All Paws On Deck
By DAVID ROWLANDS
NORTH SHORE TIMES - 18/6/2004


Considering that they’re running on a very tight budget, it’s all hands on deck at the Bears these days.

Coach Larson and general manager Greg Florimo are often seen folding the jumpers after games, but there’s another member of the clan that deserves a pat on the back.

On The Ball was somewhat surprised to see Larson’s wife Kate, who is Florimo’s sister, manning the turnstiles at Bear Park for the Knights match.

Later, we learned that the several trays of sandwiches devoured by the players were also lovingly made by Mrs Larson, although her husband reckons he helped butter a few slices as well in the idle hours leading up to the match.

And who should polish off the last of those tasty sangers than David Fairleigh, a man who has put his arms around Gary possibly as many times as Kate has.

For the uninitiated, Fairleigh and Larson were second-row partners for a decade in the red and black.

Now the assistant coach of Newcastle’s Premier League team, Fairleigh was a welcome visitor to the Bears’ cave after the match and received plenty of cheers as he walked through the crowd, despite being in the enemy camp.
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