0
Gunna be an interesting morning around Grandpa Bobbies Christmas tree this year
Hawke's grandson crosses line
By Jon Geddes, Daily Telegraph/FoxSports
November 29, 2006
AS ACTU president, Bob Hawke was the champion of workers' rights and a fierce defender of the freedom to strike.
Now, in a bizarre twist of fate, the former PM's grandson has won a spot in the Australia Sevens rugby squad after a group of players threatened strike action for better pay.
Randwick five-eighth David Dillon, 23, unwittingly found himself embroiled in a game of political football when original squad members were set for industrial action in the lead-up to tournaments in Dubai and George.
The ARU responded by putting together a new squad, with Dillon called up as one of "The Dirty Dozen".
Dillon thought his hopes of making the squad were dashed after he missed the final selection trials through injury.
"Then I got a call from coach Glen Ella who said there had been a few debacles and asked, if I was fit, did I want to come to Dubai," he said.
Dillon had not attended the meeting of the Rugby Union Players Association and was unaware what was going on.
"I guess the circumstances weren't ideal, but you can't change anything and I'm just going to make the most of the opportunity I have been given," Hawkie's grandson said.
Dillon, whose mother Roslyn is one of Bob and Hazel Hawke's children, had not considered the relevance of his grandfather's colourful history with the union movement.
"You just caught me absolutely off-guard, I hadn't even thought about that - I guess that is a bit ironic isn't it," he said with a chuckle.
The ex-Labor Prime Minister has been one of young Dillon's greatest supporters.
"When I told him I had been selected and was going away he was really happy," Dillon said. While it is hard for Hawke to see many games with his busy schedule, he keeps close tabs on his grandson's career.
"He goes to the sports results in the Sunday papers and says things like, 'I saw you kicked two conversions, that is good'," Dillon said.
The talented backline player has caught the eye with his ball skills, with Sevens captain Tim Atkinson also very impressed with Dillon's fitness.
The genes inherited from his keen sporting grandfather play a part in that. "(Bob) is still in very good health, he had his blood pressure taken last week and he had the heart rate of a 20-year-old," Dillon said.
Dillon is also a personal trainer and gave Hawke some resistance bands to work with.
"He is only meant to do them two or three times a week but he does them two or three times a day - he just loves it and reckons it has helped immensely with his golf and overall fitness," he said.
Dillon is well aware of Hawke's prowess on the golf course, with the pair playing fortnightly at Bonnie Doon.
A former Australia Schoolboy who played five-eighth at Canberra's St Edmonds College, Dillon played alongside a young halfback called Matt Giteau. "That was amazing, it was silver service," Dillon said.
Now he hopes selection in the Sevens side will be a stepping stone to greater rugby success.
"That has been one of my goals since I was a little kid, so this is a great chance to show I am ready to go to the next level," Dillon said.
The new-look Aussie side also includes former Manly back rower James Campbell who got the call up from coach Ella while he was shearing on the family farm at Baradine last week.
And Canberra Vikings back Tim Cornforth follows in the footsteps of his grandfather, Roger Cornforth, who represented Australia in water polo at the 1948 Olympics and played two rugby Tests for Australia after surviving two years in a Japanese World War II camp.
Reply With Quote
