Roy has been involved in more sports than you can poke a stick at. He's opened the batting with Keith Stackpole, played rugby with the Lithgow Shamrocks and put on the silks at the Melbourne cup just to name a few.


Gerald Martin MP - Member for Bathurst - his memories of Roy at the Lithgow Shamrocks
I've been asked to list a few of my memories of playing rugby with Roy at the Lithgow Shamrocks. It was the end of my playing career when I first met Roy. What struck me most about Roy was the gusto he had for the game. Roys passion for the game put a spark in our team that we really needed at the time. Roy did it with humility and a streak of creativity that left the opposing team wondering what going on. Roy expected others to follow his example with humility and couldn't tolerate when others were a bit arrogant. I remember this English guy who played in firsts in Leeds UK who had immigrated to Australia. This guy thought he was going to show his colonial cousins a thing or two about rugby. Roy dacked him in the middle of the game and the English guy had a new found humility that he sorely needed.


H.G. Nelson once had a business selling Zils (black Limousines used by the KGB) to clientele who's life was in danger. The most famous of these was Victor Bout, the worlds largest arms dealer.

Victor Bout - Arms dealer



H.G. with Victor Bout and a Zil


In my business, protection of ones life is as necessary as breathing. I needed some armoured plated cars and H.G. was selling a few Zils and some business partners and me went round to have a look. The sight of me and my associates usually scare the hell out of people because we look so much like the Mafiosa. People are usually sycophants around us because they believe that they'll find a horse head in their bed if we're not pleased with them. But not H.G. He was joking round saying things like 'Theres plenty of boot space for you to stow away you're rolled up carpets'. And 'These carpets don't stain no matter what you put on them'. He was pretty funny and we enjoyed his salesmanship. Then he said 'Look, this car is so tough, if you hit it with a rocket launcher the car would still keep running.' H.G. must have forgotten I was an arms dealer and I got one of my associates to get a rocket launcher out of the boot (for display purposes) and got him to fire it at the Zil. H.G's face went white but he didn't know what to say. Anyway after we blew up the Zil I said to H.G. 'The colour of that Zil just isn't my cup of tea' and my associates and me started walking away. The look of total fury on his face was something to behold. H.G. ran after us and was about to deck me when he saw that I was smiling and he realised I was just jerking his chain. We ended up buying a couple of Zil's off him but the look on H.G.s face when we blew up one of his Zil's was worth its weight in gold.

Roy used to open the batting with Keith Stackpole. Keith's most vivid memory was an incident involving Clive Lloyd.

Keith Stackpole - his time with batting with Roy



Roy with his Australian team mates

Roy was one of those people that no matter how much crap people threw at him he could throw it right back times ten. I remember the time Clive Lloyd, during the 1971 test match in Melbourne, told Roy that Roys mother was fat and when Clive stupidly fielded at silly mid on Roy took a shot for six, missed and hit Clive square in the flute. Everyone could see it was an accident except for Clive who could see he had met a man who wasn't going to take it on the chin. Roy said sorry to Clive after the game, though in private Roy saw the funny side, just as the rest of us did.

Back in the 70's H.G. and Olivier Newton-John were once an item. Oliviers friends were a bit frightened of him.
Olivier Newton-John's romance with H.G.

I dated H.G. back in the 70's. H.G. was a great lover and I would have loved it if he was my husband. The problem was that my friends were a bit overwhelmed by him. Sometimes me, H.G. and my friends would catch up for drinks and afterwards some of my friends would leave the restaurant as broken people. They just couldn't cope with H.G's fiery personality. Myself, I loved it, as it added so much excitement to my life. I know H.G. and I probably won't be friends for awhile but I miss that fiery tiger that was inside of him.

Roy rode a few races in the Melbourne Cup despite being quite large. Johns Letts, the 1971 Melbourne Cup winner found it pretty amusing seeing Roy trying to fit through the stalls.
Johns Letts - Melbourne Cup Winner

Roy was a big guy for a jockey and I thought "Who ever let this guy ride in the Melbourne Cup must be stoned". It was funny watching Roy getting into the stalls because they're designed for short guys like me and Roy nearly had to lie flat on his horse to fit through. In the sauna before a big race Roy liked to drink lots of water in front of us. If he caught up with any of us the day before a race he'd always be munching on a pie or a hamburger. I think it was his way of saying, "I might be big, but atleast I can eat a hamburger and drink whenever I want."
Roy puts on the silks