Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have been informed that Dave Brockhoff is seriously ill in the Prince of Wales Hospital and on behalf of this House, and especially on my own behalf and that of Tony Abbott, I send to him our very best wishes. When it comes to modern footballers, the toughest of the tough, the strongest of the strong all stand on the shoulders of Dave Brockhoff. He is the son of a flour miller and he used to play rugby for Sydney University, New South Wales and the Wallabies. He played for the Wallabies in 1949 when they first won a Bledisloe Cup. It would be 30 years later that Brock would be the coach when the Wallabies again won the Bledisloe Cup. He has been made an honorary fellow of the University of Sydney, he was granted a Medal of the Order of Australia in 2006 and he is regarded by the Australian Rugby Union as a classic Wallaby statesman.

Brock is famous for his motivational speeches. In one his many speeches, he is credited with 'having loosened the hinges on a dressing room door so he could charge through it trying to inspire his troops before a game'. That was against Randwick on Anzac Day—and I note the soldiers present in the gallery. We salute Brock for his challenge ahead.