Canterbury Bankstown’s top 20 sporting heroes list countdown
Today we start a top 20 countdown of the greatest local sporting heroes from Canterbury Bankstown we reckon might well make the list.
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DURING a long career, our sports writer Lawrence Machado has interviewed legends such as boxer Muhammad Ali, footballer Pele and cricketer Sir Garfield Sobers.
Now he wants to start a local debate about who are the greatest local sporting heroes from the Canterbury Bankstown area.
Today he starts a top 20 countdown of sports men and women he reckons might well make the list.
But what do our readers think? Tell us who you think deserves a top 20 accolade as we continue the list online and on social media.
Is there a slice of local sporting history we can help write?
His research sparked a couple of healthy debates, such as who is the greatest Bulldog: Steve Mortimer or Terry Lamb. He might be nicknamed “Turvey” but we’ll claim the great Mortimer for this survey. And is East Hills Boys High our best sporting school?
JASON CADEE
20. Jason Cadee has plenty of achievements under his belt, as he puts his home town of Greenacre on Australia and international basketball maps.
Cadee, 27, played at the Condell Park basketball stadium and attended Westfields Sports High where he is in their Hall of Fame. He started his career with the Bankstown Bruins in the Waratah League in 2008 and helped them win the state title in 2016.
Cadee, whose mum Debbie played for the Australian women’s team at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, is now a valuable member of the Australian men’s team himself.
In 2010, Cadee was involved in a horrific road accident on the M4 near Quakers Hill but recovered to represent the Boomers.
Cadee, who now plays for Brisbane Bullets in the NBL, played several games with Sydney Kings and also played in Greece.
STEVE FOLKES
19 THE late Steve Folkes is a Canterbury Bulldogs and Australian rugby league great.
Folkes was a member of the champion Bulldogs sides of the 80s, winning four of the six grand finals he contested. He also coached the Bulldogs to the 2004 premiership and was named Dally M Coach of the Year that year.
He began his league career at Punchbowl Boys High School before playing for Bankstown Sports JRC, Bulldogs — where he had 245 first grade games and 24 games for Hull FC in the UK.
Folkes played five Tests for the Kangaroos and nine State of Origin games. In 2014, he was appointed coach of the Australian women’s side.
Regarded as one of the fittest and most dedicated trainers in league, Folkes died suddenly aged 59 in February from a suspected heart attack.
He has been inducted in the Bankstown sporting Hall of Fame.
DON TALBOT
18. Don Talbot is the legendary Australian swimming coach, who was a record breaking junior before ending up as one of our finest coaches. He studied at Bankstown Primary School and Bankstown Technical School and later taught physical education at Revesby Public School.
He coached with the brilliant Frank Guthrie at Bankstown swimming pool where he took over the training of the famous Konrads siblings John and Ilsa, who both broke world records. Talbot, 85, coached Canada at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics and was also in charge of US Olympic team for two years.
He was named Australia’s head swim coach in 1989 and saw them win five golds, nine silver and four bronze medals at the 2000 Sydney Olympics before retiring the next year. In 1981 he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire and an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2007. He was also inducted in the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.
REBCCA RIPPON
17. Rebecca Marie Rippon, 39, from Chester Hill, is the oldest sibling of the famous water polo family which includes Melissa and stepsister Kate Gynther, who are also Olympians. She represented Australia at the 2004 Athens Olympics (they finished fourth) and the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where she won bronze. She was in the squad for the 2012 London Olympics but was cut at the last stage.
Rippon, who retired in 2012, represented Australia 265 times. She won gold medals at the 2006 World Cup and 2012 Pan Pacific Championships and a silver medal at the 2007 World Championships.
Rippon played in the 2011 FINA World Championships and the 2012 Pan Pacific Championships. When she was dropped from the London Olympics team, then head coach Greg McFadden said of her: “(Rebecca) has been an outstanding contributor to the history of Australian women’s water polo.”
GRAHAM WINDEATT
16. Graham Windeatt, now 63, was one of our earliest swimming heroes, winning the 1500m silver medal at the 1972 Munich Olympics, where Australia’s Shane Gould and American Mark Spitz became household names.
In Munich, Windeatt also finished fourth in the 400m freestyle. He just missed winning a medal in the 400m freestyle at the 1975 World Championships and was Australian swim team captain at the 1976 Montreal Games.
Windeatt showed his tremendous potential in 1971 by smashing the men’s world 800m freestyle record while still at East Hills High School at the NSW Combined High Schools swimming championships. Windeatt accepted a swimming scholarship to the University of Tennessee and becoming an All-American, after the team won conference titles. Windeatt later founded Life Advantage Pty Ltd, which focused on promoting a healthy lifestyle.