and NOW Then

QRL History Committee

Tribute to Vale Ben Wall – Who became an Ingham resident in the 70s as he managed the Ingham squash courts

GREG SHANNON

INSTEAD of continuing the theme of Qld players from Wet Tropics Times towns, we need to pause and pay tribute to a great contributor to the game of rugby league in North Qld, Ben Wall.

Ben passed away recently at the age of 83 in Brisbane.

Born in Ayr, Ben played rugby league from a young age in the Burdekin, establishing himself as a goalkicking forward, a rarity in the late 1950s.

After playing Foley shield for the Burdekin in 1959 -60, he transferred to Brisbane club Souths (now Souths Logan) in 1961 before taking on a captaincoach role with the Fitzroy club in Rockhampton in 1963.

From Rockhampton, he made the 1964 CQ side and then the Qld side for 2 of the 4 inter-state games against NSW that year. One of these teammates in the 1964 Qld side was Tully’s Angelo Crema.

Ben had a season back in Brisbane with Easts before moving home to North Queensland in 1966, where he went on to captain-coach the Townsville WEAS club to 3 premierships in 4 years. He also coached WEAS after retiring as a player.

By this time, Ben had developed a genuine love for the game of squash, which led to him becoming an Ingham resident when he managed the Ingham squash courts for some years in the 1970s.

In 1978, Ingham-based rugby league administrator and Qld and Australian team manager Jim Caldwell encouraged him to consider a full-time career in rugby league coaching.

Ben was a highly qualified level 4 coach, so he took on a full-time position as NQ coaching director. This role included secretary of the NQ rugby league. It led to a 13-year career as a QRL board member and 10 years on the Australian Rugby League (ARL) board. He also managed various rep sides, including the famous 1995 Qld State of Origin side coached by Paul Vautin with current QRL CEO Ben Ikin, one of the Qld players.

In 2001 He was made a life member of the QRL. One of the many friends and colleagues to pay tribute to Ben was former Herbert Cane and Productivity Services manager Ron Kerkwyk. Ron became friends with Ben by playing squash and recounted how he was a very fair player, agile for a big man and a real gentle giant. Ron thought so highly of Ben that he named his son after him and, like everyone who knew him, is saddened by his passing.