Beloved sportsman always remembered

The family of beloved Colac district sportsman Liam Harrington says he’ll be remembered as a selfless and loving brother, son and uncle, as well as the life of every party.

The Colac district sporting community is in mourning following the tragic death of the former Otway Districts and Apollo Bay footballer and cricketer last week, with tributes flowing from family and friends and plenty of stories shared. He was 34.

His younger sister Jemma said her family had been overwhelmed by the kind messages from people whose lives had been made better for having known Liam, known as Leo or Harro depending on where you knew him from.

Some of these people had known him for a long time, and some had met him only a few times, but all were still struck by his “infectious warmth and generosity of spirit”.

“These messages have provided us with much needed strength and happiness during an otherwise devastating week,” Jemma said.

“Much has been written by wonderful friends about the Liam who was the life of the party and the person who saw in many sunrises after big nights,” she said.

“This is no doubt true, but our family also knew another side of Leo.

“This Leo would drive hundreds of kilometres across the state to watch his niece and nephews in their junior sport, wake up before dawn to milk cows on the farm, attend dawn services on Anzac Day overlooking Port Phillip Bay, or pop past Mum and Dad’s for no other reason but to mow their lawns without being asked.

“We have been overwhelmed with kind messages from Liam’s friends, colleagues and acquaintances.”

The third of four children to Johanna’s Ron and Sue Harrington, Liam grew up on the family’s dairy farm with older brothers Rory and Tim, and younger sister Jemma, as well as the kids from other farms in the closeknit farming community.

Jemma said the Harrington children also spent a lot of time at grandfather Jack’s sheep farm near Cressy, surrounded by border collies and cousins.

“Jack was a major influence on Liam’s lifelong love of cricket and understanding of the nature of the sport,” she said.

“There were also many years attending the Boxing Day Test.”

Despite being surrounded by Geelong Cats AFL supporters, an uncle convinced Liam to support St Kilda.

However, he was so infatuated with Tony Lockett, that when Plugger moved to the Swans, Liam’s support followed.

He remained a dedicated and passionate Bloods supporter to his final day.

“He was able to attend both the 2005 and 2012 Swans’ premiership games at the MCG, and treasured these immensely,” Jemma said.

“In particular, he spoke regularly of sitting in the MCC not far from where Leo Barry took his infamous match-winning mark in 2005, and never forgetting this moment.

“The nickname Leo was already in circulation for Liam, but after Barry’s heroics, it was going to be our Leo’s for life too.”

Despite his love of the Swans, Liam would never hesitate to join other family members at Cats games, as he got so much joy out of seeing his nephews Matthew and Lewis, and niece Adele enjoying the game, regardless of the competing teams.

Liam’s own sporting career began with junior footy at Otway Districts Football Netball Club, which at the time played in the old Heytesbury league.

He joined plenty of other local kids on the bus to Gellibrand for training after school.
“Like many country families, all six of us would pack into the car to head to the footy or cricket every Saturday morning – traipsing around the western district to Noorat, Kolora and home games at Gellibrand,” Jemma said.

“He also played cricket at Otway Cricket Club (and later became a premiership player with the club), at the beautiful Ditchley Park at Beech Forrest,” she said.

“The local glazier was a frequently-dialled number by Mum and Dad, as there seemed to be almost monthly windows broken when footballs, cricket balls or soccer balls went astray during after-school kick-to-kick on the front lawn.

“Leo was nearly always the culprit. He rang Mum at 4:30pm one New Year’s Eve, wondering ‘which business would fix a window today?’.”

After starting his schooling at Lavers Hill, Liam joined his brother Tim at Ballarat and Clarendon College in Year Nine.

Liam became an enthusiastic member of the boys’ boarding house, and not just the school footy and cricket teams, but also lawn bowls teams and the odd choir.

“For Leo, sport was always about enjoying his teammates’ company and the experience,” Jemma said.

After school, Liam tried his hand at university for a brief but “very enjoyable stint”, meeting some great friends who he was close to until now.

Liam sampled a few different vocations, before finding a very natural fit working in holiday house rental and management in Apollo Bay and Bannockburn. As usual, he loved his latest job on a farm at Lethbridge.

During the time in Apollo Bay, he proudly purchased his first home and developed great friendships throughout the Bay community, especially within the town’s football and cricket clubs.

Like many footballers before him, he was devastated to injure his ACL multiple times, and the recovery from these, combined with COVID-disrupted footy seasons, finally brought about his retirement from football. He always threatened to make a comeback though.

The ACL injury failed to stop him from featuring in Apollo Bay’s memorable reserves football premiership in 2019.

Liam moved to the Geelong region in recent years, and through an old Apollo Bay mate, linked up with the East Belmont Cricket Club.

In just his second season, he was voted in as a co-captain of the Lions’ Fifths in 2022-23.

He was gearing up to play in yet another grand final with East Belmont on Saturday, and despite having three players unavailable, Liam’s memory almost spurred the Lions over the line, falling eight runs short.

East Belmont friends gathered under an image of Liam on the club’s scoreboard later in the night.

“Win or loss, Leo would have been the last person to leave the clubrooms afterwards,” Jemma said.

Friends and family will gather to celebrate Liam’s life at a service at the Geelong Football Club’s Presidents Room on Thursday.

The service starts at 1.30pm.