He was the warts and all, knock-em down, drag' em out straight shooting New South Welshman who championed the cause of a young kid plucked out of local club side Norths to play against the big blokes.
That was ballboy-sized Allan Langer or Alfie, who will be among the many die hard Queenslanders mourning the passing on Wednesday of the bloke who once squeezed blood out of a dripping bullock's heart in an Ipswich Jets dressing room to fire his boys up.
No doubt Tommy, who was 70 when he died, had a fag hanging out of his mouth as he sprayed the room with animal offcuts and expletives as he told the troops to toughen up and "show some bloody heart".