BY JOHN DAVIDSON
Gorden Tallis is one of the most famous names in rugby league, but his father Wally blazed a trail for his son and many others decades ago.
Wally, who passed away in 2016 at the age of 75, was a tall, rangy fullback in the 1960s and 1970s. He skippered a ground-breaking Indigenous All Stars team that toured New Zealand in 1973, was a pioneer for indigenous players and went on to coach in his later years in Townsville.
Wally worked in juvenile detention centres throughout Queensland, helping troubled youth. Such was his impact in the region, both in sport and through his community work, that he has a street named after him next to Queensland Country Bank Stadium in Townsville.
“Dad’s not one of those guys who talked about anything, but in north Queensland every time I go home, it’s a cool thing as I’m his son,” Gorden tells rugbyleaguehub.com Long Reads.
“I was never Gorden Tallis, and I’m still not. When I go home I’m Wally’s boy, Wally and Judith’s boy. And we will never be anything different because of the standing he had in the community.”
Such was Wally’s humbleness and quiet nature, his son doesn’t know much about his father’s stint for Leigh Centurions in 1964/65. The history books state that Wally signed for Leigh from the Townsville Past Brothers team and found work in a local engineering company. It was the Indigenous player Wally McArthur, who played for Rochdale Hornets, who recommended him to Leigh.
Wally only played six first-team games for Leigh, making his debut against Wignes, but is strongly remembered. In his second game he kicked the match-winning penalty goal in a 6-5 victory against Leeds.
While three decades later Gorden would build a career as a firebrand forward, nicknamed ‘The Raging Bull’, for Brisbane, Queensland and Australia, Wally was ‘The Gentle Giant’. Known for his quiet personality.
“I didn’t know anything about his time at Leigh really, except Bobby Hagan was another guy and he came over at the same time,” Gorden says.
“There might have been a few North Queensland guys who came over here to play. Dad never really spoke about his career, and I’m the youngest child too.
“Dad had done his playing by the time I came around. So my sisters used to go to the footy when Dad was still playing, as they’re about 10 years older than me, but the stories I heard were from someone else.”
Gorden explains from the lobby of the Crowne Plaze Hotel in Leeds, where the Kangaroos are staying. Tallis the son has been an assistant coach for Australia on their bid to retain the 2025 Ashes.
And as the green and gold prepare for the final Test, the 52-year-old recounts memories of his father and learning about his time playing in northern England.
“When I came over for the World Cup in 2022, the day after the final in Manchester I drove out to Leigh Centurions and there was a little old pub and I met some of Dad’s teammates,” he says.
“It was really cool. They gave me a Laminex print of his number and programs, and I took them home and gave them to my Mum.
“That’s cool because today everything’s documented and there’s TV on every game, but back in those days the game was lucky to be on radio.
“Just to be over here and this week I went to Headingley and they’ve got the top 30 players on the wall, and to be able to go to Leigh Centurions and they had photos of Des Drummond and the wall, all that kind of stuff, it’s pretty cool.
“At home in Australia we don’t tend to do that, we don’t document as much as they do over here, which is a shame.
“A couple of my dad’s teammates said there was a big black fella who used to walk around town in a t-shirt and a pair of shorts. And I’ve found myself the last few days in Leeds walking around in a t-shirt and shorts.
“It was cold, but not that cold. I was just too lazy to put warm clothes on.”
Today, the Leigh link remains strong, with the club coached by Adrian Lam, a former teammate of Gorden’s in State of Origin. The rugby league world is a small one. Wally might have passed but his legacy lives on.
“He was a big guy,” Gorden says.
“We played every sport when we were kids – cricket, Aussie Rules, basketball, softball, he was really good at a lot of sports.
“He was a trailblazer for Indigenous players. That only got documented after one of the State of Origins.
“He was the first Indigenous captain to leave Australia and took away a team. It was made up of a lot of Queensland and NSW guys and they went over to New Zealand and now that game is back on the calendar, and you see Latrell and those guys and you see the two cultures meet.
“They know a lot about each other and that’s fantastic.”
With the Ashes series winding down, Gorden is planning his own family holiday across England. His fondness for the UK and its people is evident.
“I love it here,” he says
“My wife’s mum was born in Newcastle [on Tyneside] and we catch up with that side of the family when we’re over here.
“I’m bringing over my son, so he’s got to see where his grandmother was born. It’s actually pretty cool and I really love… down south is nice, but I really love the people up north.
“You can actually see the shift in the nature of them and the personalities when you come up north, they’re just nicer guys.”