Giving residents plenty to cheer about, Sydney Olympic Park is home to the AFL’s Greater Western Sydney Giants, as well as national netball teams, the Giants and the NSW Swifts, but if rugby is more your speed than the Western Sydney Two Blues also call Granville home.
And while Brad Fittler may have made his name playing for a different Blues team, the rugby league legend was born in Auburn, as were news reader Chris Bath and Melbourne City soccer player Scott Jamieson.
Showing more ability on stage, actor and comedian Paul Hogan might have become better known for the size of his knife than his diving abilities, but when he was growing up in Granville, he made the most of the pool’s diving facilities, including jumping from the 10m tower.
Of course, his abilities off a diving board have since been overshadowed somewhat by Commonwealth gold medal diver Esther Qin who grew up in Lidcombe and still trains at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre.
Another of Lidcombe’s more notable former residents was the late Rod Taylor, who grew up in the suburb before moving overseas and becoming a Hollywood star. Taylor appeared in more than 50 feature films, including The Time Machine (1960) as well as the Hitchcock horror classic The Birds (1963).
Lidcombe also produced the very sporty Starc brothers – Australian cricketer Mitchell and Commonwealth Gold medal winning high jumper Brandon – who have each racked up an impressive list of sporting accomplishments.
