In the early months of John Quayle’s tenure as general manager of the NSWRL, it wasn’t uncommon for him to take calls from reporters at 6am.
Sydney’s newspaper wars in the 1980s, which included daily battles between afternoon mastheads like The Sun and The Mirror, meant the chase started when it was still dark.
As is still the case, no other sport engaged Sydney readers and warranted screaming headlines like rugby league, so Quayle’s bedside phone would regularly wake him before his alarm clock.
Among the first to call was The Mirror’s Peter Frilingos, considered the best news chaser in the business.
“Have you spoken to him yet?” Frilingos would grumble, according to Quayle.
“Who?” Quayle would reply.
“You know who.”
Frilingos was referring to Ian Heads, the “gentleman journo” from The Daily and Sunday Telegraph who caught stories with honey, not vinegar, and everyone loved him for it.
Heads died on Monday morning after a long illness. He was 81.