The Queensland Rugby group is mourning the loss of life of beloved Rugby character Peter ‘Doubles’ Daley OAM who handed away on Sunday 26 November.
Doubles has left an unbelievable mark on Queensland Rugby, regardless of having by no means performed a recreation.
He’s the youngest Life Member of Souths Rugby membership at 29-years-old, the sixtieth Life Member of Queensland Rugby, a recipient of the Medal of the Order of Australia and is one in every of our Union’s most cherished and revered characters.
Born in 1956, Doubles was educated at St Laurence’s the place he fostered his lifelong love for sport.
Though a watch defect prevented him from taking part in contact sports activities, Doubles ran the touchline on the college’s Rugby video games, scored the cricket and performed within the band throughout his time at St Laurence’s.
With ardour and drive aplenty, he was appointed as President of the varsity’s sports activities committee, and after being informed to boost his personal funds to finance the committee’s actions, an thought which might change his life was born.
After seeing doubles tickets being offered at a Queensland match at Ballymore, the then 15-year-old Doubles printed of a sheet of paper with all 225 doable first scorer combos and photocopied them on the varsity printer.
He took his tickets to promote at St Laurence’s 1st XV matches and following a number of weeks of profitable fundraising, his classmates supplied him with a nickname which might by no means depart, ‘Doubles’.
Upon ending college in 1974, Doubles obtained a shocking letter from Souths Rugby Membership, inviting him to affix their membership.
Doubles was instantly put in on the membership committee and was a made a delegate to the Queensland Rugby Union Council.
From supervisor to secretary, he served in nearly each doable off-field function doable at Souths, and after ten-years on the membership, he turned the youngest Souths’ Life Member at 29-years-old.
All of the whereas he continued to promote his tickets at Rugby matches. From the Ballymore hill, to Souths’ dwelling of Chipsy Wooden Oval and the company suites of Suncorp Stadium, he offered his doubles tickets, elevating funds for a protracted checklist of charities and grassroots Rugby. He estimates that he offered over 340,000 tickets, together with his attraction and quick-wit making certain Doubles raised over $1 million throughout his 30-years of promoting tickets.
In 1986, per week after Souths’ Grand Ultimate win over Brothers, Peter married his beloved Karen, who stood beside him in each endeavour till she misplaced her personal battle with most cancers 10-years in the past.
Doubles’ work in Rugby additionally noticed him set up and run competitions and pathways applications, together with the Australian Schoolboys Sevens, which ran efficiently for 20-years beneath his steerage.
To replicate his immense and distinctive contribution to Rugby in Queensland, Doubles was made the sixtieth Life Member of the QRU in 2012, the one hundred and thirtieth yr of the Union.
In 2022, Doubles was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for his providers to Rugby Union and the group.
Doubles will without end be synonymous with Queensland Rugby.
His efforts in fundraising and nurturing the expansion of grassroots Rugby have left our recreation in a much better place than he discovered it, whereas his wit, charisma and enthusiasm will likely be sorely missed by all those that knew him.
Peter is survived by his daughter Danielle.
The QRU will announce funeral particulars sooner or later.
