KC 2000 Forum, be civil or be deleted, your choice


Boxing Anniversary
Thu Aug 12 12:51:26 2004
Nicole Jones
Hi guys,

I was fortunate enough to attend the commemorative afternoon at the Nicholas last Sunday. It was a great arvo with over 100 guests and word is it will be on again next year [for all of you who missed out!]!

Ian talked for quite a while - setting the scene prior to the fight, describing the meeting between Wild and Ned, 'supposedly' at the Imperial, and talking about the after effects of the fight for Ned. He also described how by sheer chance he came by the boxing photo!

A few things stuck out for me - one was how Ned's stint on the prison hulk "The Success" was like a sea change - softer wooden floors, good food, tobacco rations. I had never considered this - looking at the photos of 'The Success" in the Pentridge book it doesn't look much like a sea change!!!! The other thing was that Ian made a point of telling us that we really don't know for sure where the fight took place - except that it was somewhere in Beechworth. It is only because Edward Rogers was an organiser of sports events- boxing matches included -and possibly the only person who could kit the boys out in their boxing gear that we think the fight took place at the Imperial. It seems the most likely place for it to happen.

During question time, Eureka Smith mentioned that one of his songs was played on the recent episode of "Rewind" to which Ian mentioned that even though he had no doubt, he hoped the show would conclude that it was not Ned's skull as in the past he had made an announcement he would drop his pants in Bourke Street if the skull turned out to be Neds!!! Fortunately for him, he was proved right!!!!

A fantastic arvo - with a great afternoon tea - and all that was asked for was a donation towards a marker for the site. Thanks heaps to Ross and Lorraine Lucas, the proprietors of the Nicholas, for putting on a ripper do! Put it in your calendar for next year!

Cheers!
Nicole