Michael ‘Mick’ Conliffe was a Dunedoo Swan through and through, furthermore he was a champion for his local community dedicating over half a century of service to ensuring that footy and the town was thriving for the next generation.
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Mick was a life member of the Swans and on the committee for 53 years. He was also on the committee for Group 14 – now Castlereagh League – as well, and relished the rivalry between Dunedoo and Mudgee when the latter played in the comp.
“He lost many sweethearts because of this,” his niece Beth Smith said. “He never married because he was married to the footy and we all knew it”.
And even though football came above anything else, Mick loved Dunedoo – a town he constructed a significant part of as a builder - and dedicated 62 years of community service to keep it thriving.
“Mick was passionate about his local community and he supported every single club, business and in every raffle he bought the most tickets,” Beth said. “And he won the most prizes, when we went to sort his house every cupboard is full of the prizes he won.
“He loved the junior league and netball, buying raffle tickets and 100 Clubs. He wanted to keep them going so the kids coming up could have those opportunities that he had.”
Mick was a retained firefighter for 30 years. And gave blood all of his life – green and white it may have been.
Friend Mark Gallagher said that he was “a legend” of the local footy club and will be missed at the ground and the Dunedoo Sports Club, of which he was a patron.
“He was the driving force behind the football club for many years. He played back in the day in the centres and on the wing, he was very fast, they say when he got in the clear he was gone,” he said.
“When we won the comp in 2014 we said it was for Dunedoo itself and for the old fellows, and he had a smile on his face for a month after and was still talking about it even until recently.”
Mick is missed and much loved by his family – the Conliffes, Mannings, Lincolns and Hudsons - along with all his friends in the community, who will farewell him on Wednesday.