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"Greg Riach was born in Parkes NSW and attended both Parkes primary and high schools. Although he played rugby league in five sevens and six sevens school teams, as well as in knockout carnivals and intra school matches, rugby league was not to be his sport of choice. All of his friends played hockey and so at the age of sixteen he joined them and continued playing until the age of thirty-one.Greg played and coached premiership winning teams and coached Western Districts Colts Hockey Team in the Zone Championships held in Parkes, defeating Sydney in the final. He was also the holder of NSW State Hockey Umpires Badge.Greg's teaching qualifications include Diploma of Education, Bachelor of Education Degree, Diploma HVAC & Refrigeration Engineering. As a teacher he compiled and wrote a number of technical student manuals for trade and diploma courses.Greg eventually retired from Ultimo TAFE as Head of the Refrigeration and Airconditioning Section in July 2018. Although he has spent almost half of his life in Sydney, he still has solid roots in the country and as was once said, ""You can take the boy from the country but you can't take the country from the boy."""
"f you love country rugby league, this book is for you. Greg Riach has turned his passion for bush footy into a 350-page trip down memory lane, exploring some of the history in western and southern towns and regions. He has meticulously sought photos and anecdotes, stories of champion players and teams and the incredible impact of the 13-a-side code that has captivated rural towns for over well over a hundred years. Greg brings to life great players from the incredible sporting nursery across the sandstone curtain. Ian Walsh, Eric Weissel, Bob Weir, Earl Harrison, Barry Rushworth and Ron Crowe feature in the annals of NSW and Australian folklore for their deeds on the league fields of country, city and in Kangaroo tours. The book takes us to their roots and introduces many ""could have been a Test player if he wanted to"" to blokes who strapped on their boots to uphold their local towns. Greg takes us through the early years when inter town challenge matches that grew from fledgling local, mostly pub, comps. The carrots being dangled were a bevy of Cups, some supplied by local hoteliers of cafes, others by major merchandisers like Johnnie Walker, Rech's and Tooths. Greg has captured some historic and colourful battles for the likes of the Maher Cup, Jack Hore Gold Cup and Johnnie Walker Cup. There are tales of teams and in some instances, communities that no longer exist. These portray a changing demographic and capture the social impacts of farming, mining and other booms and busts, droughts and floods. This coffee table collectors' item should find a shelf in libraries, local history collections and in the Christmas stockings and on birthday, Father's Day and sports lovers lists for years. Superb labour of love Greg. Thank you for pulling so much information and so many colourful aspects of the great game of rugby league into a momentous book. Geoff Mann, Sporting commentator ABC Radio, Daily Liberal and Photo News Dubbo. Book details glorious busy footy history: From goal posts made of gum tree branches to trucks driving around properties to pick up players for games a new book Rugby League History- Western and Southern NSW 1920-1976 has it all. Author Greg Riach spent three years trawling through newspaper reports and photographs of players and teams throughout the decades from Groups 9,10,11,14 and 15. Margie McDonald Media and contact coordinator NSW Rugby League ""For over a century the sport of rugby league has played an integral role in developing the character, culture and commitment of a vast array of towns and cities around regional NSW. Fifty years since they were achieved, the halcyon deeds against the odds of small towns like Oberon in group 10, Eugowra in group 11 and Harden in the might of the Maher Cup remain folklore more than 50 years since those halcyon days which galvanised their local communities. Greg Riach deserves widespread thanks and praise for the manner in which he has painstakingly researched the way in which rugby league influenced its local towns and for his compilation of a product which should be compulsory reading for a wide section of the community."" Michael Greenwood, Parkes sports author."
