Sad Passing Of Daryl ‘Albert' Gleeson

THE list of “loveable Aussie larrikins” is diminishing daily in this wearisome woke world.

When Daryl Gleeson, or Albert as he is best known, died in his 50s on Wednesday night after a battle with cancer, the world lost one of its best larrikins.

Everyone in greyhound racing knew and loved Albert.

A Grafton boy born and bred, he embraced the world of racing, rugby league, you name it, and as the tired old saying goes, he lived life to the fullest.

Albert could be found rubbing shoulders with politicians, league legends, jockey greats, greyhound racing's best and was at just about every racing carnival on the east coast.

He was a regular at them all. Albert always made sure he got pictorial evidence of those greats with which he came into contact.

He was a devoted fan of the St George Dragons and Grafton Ghosts and could, and would, reel off league and racing greats with who he was mates.

Top Grafton jockey Ben Looker was one.

Albert worked for decades as a concreter for the Gold Coast City Council but came on board with Chase Magazine in the past eight years writing his own column, selling advertising and generally just being an official spokesman for the monthly paper.

He admitted he'd never used a computer, sent an email or written a column before being thrust into the world of magazine production. He handled it, like everything he did, in his own style and made a success of it.

Albert could ruffle feathers by knocking off the price of a “good thing” anywhere he could find one.

But he copped the losses just as bravely.

A few years ago he ruffled more than feathers when he was asked to produce a list of the best greyhounds he'd seen race during the Grafton July carnival.

Albert proceeded to leave out of his list some of the greats of greyhound racing.

He weathered the storm as only Albert could.

Cancer is not a storm that can often be beaten and when Albert died on Wednesday afternoon he was with his mum Maxine and brother Peter.

His army of friends found out the news within minutes.

He was that well known and loved. The king of rhyming slang was no more and greyhound racing in particular is lesser for the loss.

The Albert Gleeson's of this world are few and far between these days and he'll be sorely missed.

Rest In Peace, Albert.