How The West Was Really Won (Part III) Quiz

In much the same way that Sir Donald Bradman is to cricket or Michael Phelps is to swimming, so too is the name of Walter Lindrum to the game of billiards. Lindrum was considered to be the greatest billiard player to ever grace the table's cloth. The rules were specifically changed to curb his scoring but he still continued to be prodigious. Eventually he was reduced to playing exhibition matches as others refused to play him, for fear of being beaten.

Born in the mining town of Kalgoorlie, Lindrum demonstrated his freakish ability at an early age, making his first 100 break before he was a teenager. In his professional career, he achieved breaks of over 100 on 711 occasions and would top breaks of 3,000 points seventeen times. He retired in 1950 with 57 world records to his name, including the fastest century break at the time (45 seconds) and a break of 1,000 points in only thirty minutes.

Graham Marsh is the brother of Australian cricketing legend Rod Marsh. Graham's introduction to golf was by accident (literally) which saw him turn bad luck into good fortune. His early passion was with the sport of cricket and he was quite adept at the game, selected to represent his State at the Australian Schoolboys Championships in 1958/59. The following season he broke his arm and was advised by the family doctor to start swinging a golf club as a means to strengthen the injured limb.

Golf soon took over from cricket as his passion and he proved so good that he turned professional in 1968. Two years later he would secure his first professional victory, in the Swiss Open, which triggered a significant run of victories. He would win 65 times on the circuit without tasting any success in the Majors. On the senior tour he continued to pile up tournament wins, and he would also secure his first Major, winning the US Senior Open in 1997.

Tully learnt her craft on the outdoor courts of the small wheatbelt town of Merredin in Western Australia. She was often told that she was too short to play the game, but no one had counted on her toughness, which she'd developed playing against her brothers, her perseverance and her determination to succeed.

She would become a vital component of the Australian Opals team that secured Australia's first ever senior title, a win in the 2006 World Chanpionships. She backed this up by being a part of the team that won silver at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and a gold medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.

She was also a success in the tough US Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) where she'd spent 14 years, winning the championships with Seattle Storm in 2004. In all she would play 449 in the competition. Renowned for her ability to steal the ball she became one of those rare players in the WNBA who would combine 800 career assists with 500 steals. She would also be selected in the All-Defensive team on six occasions.

Glencross developed a world wide reputation as a close checking and robust fullback during 93 international games for Australia between 1964 and 1973.

He would journey to three Summer Olympic Games, winning a bronze medal at the Tokyo Games in 1964 and improving on that with a silver medal four years later at Mexico City. That year, 1968, proved to be a watershed year for him. Aside from the Olympic medal, he'd been appointed captain of the Australian team, a position he held until his retirement, he became the first Australian hockey player to be selected in the unofficial World team and he was awarded the Western Australian Sport Federation's Sportsperson of the Year Award.

Appointed coach of the Australian women's team in 1984, he would guide his charges to a top four finish in three World Cups, two wins and a second placing in three Champion's Trophy events and a gold medal at the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympic Games.

Raised in a number of small country towns Connie had no sporting pedigree to speak of until she married Charlie Hicks, an Australian Rules footballer, who was member of West Perth's 1941 (Australian Rules Football) premiership team. When Charlie gave up the game he took to lawn bowls. Connie, who was 29 at the time, decided to follow suit.

In 1961, at the age of 37, Connie would win her first State title and, over the ensuing 23 years, she would add another ten titles to her resume. In 1969 she would win her first national title and would also be selected for the Australian team. At the World Championships that year she would walk away with a silver medal. She would take it a step further, winning a gold medal at the World Championships in 1977.

Being just a competitor was not enough for Connie, she had to give back to the game. To this end she became an administrator and took the reins as president of the Royal Park Bowling Club from 1962 to 1969. She stepped up to be the State president in 1979 and the national president between 1981 and 1983. Connie was appointed a life member of the WA Bowling Association and, in 1988, received the Order of Australia Medal for her services to the sport.

Born in 1955 Kennedy is, possibly, the finest lacrosse player that Australia has produced to this point. An ambidextrous player, blessed with great speed and an inbred ability to read the game, he was a midfielder, many claimed, "could turn a game off his own stick".

He represented Australia in 100 internationals, including four consecutive World Cup tournaments between 1978 and 1990. The 1982 series was a bittersweet event for Kennedy. He was adjudged the Most Valuable Player (MVP) in the tournament, but he missed the final with a chest complaint that was later revealed to be a heart condition. Australia would lose the ultimate game to the United States.

Kennedy captained Australia on thirty occasions and won the MVP award at three National Championships. He closed out his career playing at his beloved East Fremantle club and setting up a programme to promote and coach the junior players at the club.

Stan played most of his career as a left winger where he was able to use his great speed to advantage. By the time he'd retired in 2008, he was Western Australia's most capped international, having represented Australia in 72 matches. That set of games included appearances at four World Cups and he also represented the Olyroos (as a permitted over-ager) at the Sydney Summer Olympic Games in 2000. He added to that prestigious list by playing in the 1997 FIFA Federation Cup final.

In 1995 he joined West Ham United in the English Premier League for a fee of £300,000, which was a record transfer fee for a Western Australian player at the time. Four years later he was transferred to Birmingham City and became a vital cog in their promotion to the Premier League. He would return to WA and see out his career with the newly formed Perth Glory.

In 1981 Jodie Cooper was competing in amateur surfing events while still only 17 years old. She turned professional two years later and made an immediate impact, finishing second in her first event, the Bells Beach Classic. By the end of 1984 she was ranked fourth in the world.

She'd established a reputation as a big wave rider and, in 1985, broke through for her first professional victory, in four metre waves at Huntington Beach. She would end that year ranked number two in the world and, over the next seven years would not slip out of the top four rankings.

She retired in 1993, in style, by winning the Hawaiian World Cup in her final event. This event was special to her and it was one that she'd come out victorious at, on four occasions. In all she would win thirteen times on the world tour and finish in second spot a further thirteen times. Many judges have rated her as the finest female surfer never to have won the World Tour overall.

Moloney was somewhat unique in his time amongst footballers. During his era players were specialist in one area. Moloney would excel in two fields that were disparate.

As an 18 year old he was promoted to the Claremont senior side where he played on the half forward line. He soon caught the eye of the recruiters from the east and, in 1931, moved to represent Geelong in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Starting at full forward, he made an immediate impact, booting seven goals in his first game against a powerful Collingwood side. He followed that up by kicking twelve goals against St. Kilda the following week. He was a major factor in Geelong winning the Grand Final that year and he'd close off the season with 74 goals to his name.

The following year he would top the VFL goal kicking ladder with 109 goals and then finished runner up to the legendary Haydn Bunton for the Brownlow Medal, which is awarded to the fairest and best player in the VFL. This was a feat that was unheard of for a full forward at the time. He returned to his beloved Claremont in 1936 where he was shifted to play centre. The inspired move saw Moloney win the Sandover Medal, awarded to the fairest and best player in WA Football League and he'd help Claremont reach the first of five consecutive Grand Finals.

In 1940 Claremont returned him to full forward and he would boot 129 goals for that season. This made him the first footballer to kick a century of goals in two different State leagues, a feat that has only been matched once since.

Dennis Lillee was, not only, fearsome, but one of the most complete fast bowlers to have ever graced the game. When he retired in 1984, he held the (then) world record for the most dismissals in Test cricket at 355 wickets. With his best mate, wicketkeeper Rod Marsh, he formed a formidable combination. The notation "caught Marsh, bowled Lillee" would appear in Test match scorebooks on 95 separate occasions, more than double any other wicketkeeper/bowler combination at the time. At my time of writing (2023) that record still stood.

Lillee first played for Western Australia in 1969 and made his debut for his country in the following season against a powerful England side. Three years later his world came crashing down when it was diagnosed that he had stress fractures in his lower lumbar vertebrae. Many felt that this was the end of a career. For Lillee, though, it meant a long period of rehabilitation and a study of motion that would set a standard for future generations.

Lillee returned to Test cricket in the summer of 1974/75, during which he dispelled all of the rumours that he would never be the same again. In fact, he came back to the game a better bowler. His modified action meant a loss of some speed but he compensated for this by mixing his natural aggression (few batsmen will ever forget that Lillee "glare") with superb control and a repertoire of deliveries that would confound many batsmen for the next ten years.