahead lies in the hands of his widow Trish, who has asked for privacy ahead of making a decision on Tuesday.
Raudonikis died on Wednesday aged 70 following a long battle with cancer. His funeral will be held at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church at Clear Island Waters on the Gold Coast on Friday at 11am.
Raudonikis’s death sparked a call from Western Sydney leaders for a state funeral in keeping with the one granted to fashion icon Carla Zampatti, who died in a fall at the opera four days earlier.
That call was taken up by the NRL, with lengthy discussions with the NSW government that resulted in the statement from the Sports Minister last night.
Mr Lee said: “Following a request from the NRL, Venues NSW is happy to waive the venue hire fee for the game’s memorial for Tommy Raudonikis. He was one of rugby league’s great characters and players at club and state level, and this is a fitting tribute,” he said.
But an NRL memorial rather than a state funeral has left many disappointed at the NSW government response.
Western Sydney Leadership Dialogue chairman Christopher Brown said: “All I ever wanted was to make sure the community gave Tommy a send off to say thank you.
“It would have been nice to see the government involved in some kind of memorial for Tommy Raudonikis,” he said.
“His contribution was enormous.”
Raudonikis was a Western Suburbs and Newtown halfback who represented NSW on 24 occasions, the last time in the first ever State of Origin match in 1980.
He also represented Australia in 29 tests and World Cup matches.
But he was also known as a larrikin who loved a beer and a scrap and invented the ‘cattledog” cry that would spark an all in brawl on the footy field.
Mr Brown said: “If the government cannot step up to the plate then I am delighted the NRL is prepared to step into the breach and host some kind of memorial
“He was an icon of Western Sydney and some people don’t get why it is important that people memorialise people from the west as well as the North Shore and eastern suburbs
“It is strange that a government that understands Western Sydney so well has a blind spot on this one,” Mr Brown said.
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