GREG Rhodes has lost count of how many golf tournaments he's won across Sunraysia over the past four decades.
He's also had plenty of success on the national amateur golf stage, the latest of which came just over a week ago when he won the National Seniors Masters title at the National Golf Club on the Mornington Peninsula.
It prompted the question of where the Merbein P-10 teacher (who has stood down as assistant principal) ranks among Sunraysia's finest sporting champions?
By the numbers, Rhodes has to be included in the "GOAT" (greatest of all time) debate.
On the eve of the Mildura Open, which hits off today, I asked Rhodes how many opens and club championships he had won in Sunraysia.
"That is a question I cannot answer," he said.
"I know I've won 24 club championships at Mildura and 14 at Coomealla. I think I've won over 20 open tournaments at Coomealla and Riverside, but I've got no idea just how many at the other clubs."
Further afield, he has won the Australian Senior Amateur Championship twice, in 2015 and 2018, and represented Australia at the 2016 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in the Philippines, where the Aussies secured the team title and Rhodes was crowned the individual champion.
We spoke twice during the week about his achievements.
It was during the second call that he revealed one of his proudest moments came during a big teams event a few years ago.
"Our district won the Division 1 Shield for the first time ever in 2019. This is a real highlight for me," he said.
Now aged in his early 60s, the Mr Invincible of Sunraysia golf is well placed to get picked in the Australian seniors team later this year.
"I'm now leading the rankings. I've played two events and come second in one (Victorian Seniors) and first in the other (National Seniors Masters)," Rhodes said.
Asked how he felt to be part of Sunraysia's GOAT conversation, he played down his many achievements.
"I'm just a golfer. I don't think I'm in the same league as people who have competed at the Olympics and played footy at the AFL level," he said.
Sunraysia Daily is today starting a debate around who is our greatest ever sporting champion.
We've come up with eight contenders, listed above, based on the criteria that they must have had some experience locally in their career development, and come from the Mildura Older Irrigation Area, taking in Mildura, Merbein, Irymple, Cardross and Red Cliffs, along with Robinvale.
It was a tough call to leave out the likes Murrayville and Cowangie, which ruled out three-time Olympic basketballer Rachael Sporn and V8s great Larry Perkins, but we had to draw a line.
Another to have come in the Daily's conversation was cricketer Jamie Siddons.
The Robinvale product broke David Hookes' Sheffield Shield record of 9364 runs, going on to make 10,643 runs in 146 games for Victoria and South Australia.
It earned him the title of being one of the greatest domestic players never to win a Test cap. He also played two games for the Sydney Swans in 1984.
This is just a starting point. Let us know who we've missed and we'll continue the great debate next Saturday.
THE CONTENDERS
Greg Rhodes: Won dozens of local and national amateur golf titles. A highlight was representing Australia at the 2016 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in the Philippines, where the Aussies secured the team title and Rhodes was crowned the individual champion.
Shantelle Thompson: The "Barkindji Warrior" is a three-time winner of the Jiu-Jitsu world championship. She has also been awarded a Medal in the Order of Australia for services to the Indigenous community of Victoria.
Kevin Hogarth: Mildura's first Olympic medallist, winning bronze in the welterweight division at the 1956 Games.
John James: A football star for Carlton in the VFL between 1953-63, the Robinvale-raised half-back flanker won a Brownlow Medal in 1961. He also represented Victoria on 15 occasions.
Deserie Wakefield (now Wakefield-Baynes): Another of the region's Olympic medallists, winning bronze in the double trap at the 1996 Atlanta Games.
Dale Weightman: Affectionately known as "Flea", the Imperials product played 274 games and kicked 344 games for Richmond between 1978-93. He also represented Victoria in 20 games between 1980-91.
Bec Gange: The wakeboarding superstar was a world champion in 2014 and is an eight-time Australian champion. She's also been a trail blazer by being the first woman to land some difficult tricks.
Jason Crump: The 46-year-old is a three-time Speedway World Champion, a World Cup winner and a former World Under-21 Champion. "Crump is Australia's greatest ever Speedway motorcycle racer," the Daily's motorsport writer, Wade Aunger, says.
