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Someone some day will find Big Jack Gibson's Kangaroo fur coat - interesting story on what happened to it - Didn't know BJG gave it to Harvey Howard
It’s almost the most iconic piece of clothing in NRL history - Jack Gibson’s kangaroo fur coat. And while many thought it lost on a trip to the USA, the true story of the coat’s journey has been revealed by a bloke who inseminates bees for a living.
Harvey Howard remembers clearly the afternoon he strutted around home in Jack Gibson’s fur coat.
“Looking every inch,” he laughs, “like a pimp”.
Which paints some picture, right?
Big Harvey, weighing 110kg.
On his finger too, an NRL premiership ring.
With the hulking English prop, only days after starring in Brisbane’s 2000 grand final win, now boxing up his Cronulla waterfront home for a shift back to Super League powerhouse Wigan.
“And wearing Jack’s coat,” he continues, grinning.
“I remember my partner at the time, she comes into the room saying ‘what the bloody hell have you got on?’.
“You have to remember, we’re talking about a three-quarter, kangaroo skin coat. She couldn’t believe it.
“But I’ve said, ‘listen, you’ve no idea the history of this thing’. No idea how many pictures it’s been in.
“So to then have it stolen a few weeks later — mate, absolute f … ing nightmare.”
It has now been almost 20 years to the day since Howard lost rugby league’s most iconic coat.
Not that many know.
Sure, we all remember the jacket.
With who knows how many images of the late, great SuperCoach showing him in that coat which, made from dead kangaroo, became almost as famous as the man himself.
Like when Big Jack coached Parramatta to the 1983 premiership, his third straight title with the Eels.
A threepeat, coincidentally, now being chased by Roosters coach Trent Robinson.
Which is why, in recent weeks, subtle inquiries have been made by folk wanting to track down that coat so often worn to rugby league’s biggest day.
According to some, Gibson lost said jacket during a United States holiday.
With even his late wife Judy once revealing how she “couldn’t have been happier” learning the coat she so despised was lost somewhere in transit through Los Angeles airport.
That was in the 1980s, she said.
But in truth?
“Jack gave it to me in 2000,” says Howard, the retired Test prop who now lives in Bowral working as specialist – “and you’ll love this,” he says – in the artificial insemination of queen bees.
Yep, after 13 years racking up almost 300 first grade appearances — including with Australian clubs like the Roosters, Broncos and Western Suburbs Magpies — this burly bee keeper now travels the globe helping queens get knocked up.
The latest chapter for a fella who, raised on his family’s English sheep farm, first arrived at Bondi Junction on a loan deal in 1993, where he quickly became close with Gibson, who by then was out of coaching but still working as Roosters manager.
So tight did the pair become, Howard even bought a neighbouring home in Gunnamatta Bay, where for the next seven years he continually returned for playing stints, holidays and countless afternoons fishing with the SuperCoach.
Which brings us back to that jacket.
“After the 2000 Grand Final win, I was heading back to England,” Howard recalls.
“So I called around to see Jack, say my goodbyes. But as I’m leaving he says ‘I’ve got something for you, something to keep you warm in the UK’.
“Then he brought out the coat.
“I said, ‘Oh, Jack, I can’t take that’.
“But he says ‘it’ll keep you warm’.”
So right there in Gibson’s home, Howard got the fur coat signed. With Big Jack scribbling inside the lining: To my good mate Harvey, best wishes, Jack Gibson.
From there, the coat was then taken home — receiving that quick spin around the lounge room — before being locked inside a shipping container which, on the docks at Botany Bay, contained all the furniture, belongings, even a new Mitsubishi Pajero Howard was taking to the UK.
“But just to be sure,” he says, “I actually locked the coat inside the Pajero. Thought it couldn’t be safer.”
But guess what?
“A few weeks after arriving back in England, I get this phone call (from police) saying the Pajero had been stolen,” he says. “I couldn’t believe it.
“I mean, who gets a f … ing car stolen from inside a shipping container? It doesn’t happen.”
Yet it did.
“Inside job apparently,” Howard continues. “Organised by someone at the dock.
“The cops actually found the bloke too, chased him and he crashed my brand new Mitsubishi Pajero.
“Inside the vehicle, I’d also locked memorabilia and some of my partner’s valuables.
“But when the cops phoned, my only question was ‘mate, have you found a jacket?’.”
Sadly, nobody had.
Nor in the 20 years since.
“In the (police) report, the guy said he tossed out,” Howard says.
“Still, you just never know.”
Which is why occasionally, when browsing through country Op Shops or antique stores, Howard will cast an eye across the clothing racks for an old fur coat.
“Because it could be that the jacket is long gone,” he says. “But still, I love to think it’s out there somewhere.
“Jack’s signature unmistakeable on the inside, just waiting to turn up.”
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...6ddff42c327cc5
It’s almost the most iconic piece of clothing in NRL history - Jack Gibson’s kangaroo fur coat. And while many thought it lost on a trip to the USA, the true story of the coat’s journey has been revealed by a bloke who inseminates bees for a living.
Harvey Howard remembers clearly the afternoon he strutted around home in Jack Gibson’s fur coat.
“Looking every inch,” he laughs, “like a pimp”.
Which paints some picture, right?
Big Harvey, weighing 110kg.
On his finger too, an NRL premiership ring.
With the hulking English prop, only days after starring in Brisbane’s 2000 grand final win, now boxing up his Cronulla waterfront home for a shift back to Super League powerhouse Wigan.
“And wearing Jack’s coat,” he continues, grinning.
“I remember my partner at the time, she comes into the room saying ‘what the bloody hell have you got on?’.
“You have to remember, we’re talking about a three-quarter, kangaroo skin coat. She couldn’t believe it.
“But I’ve said, ‘listen, you’ve no idea the history of this thing’. No idea how many pictures it’s been in.
“So to then have it stolen a few weeks later — mate, absolute f … ing nightmare.”
It has now been almost 20 years to the day since Howard lost rugby league’s most iconic coat.
Not that many know.
Sure, we all remember the jacket.
With who knows how many images of the late, great SuperCoach showing him in that coat which, made from dead kangaroo, became almost as famous as the man himself.
Like when Big Jack coached Parramatta to the 1983 premiership, his third straight title with the Eels.
A threepeat, coincidentally, now being chased by Roosters coach Trent Robinson.
Which is why, in recent weeks, subtle inquiries have been made by folk wanting to track down that coat so often worn to rugby league’s biggest day.
According to some, Gibson lost said jacket during a United States holiday.
With even his late wife Judy once revealing how she “couldn’t have been happier” learning the coat she so despised was lost somewhere in transit through Los Angeles airport.
That was in the 1980s, she said.
But in truth?
“Jack gave it to me in 2000,” says Howard, the retired Test prop who now lives in Bowral working as specialist – “and you’ll love this,” he says – in the artificial insemination of queen bees.
Yep, after 13 years racking up almost 300 first grade appearances — including with Australian clubs like the Roosters, Broncos and Western Suburbs Magpies — this burly bee keeper now travels the globe helping queens get knocked up.
The latest chapter for a fella who, raised on his family’s English sheep farm, first arrived at Bondi Junction on a loan deal in 1993, where he quickly became close with Gibson, who by then was out of coaching but still working as Roosters manager.
So tight did the pair become, Howard even bought a neighbouring home in Gunnamatta Bay, where for the next seven years he continually returned for playing stints, holidays and countless afternoons fishing with the SuperCoach.
Which brings us back to that jacket.
“After the 2000 Grand Final win, I was heading back to England,” Howard recalls.
“So I called around to see Jack, say my goodbyes. But as I’m leaving he says ‘I’ve got something for you, something to keep you warm in the UK’.
“Then he brought out the coat.
“I said, ‘Oh, Jack, I can’t take that’.
“But he says ‘it’ll keep you warm’.”
So right there in Gibson’s home, Howard got the fur coat signed. With Big Jack scribbling inside the lining: To my good mate Harvey, best wishes, Jack Gibson.
From there, the coat was then taken home — receiving that quick spin around the lounge room — before being locked inside a shipping container which, on the docks at Botany Bay, contained all the furniture, belongings, even a new Mitsubishi Pajero Howard was taking to the UK.
“But just to be sure,” he says, “I actually locked the coat inside the Pajero. Thought it couldn’t be safer.”
But guess what?
“A few weeks after arriving back in England, I get this phone call (from police) saying the Pajero had been stolen,” he says. “I couldn’t believe it.
“I mean, who gets a f … ing car stolen from inside a shipping container? It doesn’t happen.”
Yet it did.
“Inside job apparently,” Howard continues. “Organised by someone at the dock.
“The cops actually found the bloke too, chased him and he crashed my brand new Mitsubishi Pajero.
“Inside the vehicle, I’d also locked memorabilia and some of my partner’s valuables.
“But when the cops phoned, my only question was ‘mate, have you found a jacket?’.”
Sadly, nobody had.
Nor in the 20 years since.
“In the (police) report, the guy said he tossed out,” Howard says.
“Still, you just never know.”
Which is why occasionally, when browsing through country Op Shops or antique stores, Howard will cast an eye across the clothing racks for an old fur coat.
“Because it could be that the jacket is long gone,” he says. “But still, I love to think it’s out there somewhere.
“Jack’s signature unmistakeable on the inside, just waiting to turn up.”
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...6ddff42c327cc5
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