Nelson, the assistant Group 11 secretary this year after many, many years as treasurer and secretary, was rushed to Dubbo Base Hospital and later the same evening moved to Sydney.

Youngest son, Martin said yesterday his father’s condition had stabilised but that he was still on life support and seriously ill.

Word of his illness swept through the rugby league community and grave concerns were held for him as early as Saturday night, even before he was taken to Sydney.

“We’re very concerned, he is a very sick man,” Martin Nelson told the Daily Liberal’s Barry Hildebrandt during the evening. “At this stage he will be taken to Sydney but it doesn’t look very good.”

Rugby league has been a way of life for Tom Nelson. He played with Macquarie in his early years, then moved to CYMS where he had a couple of sessions as a coach - a job shared later by his eldest son Steven, who now lives in Queensland.

But it was more as a junior coach and talent scout that Nelson became better known. He selected David Gillespie in one of his early Group 11 and Western Division under-18s teams and he went on to be one of Australia’s best prop forwards.

His long involvement with Group 11, Western Division, Country and NSW under 18s was strong for many years and many of the line coaches of today have seeked his advice on what talent was available in the western part of the state.