A member of the Narrabri community held in great affection and respect by many, the late Bob ‘Lasso’ Small was farewelled by family and friends at a service to celebrate his life in Narrabri on April 13.
The late Mr Small’s friends of many years from across the Narrabri Blues and wider community paid tribute to ‘Lasso’ at the service which was conducted by Pastor Peter Westman.
This eulogy was written and compiled by Bobby Delaney and Ellen Gleeson and delivered by Pastor Westman:
Robert Willian Small, the son of Jean and Bill Small was born in Sydney, on July 3, 1937.
In the early 1940s they moved to Narrabri, and that is where Bob’s siblings Barry, Carol and Kerry were born, and received their education.
Leaving school, Bob completed an automotive mechanic apprenticeship along with his great mate Bob Dewar.
(Ellen has said, “another friendship that lasted a lifetime was of course with Bobby Delaney himself”).
Bob/Lasso worked at various garages over the years, including Griffco, Logan Motors, Town Hall Garage, Noel Smith Transport, Cargill, North West Concrete, and the CSIRO Agricultural station.
The latter he referred to as: ‘The Old Men’s Home’.
Bob was always a great participator.
For instance, during his school days he was an active member of the Army Cadet Corps and numerous sporting teams.
Over the years his interests and talents grew and it became obvious that he, like many of the youngsters then, was eager to have a go at some of the developing sports of that time.
While traditional sports such as rugby league and cricket flourished, Bob and some other pioneers tried their hand, and were successful, at cycle racing, both at a local and inter-town level.
Very competitive meetings were held at Collins Park and along the Old Gunnedah Road between the cordial factory and the Kaputar turn-off.
At about this age, Bob became ‘Lasso’. Who knows why?
He also showed an exceptional talent for rugby league in a town where rugby league was king.
Football at that time was centred on the Percy Cup, a competition for teams chosen from Narrabri Souths, Narrabri West, town and so on.
The standard of these teams was exceptionally high, and Lasso found himself snapped up by the Waratahs, which was a strong side.
He continued to develop as a player with the Waratahs and when full inter-town competition resumed in the mid-50s he was an automatic selection in the Blues.
Narrabri had a very good team and won several premierships in Group 12.
He went on further to gain selection for Northern Division and to compete in the state-wide championship.
While in the Fire Brigade at Kings Cross, then at Botany, he played League in the lower grades with South Sydney.
Later on he played two seasons, in 1960-61, with Armidale in Group 5 under coach, Ron Madden.
This team played finals football against Moree, a team coached and played in by Australian legend Clive Churchill.
Lasso proudly boasted after that, that he played in that particular game.
Armidale’s hooker was an 18-year- old Irish lad who Lasso said was “a terrific little player!”
During the game he and Lasso had Churchill held up, and were pulling him down to the ground, when Churchill grabbed Lasso’s guernsey and reefed him down through his legs.
The impact of hitting between Churchill’s legs, rendered Lasso unconscious.
We don’t know what damages Churchill received!
Lasso said they won the game by flogging Moree in the scrums.
The young hooker didn’t miss a beat!
Churchill was running around yelling at his hooker, Alfie Hardman, “For God’s sake, Alfie, win us some ball.”
Lasso reckoned that Churchill was the best player he had ever seen play and that Joey Butler was the best for Narrabri.
As has been said … Lasso had wide sporting interests.
He played competition cricket with the Boys Club and later with Tatts.
He also played competition bowls and served as the club vice president for a term.
In those days far gone, he played social golf, social tennis and trained as a boxer, regularly taking part in Police Boys Club bouts.
For some years he and a group of mates played regular Saturday morning golf.
The game was very social, but still serious because they played for a trophy designed, constructed and donated by Ginger Gleeson.
Fortunately Lasso’s name was inscribed occasionally as the weekly winner, and that trophy can still be seen displayed in a cabinet at the Narrabri RSL.
Despite all this sport and community involvement, sometimes Lasso’s energy would spill over into some prank or another.
They were always designed to catch a mate or official unawares.
To name one such incident:
Together with Bob Delaney, John Woods and a couple of others, they removed the cannon from the front of the Town Hall and pushed it all the way down to the Tattersalls Hotel, right up to the front door to present it to the owner Len Quinn … to help him with his duck shooting.
Many here today can attest to being the butt of Lasso’s humour.
A nurse from Armidale caught Lasso’s eye.
They married and made their home here in Narrabri.
It was his greatest achievement when in 1980, he became the proud father of a baby boy – his son, Tony Robert Small.
The family moved to the Sunshine Coast where he worked for a time in the Glasshouse Mountains.
Sadly he and Lorraine separated and went their own way, with Lorraine returning to Armidale and Lasso to Narrabri where he renewed and interacted with many old acquaintances.
Ill health took its toll over the last couple of years slowing him down considerably.
Finally, exhaustion overtook him and he passed away on April 8.
He will be sadly missed by his family, his footballing mates, and all those he called his friends, as well as those he pranked, entertained and bemused.
Lasso Small, you were one of a kind. God bless you! RIP.
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