Tony Durheim is a born and bred Lismore local. He has had a career as a professional rugby league football player, and manages the local family business “Durheim Painting”. Tony sat down with Dylan Butcher to talk football, painting, and everything in between.

I was born at Lismore Base Hospital in July 1967, went to Goonellabah Public School for primary school, and then spent three years at Kadina High School.

I got into trouble at school one day, my old man hit the roof, and that turned out to be my last day at school – two days before I turned 15 – and I started work the next day.

I started my painting apprenticeship at Dad’s painting business. First job was on a cane farm at Pimlico, and then within a month I was painting the inside of the jail at Grafton – that was an experience!

I played soccer as a junior, and then started playing under-14s footy with some of the boys from high school. We had a lot of fun, and I’ve still got a lot of friends from that era today.

I broke my leg one day playing Rugby League, so I gave it up, and maybe a year later, I got asked to come back and play with Marist Brothers, because they were short on numbers.

I started playing halfway through the season and enjoyed it. I then played a full season of under-18s in 1985 and won the premiership under John O'Brien; started 1986 in first grade under Denis Meaney - I think we lost one game that year, and won the minor and major premiership.

1987 came around and we won the Clayton's Cup, as well as the minor and major premiership; and then 1988, we lost the grand final to Grafton Ghosts in a pretty hard game.

In 1989 I started with Marist Brothers, and then halfway through the year I got asked to go to the Gold Coast Giants, and went there for the for the second half of the year.

Funny story actually, we were playing Byron Bay that year and I got into a bit of a fight - Malcolm Clift, who was a coach at the Gold Coast, came into the change rooms after seeing it, and said they wanted me to start up there the next week – so that’s how I got my start with them.

I re-signed after that year with the with the Seagulls until 1993. That was the NRL, or ARL as it was known then.

So, in 1994 I came home and played another year with Marist Brothers and won another premiership. I went back to the Seagulls in 1995 under the coaching of John Harvey.

When the Seagulls folded they were taken over by the Gold Coast Chargers under Phil Economidis, I played three more years there out at Carrara, and then we moved to the Gold Coast until 1998. When the Chargers got wound up, I came back again to play for Brothers in 1999 and 2000, and won two more premierships.

All those years, other than ‘96, ‘97, and ‘98, I travelled up to the Coast five days a week for training – a typical weekend would be, go to work Friday morning, be at training by five o'clock that afternoon. I'd stay on someone's lounge room floor on the Friday night, then go to training at seven o'clock on Saturday morning, jump on a plane around lunchtime and fly to Sydney for the game, and get home at midnight Sunday night, ready for work on Monday.

Pretty lucky to have played against some of the greats over the years too – Wally Lewis was an obvious standout, he played at the Gold Coast in 1991, and then coached us in 1992 and 1993. Still got some amazing friends after it all too.

I am still the only player to have played for the Gold Coast Giants, Gold Coast Seagulls, and the Gold Coast Chargers.

I met Betty-Anne when I was playing under-18s in 1985, we sort of knew each other, but in ‘86, I asked her out on a date, and we went to the movie premiere of Crocodile Dundee – the rest is history.

We’ve got three kids together, Laura, Megan and James. Laura was born in Lismore, but she came with us on the Gold Coast trips. When we moved to the Gold Coast in ‘96, Megan was still a baby, and James was born when we were back in Lismore.

I finished playing footy at the end of the season in 2000, and in 2001 I got hit with chronic fatigue. I spent nine months in the lounge room and hardly left home.

I was pretty unwell, my body was just shutting down after footy and needed a rest - when James was born, Betty-Anne was working at home cutting hair, and James would be laying beside me screaming his head off, and I was asleep. Betty-Anne would come in and wonder how I didn’t hear – I was sleeping 20 hours a day.

After I finished playing footy, I got more involved with the paint business. I was still sick, and Mum and Dad were going on a trip to China, and Len asked me if I would look after the business for him while they were away.

I didn’t know how it was going to work, but it got me out of bed every day – and when he came back, he told me I was doing a better job than he was, so he retired and told me I could keep the job.

At that time we had between 15 to 20 employees, and we now have as high as 70. It was very much Lismore-focussed when I took over too, now we have staff based from Coffs Harbour to Armidale to Brisbane. We have three paint shops, and the business is going very well.

Tony Durheim with Prime Minister Scott Morrison following the 2022 flood.

Over the years I’ve been involved in a few other committees and clubs too. I joined the NRRRL Management Committee for 17 years, and earnt Life Membership in 2018. I have also been a proud member and participant of the Lismore City Rugby Club, Marist Brothers Cricket Club, and have been a Director for the past 10 years with the Lismore Turf Club.

I loved growing up here, it is a great community.