FORMER St Joseph’s Nudgee College rugby coach Todd Dammers trained both the late Halley Appleby and Wallabies player James O’Connor when they played in the college’s 2007 1st XV side.
So for Mr Dammers, now director of rugby at Sydney University, the Wallabies’ 39-20 victory over the South African Springboks side in Sydney last weekend was a bitter-sweet moment.
He was in the crowd watching the game when the Wallabies ran onto the field wearing black armbands in Halley Appleby’s honour.
“It was a lovely moment retrieved from a very tragic event,” he said.
Mr Dammers recalled Appleby’s outstanding promise which led him to recruit the former Nudgee player to play his Colts season at the University of Queensland in 2008.
“I also remember the friendship between Halley and James who boarded together at Nudgee,” he told The Catholic Leader.
Rugby teams in games around Brisbane also paid tribute to the 21-year-old UQ hooker who died following a tackle in a University-GPS match at Ashgrove on July 16.
Nudgee rugby referee and college director of development and communications Paul Daly said, “Halley had aspirations of one day wearing the green-and-gold … he was very goal-orientated”.
“I know that’s why the Wallabies team wore black armbands in their game against South Africa last weekend … in recognition of Halley’s dream of playing for Australia,” he said.
Mr Daly said tributes paid in two games he refereed in Brisbane on the weekend were typical.
“On Saturday when Nudgee played Brisbane Grammar, all boys wore black armbands,” he said.
“Both sides were also asked to step back to their respective 10-metre lines to observe a minute’s silence before the games.”
Mr Daly was among thousands who attended Halley’s funeral at Nambour on the Sunshine Coast on July 22.
Nudgee’s 1st XV and about 20 staff members were part of the guard of honour, he said.
“The enormous number attending Halley’s funeral showed Halley was also a valued member of the Sunshine Coast community,” he said.
Mr Dammers said after the Tri Nations game, he had looked at a YouTube clip showing Halley Appleby and James O’Connor playing together as team-mates in Nudgee’s 2007 1st XV.
“They were both great kids … I was lucky to have them both in the one team,” he said.
“I had a lot to do with Halley when I recruited him to play with the UQ rugby side.
“He was a great fit to the side … very committed to the game and a typical Nudgee type in that he liked a good laugh and loved footy and his mates.
“We all had great hopes for him – he was a great player and a hell of a good person.
“The whole thing has really knocked the wind out of my sails.”
