In the Great Hall, a graduating class of 100 and a crowd of 600 overall, gave him a standing ovation. He spoke eloquently, and passionately on the theme of fulfilling your potential no matter what obstacles might be put in your way. In my own remarks, I said, and I meant, Australia has boasted many athletes of great physical courage. The list of those with matching moral courage is much slimmer, and however honoured that Goodes was to accept our Honorary Doctorate, we were more honoured still that he accepted it. Bravo, Adam.

The beating heart of rugby league

One for the old days! See, last Sunday arvo at the Collegians Sporting Complex, Figtree, just in from the 'Gong, the lads from Jamberoo, population 800, took on their counterparts from Kiama, population 20,000 in the Group 7 rugby league grand final. Interest is huge among the enormous 5000 strong crowd, as Jamberoo has not won a grand final since 1974, while Kiama have been 32 years between drinks, with the last victory back in 1985. Compared with the big guns of rugby league, the boys earn no more than a pittance for their weekly 80-minute labours. In the manner of bush footy, Jamberoo Club itself has only managed to survive to this point through the efforts of a never-say-die committee, the presence of a true believer in major sponsor Brett Witford, and the loyalty of other donors and backers who have refused to buckle, no matter how lean the years.

And so the match starts.

One referee, no bunker, no quarter asked for or given, and the folk from Jamberoo take a blow early when their sterling hooker, James Asquith - one of three brothers in the side - goes down injured, early. Before long the Superoos are trailing the Knights, 8-0! Still, the Superoos steady, fight back, and are at least competing as the crowd - particularly the entire population of Jamberoo, situated on the hill at the northern end - shout themselves hoarse, and never more than when Jamberoo scores twice. And look now! With only a few minutes left, Jamberoo scores again to go to an 18-14 lead!

Ah, but the Knights aren't done yet, and in the last seconds unleash a kick that clears the exhausted Superoos defensive line, allowing the Kiama chasers to close in on the bobbling ball as it heads for the in-goal. Jamberoo has only one chance. One of their second-rowers, big Corey Grigg, is in that post-code and is half a chance, as he huffs and puffs, heaves and strains to get there before them. He dives! He ... has it in his hands! The whistle blows. Jamberoo WINS!

The two exhausted teams embrace like battered brothers, just before their two captains, Johnno Dallas, on behalf of the delirious victors and Kieron Poole for the proud vanquished, speak of the friendship and respect between the two teams, and what a great day it is for rugby league!

Ah, how the people cheer. Of course, they then head for their dressing rooms, where Jamberoos breaks into a thunderous version of the team song. And now, though the local legend of Jamberoo, Lionel Simmons, the admired captain coach of the winning 1974 team, is at the ground for the occasion, he declines to go into the victorious dressing room.

"It's their day, not mine," he says quietly.

Quite. Oh, and, say, Corey Grigg?

Aren't you the bloke that dived on the ball, to save the day, the day that Jamberoo won for the first time since 1974? You are! And always will be.

Good luck to you.

Rugby league. It lives and breathes in country NSW!

Quick quip: Ethan Lowe's memory was a little longer than one reporter's. Photo: AAP

Lowe response to forgetful reporter

One of TFF's readers north of the Tweed was watching a news report as the North Queensland Cowboys returned to Townsville on Sunday morning, after their great victory over the Roosters the evening before.

Host: "The Queensland Cowboys have received a rock-star welcome in Townsville this morning. We cross live ..."

And, sure enough, there were the fans - as they say in the classics - going wild, at Townsville Airport as the players came out of the gates. And here is an overcome journo, popping a question to Cowboy Ethan Lowe who has paused to be interviewed: "Have you ever seen anything like this before?"

Lowe, bemused: "Yeah, we won the premiership a couple of years ago. That was pretty big."

Call for local players

Good luck to Macklemore and, despite the imprecations of Tony Abbott, of course I entirely support him singing Same Love, his anthem to marriage equality. On a general point, however, I have a question: Is the football practice of bringing in overseas artists for grand final half-time shows, the third-last bastion of the cultural cringe? Wouldn't those occasions be perfect to showcase our own best and brightest, our own best Australian talent du jour? Wouldn't it have been wonderful on this occasion, for example, to unleash Paul Kelly doing a couple of of his best-loved songs, together with one off his latest fabulous album?

Cringe factor: Billy Idol loses the sound during the 2002 grand final. Photo: Simon Alekna

Hernandez death highlights concussion

Meantime? Meantime in America, awareness of the horrors of repeated concussions continues to grow. The latest concerns the one-time all-American NFL football hero Aaron Hernandez, a tight end with the New England Patriots, before being convicted of a brutal murder and sentenced to life in prison ... where he subsequently took his own life, all before the age of 27. How did such a glittering life go so shockingly wrong? A likely answer emerged this week. He had Stage 3 CTE, the brain condition that comes from repeated concussions. Stage 4 is the worst. To quote Sports Illustrated online, "Hernandez is the first big name player to represent the fact that CTE is a crisis for modern football at all levels, not just a debilitating problem for pro vets of bygone eras." It's changing the game, and the way people look at it, with more and more, including commentators, wondering whether it is morally sustainable to support an activity where so many participants come away brain damaged.

The numbers of those reflecting on the dangers, however, do not include President Donald Trump, who this week fired up on all moves to make NFL safer.

"Today," he told one of those execrable rallies, this one in Alabama, "if you hit too hard - 15 yards! Throw him out of the game! They're ruining the game! They're ruining the game. That's what they want to do. They want to hit. They want to hit! It is hurting the game."

What they said

Tony Abbott tweets in support of a petition seeking to ban the singing of a particularly pro marriage equality song, by the American rapper Macklemore, Same Love: "Footy fans shouldn't be subjected to a politicised grand final. Sport is sport!" It would, I am told, be like having asked Don McLean to appear, and not sing American Pie; getting Meatloaf and insisting he not sing Bat Out Of Hell.

American rapper Macklemore, on American radio: "I'm actually going to Australia to perform at, kind of, the Superbowl of their rugby league. It's interesting because I am playing Same Love, and they are going through, right now, trying to legalise same-sex marriage. I'm getting a lot of tweets from angry old white dudes in Australia. I think there is a petition today to ban me from playing ... Imma go harder."

Tiger Woods, this week, on the possibility that he may never play again: "Yeah, definitely. I don't know what my future holds for me."

Was Nick Kyrgios "taking a knee" before his Laver Cup match in homage to the NFL players? "F--- no. Serious? I'm doing that before most matches just to remember, you know, the two most important people that have passed away."

Donald Trump disinvites America's greatest basketball star Steph Curry, when the Golden State Warrior announced he was disinclined to attend a reception in honour of the team, at the White House: "Going to the White House is considered a great honor for a championship team. Stephen Curry is hesitating, therefore invitation is withdrawn!"

LeBron James tweets a devastating three points to President Trump in response: "U bum @StephenCurry30 already said he ain't going! So therefore ain't no invite. Going to White House was a great honor until you showed up!" Nothing but net.

Detroit Lions tight end Eric Ebron nails it, on the issue of players taking a knee to protest unjust treatment of black Americans at the hands of police, and President Trump's attack that they should be sacked for their trouble: "Does anyone tell Trump to stick to politics, like they tell us to stick to sports?"

Crow Daniel Talia on how badly the Swans scarred them in last year's finals: "We got back to the preseason and we were made to watch that first quarter and the difference between being out there and actually winning the contest."

North Sydney Bears chairman Perry Lopez wants to make a go of it on the Gold Coast: "We offer in an innovative model that would end the cycle of failure on the Gold Coast for sporting teams. We offer the fans of the Gold Coast a chance to build a stable, sustainable NRL club ... We would play one game at North Sydney Oval and the remainder at Cbus Stadium." It surely makes a certain amount of sense, yes?

Steve Smith bemoans another batting collapse: "But, someone in the top four, myself or Heady (Travis Head), particularly once we got in, had to go on and probably be there till the end." Beyond batting and bowling, they also need to work on their nick-names, which are ATROCIOUS.

Wayne Bennett doesn't care what outside people say after Corey Oates played, the week after a bad concussion: "The one thing I know in life is they never build a statue of critics. Critics are what they are. I don't listen to them." Well, aren't you the tough guy then? But it is neither about you, or us critics, Wayne. It is about the INSANITY of putting a badly concussed man back out in the cauldron of a football final a week after being knocked out cold and carted off the field. The club later said he'd had medical scans and passed their protocols. Bennett again: "There is no one more concerned for a player's welfare than this club." If that is the case, your club is a disgrace, because you are clearly not concerned enough.

USADA head Travis Tygart doesn't want Russia at the Winter Olympics: "Anything less is really a 'get out of jail free' card and sends a terrible message that to win you must cheat your way to the top and that it's OK, even when you get caught red-handed, as long as you are politically powerful."

Team of the week

North Queensland Cowboys. After scraping into eighth spot only because of a Dragons meltdown, the Cowboys have knocked off the Sharks, Eels and Roosters in quick succession. The Storm beat the Eels and Broncos. And they meet tomorrow evening in the grand final!

Richmond. The popular favourites to beat the Adelaide Crows this afternoon in the AFL grand final.

Dustin Martin and Cameron Smith. Worthy Brownlow and Dally M medallists respectively.

Gary Ablett Jr. The prodigal son returns to Geelong.

Australian Socceroos and Syria. Play the first leg of their World Cup qualifiers play-off this Thursday in Malaysia.

Wallabies. Take on South Africa today in a stadium whose claim to fame is that it was where the All Blacks put 145 on Japan at the 1995 World Cup.

Carlton Football Club. With Adelaide playing in today's grand final it means that the once impregnable Blues have the longest active AFL grand final drought.

Ben Bayliss. The Kiwi coach has worked wonders with the Newport Open rugby team, moulding a team of disparate 17- and 18-year-olds in to the finest mob on the Peninsula, winning the title last Saturday.

Ben Stokes. Someone should tell the English cricket vice-captain that having a criminal record is no longer the only way to get to Australia. But, I tell you what, on the strength of that shockingly violent footage of him beating up a bloke outside a pub, he is the man least likely to be viciously sledged by the Australian slips cordon during the Ashes.

Manly Marlins Junior Rugby under 16s Sevens. In Paris, last week, they won the Tournoi des Capitales, the world's leading 7-a-side tournament for under-16 male players and under-18 female players, with teams from eleven countries competing.

RIP Jake LaMotta. The boxer known as "Raging Bull" passed away at the age of 95.

Twitter: @Peter_Fitz