ANDREW “Roy” Symonds’ love of fishing was a secret to no one and once even offered to take a pay cut from Cricket Australia, if it meant more free time to fish.
The 46-year-old cricket legend was killed when his four-wheel drive left Hervey Range Road, 50km west of Townsville, and rolled up an embankment at about 10.30pm on Saturday.
“Roy”, a nickname gifted by a childhood sports coach due to his likeness to former basketball player Leroy Loggins, was a skilled angler and has been featured on the cover of Fishing World magazine.
Roy was a well liked and down-to-earth bloke, as Fishing World photographer Shane Chalker recently recounted in a Facebook post: “I was lucky enough to spend nearly a week with Andrew Symonds fishing out of the Townsville region last year filming season 9 of Reel Action. Arriving at Lucinda after a huge day on the road Roy was there to welcome us with a huge smile and a brace of XXXX tinnies. He was a skilled angler and caught many fish and provided the crew and I with many laughs throughout the days. Cruising in on a glorious afternoon I felt privileged to chat one on one with this “National Treasure” for about an hour. He asked about my life and family and was genuinely interested in what I had to say. At the end of the day, I bought him a beer at the pub, and he bought me and the rest of the table a beer in return and it felt like he was just another good mate sitting at the table. It was an honour to meet such a legend, I’ll never forget it.”
Fishing World would like to extend its condolences to the Symonds family, rest in peace.
