More than that he ran a skating team for young people called Team Apache that gave kids an outlet to be part of something bigger than smoking and drinking. He organised trips all over Victoria with the team doing demos at schools and outdoor functions to introduce people to the benefits of activities such as skating.
Mind you, these kids were the elite who punched it to the limit. There were also gigs on Hey Hey It’s Saturday and other TV spots.
He had been a kid on the streets since he was 14 and realised that if he could help keep others from travelling that road, then he was doing a good thing. He always lived locally until 2021 when he moved into his late father’s home in Wonthaggi.
He was best know for his constant companion Big Max his bull terrier who could carry a bowling ball in his jaws for long distances. Big Max had a following of his own, but this was all before social media so it was mostly by way of press and print media. Big Max left us in 1996 and was followed by Mini Max a year later. Same breed, always at Wayne’s side.
As well as getting around on inlines, Wayne would ride a ‘long’ skateboard but he was perhaps most famous for his beloved Harley. Unfortunately he was t-boned on the bike whilst stationary at traffic lights just around the corner from his home. This resulted in a long and painful rehabilitation to get back to some sense of normality and meant the relinquishing of said bike and opting for a more enclosed mode of getting around- a Mini Cooper S!
He travelled often to Cambodia once he had finalised his business (Apache) and made every effort to get local kids into skateboarding and inline skating. He made some great inroads and his enthusiasm was infectious to ex-pat Aussies as well as the local people in the region.
He had beaten a cancer diagnosis with treatment and made a trip to visit relatives in the UK where he was born, only to succumb to a recurring diagnosis early on this year. As always, he put up the good fight, rallied those whom he loved around him, but finally left us all to be reunited with both Maxes catching sticks somewhere on St Kilda Beach in his beloved Melbourne sunset. He will be sorely missed.
