Paul Malone, Jim Tucker, John McCoy & Ross Lawson Inducted into the Wall of Fame

Suncorp Stadium and The Minister for Sport the Hon. Stirling Hinchliffe welcomed four new members into the Venue’s Media Wall of Fame Wednesday morning, 3rd March.

Jim Tucker, John McCoy, Ross Lawson and the late Paul Malone became the newest inductees into the prestigious group with the Minister for Sport making the formal inductions.

The four members have all featured prominently in the Suncorp Stadium press box reporting predominantly on Rugby League and Rugby Union as well as other sports and were nominated by their peers and various organisations.

The morning included the posthumous induction of Paul Malone, who recently passed away age 59. Paul played a celebrated role in spreading the news of Suncorp Stadium's sporting gifts for almost four decades covering maybe more rugby league games at the venue than any other journalist. He left behind a great legacy and will be missed by many. Paul was nominated by The Courier Mail and a number of his peers.

Jim Tucker became one of the most respected members of the Suncorp Stadium press box during his career. Many of the more than 500 Queensland rugby games and Test matches he covered was from the Press Box perch, including the Reds' victory in the 2011 Super Rugby final. Jim was nominated for inclusion on the wall by the Queensland Reds and The Courier Mail.

As the caller for the first State of Origin in 1980, John McCoy is synonymous with sport in Queensland and Suncorp Stadium. John is credited as being the first to use the term “Brisbane Broncos”. John was nominated by Radio TAB.

Ross Lawson is best known for his Rugby League commentary during the 1960s and 70s when Brisbane club matches drew tens of thousands of fans. Ross became Queensland’s top football caller for 4BH and 4IP at Suncorp Stadium, then Lang Park also provided ground announcements. Ross was nominated by ASM Global’s Harvey Lister.

The Media Wall of Fame recognises the contribution the media have played in the coverage of sport over many years at Suncorp Stadium.

Located on Level 5 of the venue outside the Media Suite – the Wall of Fame acknowledges the close relationship Suncorp Stadium has with the Media.

Established in 2006, Jack Reardon, George Lovejoy and Frank O’Callaghan were the inaugural appointees into the Suncorp Stadium Media Hall of Fame.

Steve Ricketts and Gerry Collins in 2014; Barry Dick and Wayne Heming in 2017; and the late great Billy J Smith in 2019 have since followed.

Part of the criteria in selecting the nominees for the Wall of Fame was that they had to have either passed away or retired from active sports reporting or commentary.

To read more about the venue's history and honours, click here or check out some of the images from the morning below.















Photos: Liam Kidson The Courier Mail