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Bringing footy gift to the deaf | The Daily Telegraph
REMEMBER the great Frank Hyde? I think of Frank and hear "It's long enough, it's high enough, it's right between the posts''.
Frank's trademark description is rugby league legend, and he coined it because of a blind man, Len Hallett - who sold pencils in George Street. Len once told Frank "you are my eyes''.
While Len sat at home, Frank painted his pictures over the radio. Manly have a blind fan who sits in the stands at Brookvale, but his pictures are painted by his 14-year-old "hero''.
Roger Ingram has been a Manly man his whole life. There was nothing better than an afternoon at Brookie cheering his beloved Sea Eagles, but in 1996 while he was watching the opening ceremony of the Atlanta Olympics on TV, Roger collapsed with meningitis and woke up in intensive care, almost completely blind.
Nearly 70 per cent of Roger's vision is gone. It's still deteriorating. His love for Manly isn't.
There wasn't much point in going to the matches if he couldn't see the action and it seemed Roger's days on the hill were over.
That was until his son Callum developed his own Manly obsession, and was old enough to take his dad to the ground again.
Now father and son are stalwarts at Brookvale as Callum describes the action for his dad.
As the whistle blows for kick-off, Callum starts his call with Roger hanging on every word. Callum's call is more in the Roy and HG style than Frank Hyde. Nicknames abound.
"Ox throws it to Beaver, back inside to Monas, and he's brought to the ground in a thumping tackle''. Sometimes the call descends into abuse - "Hey ref, do you want my dad's white cane?'' - and the call continues until the fulltime siren.
"It's not always easy for Callum,'' Roger says. "People stare at us, and some spectators have told him to shut up, but he gives as good as he gets. He's really stepped up to the plate for me. He's my hero.''
Callum and Roger are now regulars at Brookvale. They have made friends with the surrounding Manly devotees, who lend support and seem to enjoy Callum's calls.
Roger says that going to the footy instead of listening at home is mostly about a blind father being able to do something with his son that they both enjoy.
"Sometimes I feel like I'm making it hard for the family, but they never complain, they're fantastic,'' he said.
The challenges for the Ingram family don't stop there. Roger's wife Cathy is deaf.
Roger quips: "We're almost like the three wise monkeys - see no evil, hear no evil, and if I can just stop Callum from swearing at the footy, we'll have speak no evil, too.''
Callum has no ambitions to follow in the footsteps of the great Rugby League commentators like Frank Hyde or Ray Warren. He's just happy to give his call from the stands so his dad can go to the footy with him and they can both enjoy the game.
While they're part of the scenery at home games because they live around the corner from Brookvale Oval, they don't travel to away matches because it's difficult to negotiate public transport.
Manly don't play at Brookvale until the final round against St George Illawarra, so Callum and Roger have had to find something else to do - skiing.
REMEMBER the great Frank Hyde? I think of Frank and hear "It's long enough, it's high enough, it's right between the posts''.
Frank's trademark description is rugby league legend, and he coined it because of a blind man, Len Hallett - who sold pencils in George Street. Len once told Frank "you are my eyes''.
While Len sat at home, Frank painted his pictures over the radio. Manly have a blind fan who sits in the stands at Brookvale, but his pictures are painted by his 14-year-old "hero''.
Roger Ingram has been a Manly man his whole life. There was nothing better than an afternoon at Brookie cheering his beloved Sea Eagles, but in 1996 while he was watching the opening ceremony of the Atlanta Olympics on TV, Roger collapsed with meningitis and woke up in intensive care, almost completely blind.
Nearly 70 per cent of Roger's vision is gone. It's still deteriorating. His love for Manly isn't.
There wasn't much point in going to the matches if he couldn't see the action and it seemed Roger's days on the hill were over.
That was until his son Callum developed his own Manly obsession, and was old enough to take his dad to the ground again.
Now father and son are stalwarts at Brookvale as Callum describes the action for his dad.
As the whistle blows for kick-off, Callum starts his call with Roger hanging on every word. Callum's call is more in the Roy and HG style than Frank Hyde. Nicknames abound.
"Ox throws it to Beaver, back inside to Monas, and he's brought to the ground in a thumping tackle''. Sometimes the call descends into abuse - "Hey ref, do you want my dad's white cane?'' - and the call continues until the fulltime siren.
"It's not always easy for Callum,'' Roger says. "People stare at us, and some spectators have told him to shut up, but he gives as good as he gets. He's really stepped up to the plate for me. He's my hero.''
Callum and Roger are now regulars at Brookvale. They have made friends with the surrounding Manly devotees, who lend support and seem to enjoy Callum's calls.
Roger says that going to the footy instead of listening at home is mostly about a blind father being able to do something with his son that they both enjoy.
"Sometimes I feel like I'm making it hard for the family, but they never complain, they're fantastic,'' he said.
The challenges for the Ingram family don't stop there. Roger's wife Cathy is deaf.
Roger quips: "We're almost like the three wise monkeys - see no evil, hear no evil, and if I can just stop Callum from swearing at the footy, we'll have speak no evil, too.''
Callum has no ambitions to follow in the footsteps of the great Rugby League commentators like Frank Hyde or Ray Warren. He's just happy to give his call from the stands so his dad can go to the footy with him and they can both enjoy the game.
While they're part of the scenery at home games because they live around the corner from Brookvale Oval, they don't travel to away matches because it's difficult to negotiate public transport.
Manly don't play at Brookvale until the final round against St George Illawarra, so Callum and Roger have had to find something else to do - skiing.