The 53-year-old Singleton miner has been awarded that honour to the Greater Northern Tigers, the rugby league division that is made up of Groups 4, 19 and 21.

Gardner, who said he was “born, bred and will die in Singleton”, picked up the plaudit at the organisation’s recent annual general meeting.

Greater Northern Tigers regional manager Scott Bone said it was richly deserved.

“Gary has been a great servant for Northern Division and Greater Northern,” he explained of a man who has starred on and off the field as a player, coach and official.

“He played in the 1988 side (Northern Division) that beat the Poms and in ’89 when Northern Division won the Country Championships in Dubbo. 

“Then he moved into coaching and mentored at a local level as well as the Northern Division and Country under-18 sides for many years.

“He’s also continued to serve on the Group 21 committee and the Greater Northern board as well as a selector. 

“He’s always put his hand up to do what has been needed.”

He provided a list of Gardner’s playing and coaching achievements, which is both long and impressive.

And, last Saturday, February 9, Gardner added to that huge resume when he coached the Group 21 under-23 men’s side to the Greater Northern Tigers Championship.

Funnily enough, his continuing rugby league voyage almost never started.

Initially his parents didn’t want him to play, he recalled.

Luckily next door neighbours to the Gardner dairy had a son who played “so I tagged along with him”, he recalled as we chatted in between championship matches at Scully Park, which was also the setting for one of his most memorable footballing moments - or matches.

“I didn’t play until the under-13s,” he said.

Gardner first played for the Singleton Greyhounds in the under-16s and won his first premiership in the under-18 in 1984 when he also played first grade.

He was Group 21’s Rookie of the Year in 1985 and from 1984 to 1996 he played more than 200 first grade games for the Greyhounds.

“I played in five grand finals, 88, 89, 90, 95 and 96,” Gardner said.

“But, I only won one - 1990. 

“We beat Aberdeen, captain-coached by Chris Cumming (Sergeant Slaughter) at Singleton Showground. Won the Clayton Cup, too.

“Richard Jones (former St George prop/hooker now the CEO of the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service) was our coach in ’90. 

“When you see him, tell him ‘no respect’. He’ll know and laugh.”

Gardner also won the Group 21 Player of the Year three times (1992, 1993 and 1994) and played for NSW Country in 1985, 1987 and 1991.

He was a regular in the Northern Division (now Greater Northern) teams of that era and played in the 1988 outfit that beat Great Britain at Scully Park in Tamworth.

“Yeah, we beat the Pommies here at Scully,” Gardner recalled.

“No, Ewan (McGrady) beat the Poms. 

“He scored three tries, they didn’t see which way he went. 

“Ten of those guys played in the Great Britain side the next week and beat Australia, too.

“That is a great memory. 

“And, the next year we beat Western Division in Dubbo to win the Country Championships.”

It brings a great smile to his face. 

Those two big wins sit so high on his sporting achievement list, especially the great coaching effort by Northern Division coach Frank Fish to “hoodwink” the Western Division side.

“Frank left Ewan on the bench and started with Johnny Hunter at halfback,” Gardner said.

“Western Division had said they were going to bash Ewan and for the first 20 minutes they bashed John. 

“When he went off after 20 they all said we’ve got rid of McGrady. 

“John laughed and said no you haven’t, this is Ewan pointing to him as Ewan came on.”

McGrady then scored one of the most mesmerizing grubbering kick chase tries you’d ever see to bamboozle the Western Division defence, change the game and lead Northern  Division to a famous victory.

It still brings goose bumps to those of us lucky enough to have been there and seen it live.

After retiring Gardner had no thoughts about coaching until he was asked to oversee the Greyhound under-16s.

“They didn’t have a coach, Brian Kennedy, God bless him, asked me if I’d do it,” he said.

“It gave me something to do.”

Singleton won the under-16 premiership in that first year.

He also coached the under-18s, winning seven grand finals in 12 seasons and coached the first grade side to grand finals in 1995 and 1996, losing both.

He was the club’s inaugural league tag coach, too, and mentored the Group 21 men’s side, Northern Division under-18 and senior men’s teams and Country under-18s.

He coached the Northern Division under-18s for seven seasons and won a CRL Country Championships in 2002 with a side that contained Tom Learoyd-Lahrs.

“I coached the CRL under-18s for five seasons (2005-2009), we won nine games out of 10,” Gardner said.

“They were among some of my proudest moments as a coach.

“Football has given me a great opportunity to play and coach all over, I’ve been to New Zealand and Tonga. 

“I’ve played over in Kalgoorlie against Lord Ted, been up to the Sunshine Coast and out in the middle of Queensland, too.

“I’ve met a lot of great people.”

Gardner has been more than just a very good player, a centre who played his last game as a prop for the Greyhounds. 

He’s a great coach of teenagers and young men – as well as a selector of many sides.

He has been a CRL selector for the under 16, 18 and seniors.

He also joined the Group 21 management committee in 2005 and has been a vice-president of Group 21 for the past four years, as well as a Group 21 delegate to Greater Northern for the last six.

One of his proudest achievements, however, is to have been named in the Singleton Greyhounds’ 70 Years team.