Mark Twain is just one of many famous visitors to the Hunter.NOT as a matter of importance, but just to while away the finite hours till we die, who do you reckon is the most famous person ever to set foot in the Hunter?

Topics doesn’t mean Mike Rabbitt famous here (though we’d take that in a heartbeat). We’re talking Mick Jagger, Keith Richards famous. Someone who’d be hassled for a selfie from Hope Estate to Hanoi.

So, Stones aside, who makes the list?

Mark Twain does, surely. On a stopover in 1895, the father of American literature famously quipped: ‘‘Newcastle consists of a long street with a graveyard at one end with no bodies in it, and a gentlemen’s club at the other with no gentlemen in it’’.

Lady Gaga.

He had our number, sure. But say we define ‘‘fame’’ by the sheer number of ears that, when a name is dropped, prick up with recognition? What then?

Is this where David Beckham enters the discussion? Or even – and this will cause beverages to be spat out with incredulity – Lady Gaga?

Who’s your tip, dear reader? Answers to [email protected] herald上海龙凤论坛m .au, or Tweet @TimConnell.

AT the drive-in: part three.

When John Duggan of Gateshead was a teenager (he’s 74 now), he and his mate Ronny Cameron asked two girls out to the Metro Drive-In. The girls said yes.

So, armed with stern parental instructions about when to be home, the four set out. As they joined a queue of cars idling at the entrance, John had a thought.

‘‘I asked Ron ‘how much money you got?’’’ he recalls. ‘‘Because we might be a bit light on here.’’

He was right; a quick count confirmed they only had enough for two tickets. Ron, ever resourceful, suggested the girls hide in the boot. The rationale was that they could fit.

‘‘They weren’t thrilled, but they were good sports,’’ says John.

‘‘Then when we got in, the people behind us realised what was going on and flashed their lights and blew their horns.’’

The double date earned John and Ron the collective nickname ‘‘the big spenders’’. John says that the Metro, before it was a drive-in, was a racetrack called Nickel Park.

EVERY time we think it can’t be long before all correspondence is delivered electronically, someone shows us a scam like the following. It’s pretty convincing.

‘‘Details of infringement notice,’’ reads the official-sounding email.

‘‘The goal of this letter of advice is to apprise you that you have exceeded the speed limit … The offence was detected by an approved speed measuring device and recorded by an approved camera recording device (within the meaning of the Road Transport Act 2014).’’

Sounds legit, huh? There’s also a link labelled ‘‘View camera images’’, which you’d be forgiven for clicking on. Alas, instead of being directed to evidence of you doing the wrong thing, you’re gleefully told you’ve got a computer virus and that your files are now ‘‘locked’’.

It can become an expensive, time-consuming exercise. Give us a good old-fashioned letter of infringement any day.

Western Sydney are winless after their first six matches, but coach Tony Popovic believes his Wanderers are placed “very well” heading into this Saturday’s Sydney derby at Pirtek Stadium.

Popovic’s side could easily have accumulated more points during the past week had it put away a litany of chances against Central Coast on Wednesday and then against Newcastle three days later.  Instead the Wanderers had to settle for a point from each occasion. However, the coach is adamant they can convert their domination over the opposition into something tangible in the season’s second derby – especially after losing the first  3-2 at Allianz Stadium.

“If we’re going to talk about performances – which we always do talk about – you can see an improvement. From Wellington to Perth, there’s just little moments, and the moments got bigger against Central Coast, they got bigger against Newcastle, and we want that now for the derby,” Popovic said. “Derbies, from my experience here, are unique, they’re unpredictable. Form doesn’t really matter in these games too much. There are always incidents and flashpoints, but we want the flashpoint to be a Western Sydney top performance. I believe, with that, that the three points will be matched.”

Squad selection will again be a hot topic this week as the Wanderers will likely have a fully fit and fresh squad to choose from, minus Brendon Santalab whose shoulder injury will keep him sidelined until the new year. Big-game specialist Mark Bridge looms to be one of the major talking points after being benched for the past two matches and there is no guarantee he’ll start against his old side.

Bridge has been sidelined recently as Popovic looks to get game time into new trio Nikita Rukavytsya, Vitor Saba and Romeo Castelen, all of whom showed glimpses in the past two matches. “We want our squad to get better and we want to keep evolving. We’ve had a lot of success in a short period. But the reason these players have come in is: can we get better? That’s why they’re here and that creates competition for places. I want everyone looking over their shoulder, including the new players,” he said. “They’re not guaranteed a start just because they’re new players. They have to earn that right. Every week the players train extremely hard to try and get in that first eleven. That’s the environment we want to create because all successful teams have it and if we want to keep challenging for honours, we’ve got to have that. We can’t get complacent.”

Castelen was blistering against the Jets early, but was brought off less than an hour into the contest with Popovic blaming fatigue for the Dutchman’s early exit. “If you watched the game, you would have seen he was probably tired after 35 minutes. He was dead, in terms of his physical [output],” Popovic said. “He’s a player that plays at a high intensity and we’re getting him match fit now, through the season. As I’ve said numerous times, with all the players, he was again better, but he will take time to finish a 90-minute game, to play at the tempo that he plays.”

Daniel Alessi was another pulled prematurely from the contest, with the coach admitting the teenager was overwhelmed at right-back. “He wasn’t injured, but I thought the young boy found it very difficult. He’s 17, he’s a young boy that has promise, but it was just one of those days,” Popovic said. “It’s part of his development. I had it when I was 16-17, and I had Ron Corry [now Wanderers’ goalkeeping coach] coaching me at 16, and he took me off numerous times at half-time. It’s just part of [Alessi’s] development, him evolving, it was a tough game for him.”

A more pleasing sign in the draw against Newcastle was the form of Saba, with the Brazilian previously flattering to deceive as the replacement for Japanese legend Shinji Ono. “It was good to see. We see his talent at training, we see small glimpses, then he gets tired at training. But the glimpses are getting more and more,” Popovic said. “The moments are getting more and more, and longer. This was his best game and I think he walked off feeling like ‘I’m starting to adjust, I’m starting to settle in to a new country and new football’. He’ll only gets better and better.”

More public service news

Senator Eric Abetz’s department is forging ahead in hardline negotiations with public servants by offering staff a slightly higher pay rise at the cost of even more of their mates’ jobs.

The Department of Employment’s best pay offer will be 2.8 per cent over three years – a real pay cut because it is well below inflation.

But it would come with another 46 job cuts through natural attrition, a 30-minute longer working week, scrapping the half-day shutdown before Christmas and health allowance, slowing pay progression and making it harder to receive higher duties pay.

This pay increase would be a third less in percentage terms than the controversial pay deal given to Australian Defence Force members which Prime Minister Tony Abbott suggested would set the ceiling for public service negotiations.

The 2.8 per cent option at the Employment Department – 0.8 per cent to 1 per cent annually – would cost the Abbott government $11.7 million over three years while a second cheaper option being considered would cost $7.4 million.

The alternative of 1.7 per cent over three years – or 0.5 per cent to 0.6 per cent annually – would not include the job cuts or longer working week.

About 1800 Employment Department workers had until Monday to give their feedback to managers about the two options.

The department hoped to put forward a formal offer before Christmas and possibly become the first public service employer to send employees to a ballot on a proposed enterprise agreement in this round of Commonwealth bargaining.

Do you know more? Send confidential tips to [email protected]上海龙凤论坛m.au

Community and Public Sector Union national secretary Nadine Flood said she expected either of the “mean and nasty” offers put forward would receive a “no” vote from staff.

Staff could potentially then look at going to the Fair Work Commission for permission to take industrial action.

“The two options should not be a distraction – this is similar to what has been put forward in other departments,” Ms Flood said.

“Workers at Employment are already indicating the department’s proposals are completely unacceptable.”

She said the note sent to Employment staff outlining the two options revealed savings made in travel, accommodation, printing, reducing duplication and simplifying business processes would not be counted as productivity measures in bargaining.

Ms Flood said the Australian government was the only major employer in the nation defining productivity as cutting workers’ conditions.

In floating two informal offers the department could be testing a viewpoint put by Senator Abetz in June when he said public servants might want to forgo a pay rise to save their mates’ jobs.

At the time the senator said “regrettably” the higher the pay increases “the more people out the door”.

The federal public service was scheduled to reduce its workforce by 16,500.

The CPSU was preparing its members for potential industrial action across the public service.

Staff at the Department of Human Services have voted in favour of taking industrial action while Department of Veterans Affairs employees were taking part in a ballot.

A man has drowned while rescuing his daughter after their kayak overturned near Bathurst. Photo: Paul JurakA 36-year-old Bathurst man has drowned while saving his five-year-old daughter.

The pair were kayaking at Chifley Dam near Bathurst on Saturday night when their vessel overturned and they fell into the water. While the man managed to save his daughter, he failed to resurface.

Inspector Rhys Dive, who attended the search, said the man was at the dam with his family and friends when the “horrible” accident occurred.

“It upturned and they both ended up in the water and he managed to lift his child onto the boat,” Inspector Dive said. “The first thing he did was save his little girl.”

Emergency services personnel were called about 7.15pm.

“There were already people searching on kayaks and fishing boats and swimming when we arrived,” he said.

Police and SES volunteers began a search of the water and the man’s body was discovered just before 9pm.

Police confirmed the man and his daughter were not wearing life jackets.

The father of three was a dedicated community member who regularly volunteered with the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church’s Rapid Relief Team, Inspector Dive said.

“We know him, that church group is part of the group that come and feed us at emergencies,” he said.

A spokesman for the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church, John Wells, said the deceased man had been a member of the church’s rapid relief team for a number of years. The team is made up of church members who volunteer to provide catering to emergency service personnel.

Inspector Andrew Spliet from the Chifley Local Area Command  said the man and his daughter were paddling in water that was 3.5-to-four metres deep when the kayak flipped.

Despite the flat water, and innocuous nature of kayaking, Inspector Spliet said people should still be aware of the risks in deep water, especially if they are not strong swimmers, or they are with children.

“If you’re going into the waterways, especially if you have children, you need to ensure you have lifejackets with you.

The cause of the man’s death has not yet been determined. Police will  prepare a brief for the coroner.

Map of where the baby was found. The drain where the baby was found at Quakers Hill.

Found: the boy was down the drain for six days. Photo: Supplied

It was an unmistakable sound in the most unexpected of locations.

“I’ve got two kids of my own, so I know what a baby screaming sounds like,” Rydalmere resident David Otte said.

But the father of two said it was “unbelievable” to find a newborn boy down a western Sydney stormwater drain along a Quakers Hill bike path next to the M7 on Sunday.

The discovery sparked a police search for the boy’s mother – identified later as a 30-year-old Quakers Hill woman – and calls for the public to withhold judgment until it became clear what had led to the baby being abandoned.

Police on Sunday night confirmed the mother had been charged with attempted murder in relation to the incident.

Police believe the baby was born last Monday and placed in the drain on Tuesday, six days before it was found.

Mr Otte said he had been cycling with his daughter Hayley when at about 7.30am they were flagged down by two men who had heard an unusual noise coming from a drain in unkempt grass 150 metres from Quakers Road.

“It was so intense. You couldn’t not tell it was a baby,” Mr Otte said. “We couldn’t see it but we could hear it.It was distressed.”

It took about seven people to lift the concrete lid off the drain so police could retrieve the boy, who was described as malnourished, dehydrated and just a few days old.

The baby’s umbilical cord had been cut and clamped. He was wrapped in what appeared to be a striped hospital-issue blanket.

“We were going to get that lid off no matter what it took,” Mr Otte said. “Physically, no one could have fit themselves down into that drain. A child maybe but not an adult, no way in the world.”

The baby, who was taken to the Children’s Hospital at Westmead in a serious but stable condition, was believed to have been pushed through a narrow gap below the lid, before falling 2.5 metres. Police said on Monday the baby was in a stable condition.

Inspector David Lagats, from Quakers Hill, said police would have had grave fears for the child’swelfare if he had remained undiscovered for much longer.

The temperature soared above 45 Celsius in parts of western Sydney as the day wore on.

‘It’s a horrific incident, but with all the team work from the bystanders, too, it was a good result and hopefully the child will survive,” Inspector Lagatssaid.

There were unconfirmed reports a man of Indian appearancewearing an orange shirt was seen on the cycle track soon after the baby was discovered, he said.

By early afternoon, checks of recent hospital births and doorknocking of the local area had led police to the newborn’s mother, who had given birth at Blacktown Hospital.

Department of Family and Community Services western Sydney district director Lisa Charet saidsuch incidents were rare.

But post-natal depression, or young mothers who did not know where to turn for help, had been factors in previous cases, she said.

“I think you have to be in a fairly desperate place to commit this sort of act,” she said before the mother was located.

Andrew McCallum, from the Association of Children’s Welfare Agencies, urged people to withhold judgment until the circumstances surrounding the incident were clear.

“And even then there’s usually a lot of other factors involved in these things,” Mr McCallumsaid.

Police said investigations into the incident were ongoing.

“You go through life seeing things but you never, ever imagine you’ll see something like this,” Mr Otte said.

“That baby had no chance if we and the other people hadn’t been there. Something made us find that baby today.”

In May, Mike Mulvey was luxuriating in Brisbane’s historic grand final victory over the Western Sydney Wanderers. Six months later he has been sacked as Roar coach amid an early season implosion that yielded one win from six games.

After news broke early on Sunday afternoon, Roar management took an ice-age to confirm reports of Mulvey’s dismissal. It finally arrived, with the club saying Mulvey would ‘step down’ from his role, effective immediately.

His sacking comes after a review of Roar operations by the board and wealthy Indonesian owners, the Bakrie Group. Bakrie representative and Roar chairman Chris Fong hadn’t arrived in the country to hand out Christmas cards.

Roar managing director Sean Dobson said: ‘Head coach Mike Mulvey met with Brisbane Roar FC management today (Sunday). As a result, he will step down from the head coach’s position.

“The board review of all of Brisbane Roar FC football operations was conducted in line with Brisbane Roar’s commitment to continual improvement.”

That supposed improvement hadn’t included a stuttering start to the year, which saw Brisbane embark on a losing streak only broken by a 4-0 win over Newcastle, before a 1-0 loss to Melbourne Victory on Friday night.

The club appeared to have battled with the departure of key players Besart Berisha and Ivan Franjic, while an injury to keeper Michael Theo managed to send their backline descending into chaos.

The underperformance of replacement striker Mensur Kurtisi had many questioning the recruitment strategy, while veterans like Shane Stefanutto were also feeling the heat as Brisbane leaked 10 goals in their opening four games.

Mulvey was the toast of the league in Autumn as the Roar won their third title but little went right to start the new campaign, with rumours of player unrest adding to poor form and injury.

Mulvey joined the Roar in 2012 as a replacement for Rado Vidosic before being given a contract extension as he began to help the club rebound from a slump after the departure of current Socceroo coach Ange Postecoglou.

Sydney FC coach Graham Arnold has fired the first barb before next Saturday’s Sydney derby, declaring it “not the biggest derby” – because of the limited size of Pirtek Stadium.

Although the venue might be the subject of a minor government upgrade – which many believe should be given a far more significant boost – the limited capacity means that thousands of fans, many of them who support Sydney FC, will again miss out on tickets.

Only around 1500 Sky Blues’ fans are ever allocated seats, despite virtually every Wanderers’ fan being able to attend the reverse fixtures at Allianz Stadium. It has given berth to a growing view that that the Wanderers should opt to switch future derbies to ANZ Stadium.

Arnold declared the boutique Parramatta venue was simply “not intimidating” when compared to the Moore Park venue, where the Sky Blues were roared on by a vocal crowd to come back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 when the sides met earlier in the season.

“It’s not the biggest derby, because only 18,000 can fit in, compared to ours, where it’s 43-44,000,” Arnold said. “It’s not that intimidating at all. We’re looking forward to the occasion.”

The Sky Blues go into the derby riding high after their 2-1 win over Melbourne City, a result that keeps them inside the pack of four clubs – along with Adelaide United, Melbourne Victory and table-topping Perth Glory – who have skipped away from the rest of the competition. Arnold said the win was set up in the first half but that the result should have been put to bed well before full-time.

“We spoke after the previous game about slow starts and since I’ve been at the club the starts haven’t been fantastic, but the first half was excellent. We should have probably gone in 3-0 or 4-0 up,” he said. “It would have been game over but the fact we went only 1-0 up kept them in the game and kept them motivated.”

Terry Antonis enjoyed a brilliant match in the midfield after missing the game against Victory last week but it was Marc Janko who gained most of the headlines with a match-winning brace – taking his tally to a respectable three goals in seven games. His availability for the match only came about because he pulled out of representing Austria, whom he captains, against Brazil in a midweek friendly.

“Marc is settling now. We’re still trying to find him at times but we’re doing a lot of work at training with our attacking patterns to get Marc involved and for the players to know where he is,” Arnold said. “He could have had a hat-trick [against City]. He scored two and hit the post and had another good game. Getting him involved in the game is good. Hopefully he’s now settled, because he doesn’t have to go away with the Austrian national team for at least until March. To get him back in is good.”

When asked if he could have fitted Alessandro Del Piero into his current line-up, Arnold joked that he was “enjoying watching him in the Indian Premier League” – where the Italian has struggled to make an impact with the Delhi Dynamos, going scoreless and covering little ground from his attacking midfield role. Arnold said he’d “probably” have fitted Del Piero into his system but added: “Maybe he would have had to work harder.”

Meanwhile, Sydney FC chief executive Tony Pignata has promised to look into an appeal against the red card given to Milos Dimitrijevic for time-wasting before a late corner.

Arnold was sure it was a case of mistaken identity – which would allow the Sky Blues to appeal under the contentious “obvious error” clause.

“Milos goes out for short corners but he doesn’t take them. There were three guys out there, [Alex] Brosque, Janko and Milos,” Arnold said. “Maybe we can appeal for mistaken identity.”

Brosque told ABC Radio on Sunday that it was a comical decision from the referee, one he couldn’t understand.

“For a player to be sent off like that is ridiculous,” he said. “It’s disappointing to lose such a good quality player for the coming weeks for a lack of common sense.”

Chris Rogers’ dream of finishing his Test career at next year’s Ashes is still alive while Josh Hazlewood is on the verge of earning a baggy green in Brisbane next week.

Rogers has staved off a challenge from Phillip Hughes and will partner David Warner at the top of the order in the first Test against India, starting on Thursday week.

Rogers’ Test berth, and career, had been in peril after an underwhelming series in the UAE against Pakistan but the opener booked himself a ticket to Brisbane with his 71st first-class ton in the Sheffield Shield last week.

Speculation has been rife that Rogers would be replaced by Hughes, who is 12 years younger, but the incumbent’s superior form since returning home from the Middle East has been acknowledged at the selection table.

Although Rogers missed the day-night round of shield games due to his colour blindness, he showed selectors he was not done with yet by making 107 for Victoria against South Australia. Hughes did himself no favours with twin failures of seven and 11 on top scores of 20 and 69 in his previous shield appearance.

While Rogers has preserved his Test career, another could be starting in Brisbane.

Hazlewood, expected to be the only uncapped player in Australia’s squad, has been rewarded after an excellent start to the summer, albeit predominantly in the 50-over and Twenty20 arenas.

The giant quick from Tamworth has been left out of NSW’s shield side for this week’s game, which is a strong guide he is in the minds of national selectors for the first Test.

He will likely become the 440th recipient of the baggy green should Ryan Harris fail to prove his fitness.

Harris is the only other paceman not involved in shield action this week. The courageous quick, who  returned to first-class cricket last week after eight months out, is desperate to log more overs at state level before he throws himself back on to the international stage.

But given he also played last week, selectors will be wary of asking a player with such a long history of injuries to play a third game in as many weeks.

Speculation about captain Michael Clarke’s availability for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series-opener will continue as he is almost certain to be named as captain, with Brad Haddin his deputy.

But competition is wide as to who will take the captain’s place in the line-up should he succumb to his hamstring injury, with Shaun Marsh, Alex Doolan, Callum Ferguson and Hughes all in contention.

With Clarke not yet ruled out, it is possible selectors will wait for this week’s round of shield games before announcing a shadow batsman.

Marsh would have played in the UAE had he not suffered an elbow injury. He enhanced his Test claims with a century a fortnight ago but missed opportunities last week with middling scores of 19 and 41.

Doolan was controversially dumped for the second Test against Pakistan but has failed to pass 50 in his four innings for Tasmania since returning home.

Ferguson has been one of the form batsmen in the opening three rounds of the Shield, hitting 324 runs at 81, including two centuries.

The South Australian has shone on the international stage previously but is uncapped at Test level due to concerns his game is too loose for the longer forms.

Elsewhere, Nathan Lyon is tipped to hold his place as Australia’s No.1 spinner despite a poor series against Pakistan, while Shane Watson is likely to make his Test return.

Mitchell Marsh appears certain to hold his position after a promising start to his Test career in the Persian Gulf.

Possible squad: David Warner, Chris Rogers, Shane Watson, Michael Clarke, Steve Smith, Mitchell Marsh, Brad Haddin, Mitchell Johnson, Ryan Harris, Peter Siddle, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh.

The Cullen family now has a gold jacket to go with a baggy green, and for newly crowned Australian Masters champion Nick Cullen, at least for the time being, gold trumps green.

As he reflected on the journey that has taken him from almost giving up golf to gatecrashing Adam Scott’s pursuit of history, the twin brother of former Australian cricketer Dan Cullen said it was surreal to think his name would sit alongside recent winners including Scott, Tiger Woods and Ian Poulter.

The 30-year-old, ranked No. 632 in the world, began the event at Metropolitan Golf Club without any status on any Tour in the world, but has now earned five years of full status on the Australasian circuit, He came from nowhere in Sunday’s final round to steal a career-changing victory and bank a $180,000 winner’s cheque.

“I played some pro-ams in New South Wales a while ago, and I think I made $500 for like two weeks,” said Cullen, recalling the time when he almost made a decision that would have robbed him of the biggest moment of his life.

“I was driving back and halfway home I was just like, ‘What am I doing?’. I’m not enjoying it, I wasn’t making money and just wasn’t happy,” he said.

“There were so many better places I could be, be with friends and family, and I’m out in the middle of the outback going nowhere.

“That was the realisation that, it’s either quit or work harder. I decided I wanted to give it a real go … all the people that have helped me over the years, I just didn’t want to let them down.”

The South Australian revealed it was a conversation he had with his brother Dan, a spin bowler who played one Test for Australia and five one-day internationals, shortly after that drive home that changed his outlook on the game.

“I won a pro-am a week later and I had a great chat with my brother. I three-putted the last hole to tie for the win and I was headless because it was the difference between $3000 and I had no money,” he said.

“Dan said it didn’t matter, he said ‘you won’.

“After that I realised it wasn’t about the money, it was about trying to win.

“Since then, I’ve just been trying to win… and to win the Australian Masters is pretty awesome.”

Asked which was more important, the gold jacket or a baggy green, Cullen replied, “At the moment, definitely the jacket” as he looked down at the latest addition to his wardrobe.

He then praised his brother’s contribution to Sunday’s triumph, which earns Cullen a spot in a $9 million World Golf Championship event next year.

“That’s the most important thing anyone has ever told me,” he said.

“He’s been at the top level of his sport and he’s bowled to the best batsmen in the world and got them out … been through all the media pressure… so to be able to talk to someone so close to you and confide in and trust, he’s been awesome.”

The first call Cullen made was from the scorer’s hut at Metropolitan to his partner, who is based in the United States, to tell her he had pulled off the Masters miracle the couple needed to continue their life together in America.

“I was saying to my girlfriend that I needed to win one of the last three events in Australia … to get status next year and play somewhere,” he said.

“Just trying to be in the States with her and not having a Tour card anywhere… it just wasn’t going to work.”

Among all that has been written and spoken throughout the week, the words “Nick Cullen” were barely mentioned until Sunday where he carded a three-under round of 69 to finish at nine under overall and outlast Scott. He started the day two shots behind overnight leader Paul Spargo.

A clutch bunker shot on the 18th turned a potential final-hole disaster into a dream come true, with the ball nestling to within two feet of the cup to leave an easy tap-in.

The par shut out Scott’s late rally, that culminated in a Masters moment on the 18th when a 15-metre putt from the world No.2 did everything but fall in the hole, leaving Scott one shot short of forcing a play-off, and tied for second with final-round bolters Josh Younger and James Nitties.

Cullen rated the bunker shot as the best of his career, delivered under the most pressure he had ever been under.

Cullen said to himself “oh, no” as his approach shot to the 18th flew into the greenside trap.

“I wouldn’t want to try and do it again, put it that way”, he said, adding of the tournament-winning putt, “I’m glad it wasn’t any longer, because I was nervous enough over that one”.

Richmond senior development coach and former Port Adelaide premiership coach Mark Williams has been diagnosed with cancer.

Williams, a former Collingwood captain and Brisbane Bears player, has lymphoma, a form of blood cancer. The 56-year-old coach will have further tests to determine if it is Hodgkin or non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Williams noticed a lump in his neck last week and after consulting the Richmond doctor had tests that confirmed the diagnosis.

Richmond football manager Dan Richardson said Williams felt fine and wanted to continue to work, and that the club would support him through the illness.

“He was only diagnosed last week, so he has still got further tests to undergo in the next week or two to get a bit more information on it,” Richardson said.

“He is feeling fine. He noticed a lump in his lymph in his neck, which is how it came about being diagnosed, so at the moment he wants to keep working and work around the testing and things that are to come.”

A club spokesman said further tests would be needed to determine what form of lymphoma it was – Hodgkin or non-Hodgkin – but whether that was to be made public would be a matter for Williams.

One of the league’s more flamboyant and colourful coaches, Williams coached Port Adelaide from 1999 to 2010. He led Port to their inaugural flag in 2004 and famously grabbed at his tie and held it up to goad those who had accused the team of choking when they failed after finishing top four the two previous years.

He then provocatively declared the club’s major sponsor was “wrong” in his acceptance speech on the day for questioning whether Williams was the man to lead the club to a flag. The Power under Williams also played in the 2007 grand final loss to Geelong.

Williams played 135 games for Collingwood from 1981 to ’86, was captain from 1983 to ’86, won the Copeland Trophy in 1981 and ’85 and was an All-Australian in 1980. He moved to the Brisbane Bears for three seasons and 66 games in 1987 and ’88.

He coached at GWS for two seasons before moving to Richmond to work with Damien Hardwick.