RIP, David Lord: Australian sports journalism icon was 'always thoughtful and thought-provoking'

Nice one Sheek :thumbup:

Rest in peace David. Thanks for your engagement here.

Sad to hear. Always enjoyed his segments on cricket and rugby before Controversy corner. Wonderful memories. Enjoyed his articles here as well. God bless you David and your family.

I remember him and have to confess that I had no idea he was still alive. He used to come on the Rex Mossop show on channel 7- Sports World? I recall him having Doug Walters on during the 1981 Ashes series and him saying “I am still spitting chips about you not being picked for this tour.” It made a mark on me because I had no idea what spitting chips meant or why you would spit it! Notable that he was so powerful that he was able to convince Thomson and Kallicharan to break their contracts with WSC.

The encyclopedia of sport. Rest in peace Lordy ????

And amongst all that, I have a David Lord story that sums the man up… Circa mid-nineties I’m playing grade cricket for Mosman and the club is in dire straits. We had third graders playing first grade (me) and no grades won any games for basically an entire season. In walks Lordy and starts revving us up about the future and how there would be changes and he was coming to the rescue (not his words). And so he did. First grade won the last two games of that season just on hype, and this ripple of positivity ran throughout. Mosman is a proud club with the likes of Border and McCabe as former players. It also had (still does) some of the loveliest grounds in Sydney Grade cricket. Next season is on the horizon and rumours start flying around that we’re getting this bloke and that. And so I found myself standing behind the nets, as you do, in early season practice and Lordy walks around with this grin on his face and says…”what have you heard” …I didn’t answer directly, trying to be coy. He couldn’t help himself and just reeled them off: Craig Hughes…Parramatta all rounder and consistent O’Reilly medal contender Warwick Adam…Gordon fast bowling all rounder known for hitting big sixes Shane Lee Brett Lee Martin Hayward…in the NSW shield side at that point batting four or five. Phil Alley…St George quick who happened to be a 6’10 leftie. And so it turned out to be. Dunno how he did it, you can use your imagination, but suddenly the first grade side is an all star team I’m in second grade which is a relief and everything filtered through after that. Great bloke, helped so many people. His crowning glory, I reckon, was that once Brett Lee got up and running a few years later, after so many back injuries, he managed to get Shoaib Ahktar to Mosman. Apparently they got on well. I didn’t see it but the two of them in tandem at Mosman Oval, then a quick deck and is quite a small ground. Keepers on the fence, nearly. Not sure if David Lord was involved in that one but it’s got his fingerprints all over it. Vale mate. You made a difference

RIP David.

A sad day, RIP

Terrific post, thanks Sheek.

Terrific, Zac. Thanks for the links.

It was a privilege to be able to call David Lord a colleague for a decade, and his support and encouragement for rookie writers on the site was something I'll never forget. David of course had enjoyed a full career before he started contributing to The Roar, but wow, what a contribution it was. 'Prolific' doesn't even start to do him justice. And it's certainly true that he didn't mind indulging in a but of hyperbole from time to time - I can still remember for him calling on the immediate Wallabies selection of a former Australian rower in his first season with the Melbourne Rebels, a crazy notion at the time, but that was the value he put in Caderyn Neville's early performances - but he did that because he recognised the value of rugby discussion, which was huge in those early days of the site, where a good discussion could continue for days. Lordy gave as good as he got in the comments, but as long as people were discussing rugby (or sport more broadly) he didn't mind. His encouragement for young and new writers was invaluable, and it was always a pleasure to get a random call or email from David after he'd seen something he liked. He was thrilled when he learned I was doing commentary for the ABC in Canberra, and so his encouragement became about radio craft, too. In truth, this is a comment I've been expecting to write on The Roar for a few years, having learned a little while ago that his health was deteriorating. But it makes it no less sad now that the time has come. Lordy was a genuine old school sportswriter, and it was so great to have Zac included in this tribute, and to hear from Tristan and Paddy again after so many years as well, all of them providing extra context that might otherwise have been lost. He will be missed, no doubt, but it was truly an honour to have learned from him. Vale Mr Lord. And thank you.

I always remember his phrase " The chronic crones of Crane Place"

RIP David,!He has been such a big part of sport in Australia for as long as I can remember.Certainly did not always agree with him in his latter times on the Roar,but always respected him as one of the great sporting journalists.

I'm very sad about the passing of David Lord. I got to know him reasonably well away from The Roar. Sadly, in his later years he became very suspicious of people in general, & extremely private. For example, whenever I arranged a coffee or lunch with him, he insisted on finding his own way to & from the venue. He never recovered from losing his son. And I also think the breakup of his marriage cut deeply. His achievements are truly extraordinary. Let's see below: 1. 1st grade cricketer & captain of Mosman cricket club. 2. TV/radio match caller, commentator & reviewer for rugby, league, cricket & Olympics. 3. Edited Australian rugby yearbook for many years. 4. Started his own cricket & rugby mags in the 70s & 80s respectively. 5. He claims he was the first to introduce sports advertising on TV (mid-70s), with TNT on rugby match day balls. 6. He also claims to be the first player agent in Oz. At one time he had in his stable - Jeff Thomson & Alvin Kallicharran (both cricket), Steve Holland (swimming) & Wayne Grady (golf), among others. Because Thomson & Kallicharran were signed by him to a Brisbane radio station (4IP), they were excluded from appearing in WSC. 7. Kerry packer thought saw much of him, he gave him the full inside scoop on WSC for 1977. But Ch7 refused to promote a comp on a rival station (ch9). This led to a massive falling out between Lord & Packer, which was not of Lord's doing. 8. In 1983, he had the signatures of 208 player from 8 countries for a pro rugby competition, plus 8 coaches. This quick-tracked the beginning of the RWC. He has never, as far as I know, divulged the names of those 208 players from Australia, NZ, England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, France & Fiji. I have to be brutally honest & say David was too good for The Roar, too many contributors of whom didn't show him the necessary respect his mightily extraordinary achievements deserved. God bless you, David. I trust the afterlife is as good for you as we all imagine it to be.

Thanks Paddy - great memories. David was always very grateful for any support he received.

This is a fitting tribute to a huge figure in Australian sport. I became aware that David was writing a blog shortly after he left the ABC; must have been around 2010. I suspect Spiro told me we should do what we could to get him writing on the site. We met for a coffee in Artarmon and I pitched him writing for The Roar exclusively. We didn't have much money (some things don't change), so I said I could offer him around $200 for one or two columns a week. That was the max we could do. He said he'd do it, but only if we published them all. And he wrote every day of the week for close enough to ten years. That was the start of a decade long relationship with David that had a single thread: his love of sport. Even back then his health wasn't the best, but come what may he wrote every day. If you were late in filing a piece of his; it was hell to pay. It didn't matter what time it was, if he filed - then it needed to be published and don't bloody stand in the way. A journo's journo. Eventually when The Roar decided to cut him and I was long gone, I set up a Patreon page and a few of us supported his writing. I've never forgotten the impact he had on The Roar, and myself as a result. With his Patreon site, he still wrote almost every day, despite his deteriorating health. And the sharp insight and blistering critique never faded. Lord could tell a wonderful sporting yarn. His eyes would light up and a slight grin would appear on his face as he realised what you had coming. He was fond of Packer but had a deep respect for Tony Greig. Anyone who wants to read David's writing at its best should read his obituary for Tony Greig here: https://www.theroar.com.au/2012/12/30/tony-greig-a-great-mate/ and then follow it with his ringside insight into the Packer World Series cricket battle: https://www.theroar.com.au/2012/08/20/howzat-kerry-packer-vs-david-lord-and-the-world-series-battle/ David was in many ways a complex person, as we all are. He had many passions. He lived hard. But his love of sport was defining and unconquerable. Hunter S. Thompson, a kindred spirit of Lord, once wrote: "Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!"

Thanks Tristan, very much appreciate you returning to pay tribute to David.

Thanks Patrick and well said. Appreciate you taking the time for this tribute.

Rest easy, David.

RIP David. You were one of the toughest people I’d ever met, a real throwback but one who had strong principles and beliefs on what constituted good sports coverage. There wouldn’t be too many more dedicated to their craft – so long as he had a screen and a subscription to watch the big events he would do what he knew best – cover and opine on sport. It was great to sit down with Lordy at the end of my time at The Ross and hear first hand Lord’s gospel on his life and sport. It was fascinating for someone who wasn’t born when David was doing things that shook the foundation of the cricket landscape. Phenomenal stuff worthy of remembrance. I’ll remember the daily calls and emails – often a little gruff but usually polite – enquiring about timings and changes made by subs (often me). They usually didn’t go for more than a minute. These were punctuated by longer, more infrequent conversations about coverage of sport, what was good and bad, what we could or should do. It was terrific to lean on the experience of Lordy, as well as people like Spiro, Tim Prentice, among many others as a 24-year-old editing this publication about what we should be doing. Heady times! It’s great to see Zac quoted in this piece, as he was such a huge supporter of him in his later life. Lordy didn’t often say thanks but I’d imagine he’d offer Zac that and more given the bond they formed in his latter years. RIP Lordy. May the playing fields of heaven be rich with sports stories to tell.