WAYNE ‘Jock’ Colley’s contribution to the game of rugby league will be recognised next month when Parkes Shire Council and the Parkes Spacemen club combine to honour the former player and administrator. After about 12 months of planning, the playing surface within the Pioneer Oval complex will be named Jock Colley Field.
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Colley passed away in February 2014 after suffering a stroke while on an evening walk around the town. His passing shocked the Parkes community, while his funeral was attended by some of rugby league’s biggest names.
“Jock and I went onto the Parkes committee in about 1987 when the club was heavily in debt and going nowhere,” then-Spacemen president Warwick Wheeldon said at the time of Colley’s death.
“Jock drove everybody to get behind the club and somehow we managed to bring the club back into the black and get rugby league going again.
“Through his association with Ken Arthurson we were able to bring a lot of big games to Parkes, including the Test match between Australia and France, and he helped reshape Pioneer Oval into what it is today.”
With those words in mind, the gesture to name the playing surface after Colley is quite fitting, according to another friend and Parkes Shire Council staffer Mick Greenwood.
“It’s taken a bit of time to get where we are now because you have to go through the Geographical Names Board and a few other places before you can do these things,” Greenwood said.
“It’s a similar thing to what we have done with the hockey pitch here in town. It’s in the Cheney Park facility but the actual playing surface is names after Steven Davies.
“Fisher Park at Cootamundra has the Les Boyd Field and Willow Park at Junee has Laurie Daley Field. It’s happening more and more often these days around the bush but this motion was voted through unanimously by council when the letter came forward from the Parkes club.
“It means we keep the history and integrity of Pioneer Oval but it puts Jock’s name there forever and a day.”
Ironically, the unveiling of the new Jock Colley Field will come on June 7 when the Spacemen take on their arch rivals Forbes in what is now a traditional long weekend fixture.
Greenwood added that Colley’s family is behind the move, and added a function will be held after the match.
“Jock was president here for 10 years and he was in his sixth term as chairman of the CRL when he passed away, that is the esteem in which he was held,” Greenwood said.
“He was forthright in his views, he fought hard for bush footy and he was never afraid to argue the point if he thought he was doing the right thing for the game.
“Having the unveiling when Parkes plays Forbes is fitting too because Jock actually captain-coached Forbes for a year. He took half the Parkes team with him that year too.
“Afterwards we will have a bit of a function back at the Leagues Club. We were going to have a dinner but we spoke with his wife Bev and decided that was too formal and not what he would have wanted.
“Instead it’s going to be an event where everyone can go back after the footy and have a couple of beers and share some stories