Cronulla Sharks players in desperate bid to locate former star Michael Speechley
Michael Speechley was unmissable on the field, with his blond hair and trademark grasscutting tackles. But former Sharks teammates haven’t seen him in years, and they’re worried.
He is the former Sharks star who has simply vanished.
Friends have no idea where he is – no leads, phone number or address.
Just a deep concern and a desire that he return to the Cronulla family.
Former Cronulla, Newtown, Parramatta and Souths star Michael Speechley – who has confronted his own life demons – was seen living out of his car a few years ago at Ramsgate in Sydney’s south.
Since then, there have been random sightings from Sydney to Coffs Harbour, but he hasn’t been located or made any contact with his footy mates.
A group of former players from Cronulla, where Speechley played his best footy, have made an emotional plea for the ex-five-eighth to make contact with the club or the old boys’ network.
“It’s true – we don’t know where he is,” said ex-Sharks player and Cronulla old boys’ committee member Alan Wilson.
“We can’t get a lead on where he is, we can’t find a phone number, can’t even get a general vicinity of where he might be.”
Ex-Cronulla halfback and CEO Barry Russell added: “I honestly have no idea where he is.
“Last I heard he was around the Brighton-Sans Souci area but no one can spot him. No one knows where he is. It’s been a while now. If he reads this story, reach out, message me, message ‘Baz’ – 100 per cent.”
Speechley was believed to have been living in Meadow Place, Miranda around 2019. Neighbours said the man, thought to be Speechley, was unassuming and kept to himself.
He was also spotted several years ago hanging out with the local Gymea Gorillas rugby league club.
As recently as six months ago, there was an unconfirmed sighting of Speechley in the Sutherland area, with people claiming they had seen him playing the pokies at RSL clubs in Brighton and Ramsgate.
Nicknamed ‘The Lawnmower’ due to his low tackling technique, Speechley played 120 first-grade matches for Cronulla between 1986 and 1992 and another 58 games for the Jets, Eels and Rabbitohs. He was a genuine crowd favourite who had the honour of being the last active Newtown Jets player, before his retirement in 1995.
But those at Cronulla, who shared his glory days, are now distressed at his absence from the club. The Sharks held their annual player reunion at Woolooware Golf Club on August 31, when players again spoke about finding Speechley.
Cronulla are desperately keen for Speechley to contact the club, on the eve of Saturday night’s NRL preliminary final against Penrith at Accor Stadium.
“Michael is a big part of our club’s history and we would love to reconnect with him. He has so many friends here at the club and we really want him back in the Sharks family,” Sharks chairman Steve Mace said.
Darren Higgins was the last former Sharks player to talk with Speechley, around four years ago.
Told by a club official that Speechley was sitting in his car near the Intersection Tavern at Ramsgate, Higgins, the former centre who also worked with Speechley at Qantas, turned up with a coffee in each hand. Speechley appeared nervous and Higgins saw his car aerial immediately go up, indicating he was about to leave.
Where the f... are you going, mate?” Higgins asked. “I’m here for a chat and a coffee.”
After Higgins offered him a spare bed to sleep in, Speechley said he had to leave quickly to go to hospital to seek treatment for pneumonia. He even showed Higgins a doctor’s referral to prove he had the infection.
“The letter was legitimate,” Higgins said.
Speechley didn’t tell Higgins which hospital he was attending, but did say he was living in his car because he had split with his partner and she was still living in the house before it was to be sold.
Speechley’s final words to Higgins were: “Tell everyone I’m all right.”
Higgins returned to the carpark, on busy Ramsgate Road, every day for the next fortnight, but Speechley wasn’t there. Higgins hasn’t seen him since.
“He just disappeared off the face of the earth,” Higgins said.
“At that time, he wasn’t travelling too well. We’re all worried about him. I couldn’t get to the crux (of Speechley’s issues) because I didn’t get the opportunity. We all love ‘Speech’, he’s a good fella.”
Around the same time, a police officer working in the St George Area Command contacted a colleague in Cronulla to pass on a tip that Speechley had been sleeping in his car at Ramsgate.
Several Cronulla players, including Wilson, drove to Ramsgate multiple times but couldn’t find their friend.
“It’s just been silence. Sadly we’ve lost touch with Michael over the last few years. When he was living in his car, we were told he occasionally frequented Brighton RSL but no one from our footy network ever could find him there or his reported location,” Wilson said.
“We’re very, very keen to find Michael, we’d love to find him.
“We had 150 ex-players at the reunion. They came from regional NSW, Queensland, Western Australia, New Zealand, America but we can’t find someone whose last whereabouts was Ramsgate.
“A number of us made the effort to drive to Ramsgate when we were told he was in his car. I went over myself three times trying to find him but none of us had any luck. From there, it’s fallen away.”
In a personal video for this masthead, Wilson said: “‘Speech’ if you’re watching this, or if anyone knows Michael, or his whereabouts, or how we can get in touch with him, we would dearly appreciate any assistance in reaching out to him. Contact the Sharks and they will contact us (the old boys) and we will take it from there.
“Michael only scored 13 tries in seven seasons but he saved 100.”
Cronulla’s search intensified in December, 2022, after The Daily Telegraph revealed the plight of
former Bulldogs player Sandy Campbell, who was living homeless on the Gold Coast. Speechley’s friends feared there were similarities, which accelerated their efforts to find and embrace their former teammate.
“There is a lot of love for him from the old boys. We would love him to reconnect with us. I’m sure Michael is okay but he’s just under the radar,” Russell said.
“I would love to see Michael. He was a big part of the success I had during my playing career. He used to say to me: ‘I’ll do all the tackling, you score all the tries’.
“We were talking about it on old boys’ day. We would love to catch up, talk about old times and just check in to see if he’s okay.”
Speechley, now 60, had encountered troubles in his life. In 2005, police alleged Speechley and two others – all Qantas baggage handlers – were members of a sophisticated drug distribution network.
The three men had access to narcotics and worked in secure areas at Sydney airport.
Speechley was not charged with drug supply offences and was granted bail on other charges at the time.
“We’ve all had our issues – he’s not Robinson Crusoe,” Russell said.
“That’s life. It’s important you reach out when you can and be there for your mates.”
www.dailytelegraph.com.au
