Peter Frilingos. Roll of Honour. Services to the Media. Greek Australian Sports Hall of Fame.

As notified in a previous entry, and re-iterated in less detail at the conclusion of this entry - in the year 2000, the Greek -Australian Sports Hall of Fame was inaugurated.

Many athletes of the original 166 are obviously of Kytherian origin - Psaltis's, Samios, Zantiotis, Andronicus: but the place of origin in Greece of many others - particularly those born in Australia - has not been indicated in the biographies outlined in the original list. Determining how many Kytherians were inducted in the original list remains a matter for future research. To further complicate matters, some of the athletes may have had a parent, or grandparent of Kytherian origin. (A good example is Stephen Girdis, inducted for sailing prowess, whose mother is Kytherian.)

A Roll of Honour category exists for Greek-Australians who excell in their
a. services to Sport
b. as Coaches
c. in the Media (minimum 30 years service).

Peter Frilingos has been inducted in this latter category.

From Pinax, The Greek Australian Sports Hall of Fame, Volume 1, reproduced with the permission of the editor, Steve Georgakis.

Peter Frilingos

Media superstar

FRilingos was born in Sydney on 18 August 1944. He was educated at East Hills Boys' High School between 1957-1961. In 1962 he was awarded a journalism cadetship with The Daily Mirror newspaper in Sydney, becoming the Mirror's sports writer in 1964.

Frilingos covered every single Rugby League grand final from 1964 to 2003. He also covered four Kangaroo tours to Great Britain, six Kangaroo tours to New Zealand, and three Rugby League World Cups.

Frilingos served as deputy Sports Editor for The Daily Mirror from 1976-1977, becoming chief rugby league writer in 1980. In 1990, he was made chief writer for the Daily Telegraph Mirror.

Frilingos was a Rugby League panellist on Channel 9 between 1978 and 1980, and on Channel 10 from 1981 and 1982. From 1984 to 2004, he was a Rugby League commentator with Radio 2UE. From 1997 to 2004 Frilingos was as Fox Sport panellist in the hugely popular Back Page program.

For other Peter Frilingos entries, see People, subsection, High Achievers, and previous entry in this section, Sporting Life, for details about the National Rugby League inducting the Peter Frilingos Memorial Award for the headline moment of the year. Use of the internal search engine under Frilingos will also provide access to a number of other entries.


Background, Greek Australian Sports Hall of Fame

In September 2000, through the initiative of the Millenium Heritage Council, the Church established the Greek Australian Sports Hall of Fame in order to record the sporting achievements attained by Australians of Greek heritage who have distinguished themselves at either a National or International level.

The First Inductees

As a result, 166 sportspeople were inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame, in the presence of the Primate of the Greek Orthodox Church in Australia, His Eminence Archbishop Stylianos, and the Prime Minister of Australia, the Hon. John Howard, during the unforgettable Millenium Ball held on Saturday, 2nd September, 2000, at the Westin Hotel in Sydney.

The evening was a historic milestone that revealed how vast and truly astonishing the contribution to Australian and world sport by citizens of Helllenic descent is, in an amazing variety of disciplines. Sportspeople travelled from all over Australia to attend the memorable event and felt enormous pride and honour at their Induction.

The Commemorative Book

A thouroughly researched book entitled The Greek Australian Sports Hall of Fame - Pinax, Volume I, coordinated by the Millenium Heritage Sports Committee and edited by academic, Dr Steve Georgakis, was also launched on the evening with the most fascinating details about each Inductee's accomplishments.

Pinax is the Greek word for list. It was used in ancient times when referring to the record of the Olympic Games victors whose names were inscribed on a column at Olympia in Greece. This informative book was published with the generous assitance of the New South Wales government through the Office of the Premier, the Hon. Bob Carr. Only a small number of books remain, however, since the interest generated by the concept attracted the attention of Hellenes around the world. It was especially appreciated by athletes and officials during the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. The Committee is now looking forward to the second edition.

[Dr Steve Georgakis is also the author of Sport and the Australian Greek. A Historical Study of Ethnicity, Gender and Youth, as well as numerous other articles on the subject].

Note: The photograph above is the original photograph in Pinax.