Mr NEUMANN (Blair) (19:55): I want to pay tribute tonight to Hugh Devlin O'Doherty, also known as Hughie O'Doherty. Hughie passed away in July 2019, and I was pleased to be at his funeral to pay tribute to him at St Mary's Catholic Church, Ipswich, on 6 August 2019. He was, in the words of respected sports journalist and entertainer Steve Haddan, who made a beautiful eulogy for Hughie, 'a beautiful man, the pride of Ipswich'. I'm pleased to say that over the last 12 years as the federal member for Blair I got to know Hughie and was happy to help him with some Centrelink issues on the sad passing of his wife, Dianne. I remember the day I told him at Brothers Leagues Club that as a child I supported his beloved Valleys Diehards football club because of him and that he was my rugby league hero even then. He was so modest, genuine and decent, and I hope to do him justice tonight. Hughie was born and bred in Ipswich and lived there all his life. He came from a big Catholic family and attended the local Catholic schools. He was a bald bloke in a number 12—in those days hookers played 12. In Steve Haddan's wonderful book, Our game: the celebration of Brisbane Rugby League 1909-1987, Wally Lewis is proudly on the front, but a bloke called Hughie O'Doherty, with a bald head and a Valleys Diehards jersey—the boys in royal blue, as they call themselves—is on the back. He would dump big blokes in the dust. In the scrums, when scrums actually mattered, Hughie would take everyone on. He could steal the ball like no-one else. He was a superstar in a team of megastars who dominated the Brisbane Rugby League. Hughie would be a cult hero in the NRL if he played today. In the early 1970s he went and joined Valleys Diehards. He made them even more famous—they were the great rugby league team, a bit like Manchester United or Liverpool, or St George or South Sydney in the NRL—and he played game after game for Valleys. In that era, Valleys dominated in a way that you couldn't believe. In those days we had Valleys, Brothers, Redcliffe, Wynnum-Manly, Norths, Souths, Easts and Wests, and the number of people who would follow the Brisbane Rugby League was simply astonishing. If you look at the YouTube of Valleys Diehards playing Easts Tigers in that memorable game when Jeff Fyfe kicked the field goal, they were on the football field, the spectators at Lang Park, and here was Hughie, tackling his heart out, playing in one of the most famous games. The week after he won his first grand final he married his sweetheart, Dianne, in his Catholic Church. He was the son of a veteran. He himself was in the CMF. He was too small for Brothers in Ipswich, but he went and played for Railways and then Norths Tigers. Johnny Lang said that he was the best hooker he had ever played against, apart from Australian Captain Max Krilich. Hughie O'Doherty was beloved also by Wally Lewis, who said: 'He was a little bloke, but tough in defence. Those scrums he was in were a battle royale.' His Valleys Diehards teammates were there giving a guard of honour, as was the local RSL, on the day. After hanging up his boots at the age of 31 he continued a lifetime of service to Ipswich sport. He coached softball, hockey, first grade at Ipswich Brothers and local Ipswich rep teams, and gave decades of service to the Brothers board and the Christian Brothers confraternity of sport. He sold raffle tickets for the club and raised close to a million dollars over the years. Fans would flock to Brothers on Friday nights and Saturday nights just to buy a raffle ticket and talk to Hughie—that's what Steve Haddan says, and he's absolutely right. It was Hughie O'Doherty and Jeff Gill at the 2010 Queensland Cup Final that inspired Steve to write this book. Ipswich is known for Alfie Langer and the Walters brothers, but Ipswich should also be known for Hughie O'Doherty, who played for Queensland. He would walk into the Brisbane Broncos team now. He would play State of Origin for sure, and he would play for Australia. He was a fantastic player in his era. It goes to show what Ipswich can do. I urge the NRL to support the Western Corridor Pride for an NRL team based in Ipswich, Logan and Toowoomba. That's the heartland of rugby league in Queensland, and the days when Ipswich, Toowoomba and Brisbane played in the Bulimba Cup should never be forgotten, but neither should the contribution of Hughie O'Doherty. We need another Hughie O'Doherty. Just imagine if he played for the Jets in the NRL. Vale, Hughie O'Doherty. House adjourned at 20 : 00