When talented Raiders player, Goulburn's Mitchell Cornish posed for this shot with his son at Seiffert Oval last weekend, it set our minds back to a photo that appeared in the Post some 22 odd years ago.
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That photo featured another Cornish father and son, only that time Mitchell was the son and his father Garry was the dad.
The story was about Garry becoming a dad and weighing up whether he’d continue to play rugby league, and if so, with whom.
Here’s a PDF of the original story, which we’ve reprinted below.
By CHRIS GORDON
Goulburn Post -Thursday April 15, 1993
Vince Lombardi - a man as famous for his philosophies and quotes on sport as for his coaching of the Green Bay Packers American Football team – once said that winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.
At least one sportsman in Goulburn disagrees with that statement – Gordon second division rugby league player, Garry Cornish.
With the birth of his son Mitchell this year, Cornish has had to weigh up a number of different things.
At the end of last season, when his wife Michelle was very pregnant with Mitchell, Cornish retired from rugby league - or so he thought.
When some of his friends who had linked up with the new Gordon team asked him about playing with them, he reassessed his situation and decided to play again.
“It’s not like I switched clubs.” Cornish said.
“I stopped playing altogether. The main thing I wanted was some time off and some time with my family. But when some friends wanted me to play gain and I knew that my wife and my baby were healthy, I got interested in playing again.”
Despite the fact that he doesn’t feel he has sold out on his old club, Cornish believes that some of his former team-mates might not see it that way.
“I had three good years at Kenmore that I really enjoyed and I think I gave them good service too.” he said.
“But since it’s my old team and since Kenmore used to be sponsored by the Gordon Hotel, I reckon there’ll be a bit of rivalry and it should be worth watching.”
One of the other factors that convinced Cornish to play was that he wouldn’t be coaching.
“I enjoyed coaching a lot last season and I hope to do it again sometime,” he said.
“But it can be really stressful and it’s a full-time job. Now that I have other more important things to think about I’ll be happy just to play. And I think the boss might be happier that way too,” he said looking to Michelle.
As to next year - he hasn’t made up his mind yet and even if he had, he confesses there’s no guarantee he’d stick to it, depending on who applied the most pressure.
“I’d thought about the Gladiators a little but it would mean a lot of time away from home,” he said.
“And I haven’t finished building a dog house yet.”