Ken (NEBO) Stonestreet
Ken (NEBO) STONESTREET. Eastern Suburbs Player No. 536, Western Suburbs Player No. 632.
On Wednesday 13 May, 2015 we had the great pleasure to visit Ken STONESTREET at Camden Hospital. (Visited by Terry Hughes, John Peard, Ben Ross and Alan Webb).
Ken was diagnosed with breast cancer in August last year and had a double mastectomy.
He is keen to raise awareness of breast cancer in men. He wants all men to be conscious that they can have breast cancer and not to ignore any lumps or other suspicious symptoms.
Before starting his treatment the doctors discovered he also had lung cancer. He had extensive radiotherapy and chemo therapy during December and January.
Unfortunately the treatment was not successful and the cancer has spread rapidly. He has been hospitalised since Easter, but hoping for a discharge next week as his condition has stabilised, giving him an opportunity to spend some time at home.
Ken was from Marrickville in the Newtown District and like many at the time played in the Souths Juniors with Glenroy Tigers under a bodgie name (known as a ring-in). At age 17 he played Presidents Cup with Newtown then later that year he played at Wellington.
He returned to Sydney and played with Windsor, he then played lower grades with St. George then to Eastern Suburbs (now Sydney Roosters) from 1963-1966. In 1967 he went across to the Western Suburbs Magpies and played for that club until 1972. He captained Wests First Grade and in 1969 he was selected to play for NSW against Queensland.
Ken was a hooker in the days of real scrums and told us many stories of the tussles that took place in the forwards in those days. He cringed when we spoke about the current game and the way they have changed the rules regarding scrums.
At the time of the visit his wife of many years, Liz was in attendance and we learned that they have six children, five girls and one boy, with 13 grandchildren and one great grand child.
He was presented with a Men of League Polo Shirt and Cap.
John Peard informed me that when he played his initial first grade game with Easts, Ken was also in the team.
Ken has been visited by many former team mates during his stay in hospital.
To read more on the career of Ken, I urge you to visit the website “Pratten Park Magpies”. There is a great article on Ken written by Tony Lewis. This website has many articles worth reading on former Wests Magpies players.
Alan Webb
Welfare Officer Sydney Metro Branch 14-5-2015
Ken with John Peard and Terry Hughes
