Tributes: David Fairbrother with brother Wayne’s Cats memorabilia and, in the inset, ‘Wayne from Geelong’ during his army days.
By Cherie Donnellan
TRIBUTES have flowed for a man who sent 22,537 texts to sports radio station SEN, earning the moniker Wayne from Geelong.
Wayne Fairbrother called the station daily until his death by natural causes at home in North Geelong on September 9. He was 44.
Mr Fairbrother often called the station during his shifts driving taxis to discuss his love of the Geelong Cats.
His brother, David, told the Independent Mr Fairbrother died peacefully while listening to the radio.
“He was in his comfort zone when he passed.”
David Fairbrother remembered his brother as a “kind person with the gift of the gab”.
“He always knew interesting things other people didn’t, especially about football.”
Mr Fairbrother said his brother’s collection of Cats memorabilia was large enough to “open a museum”.
Wayne served in the army for 20 years and also worked at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
SEN listeners flooded Twitter with tributes after learning of Mr Fairbrother’s death.
Tweeter ‘@MarkFromBacchus’ dubbed him an “SEN legend”.
“Your allegiance to the Geelong [football club] was everlasting and uncompromising. We will miss you,” the tweet read.
Another tweeter, @LeedsHeartWhite, wrote: “What a horrible, horrible day. Always enjoyed his calls on SEN. Great guy”.
A third, @MickeyDansey, described Mr Fairbrother as “one of the characters of radio”.
SEN host Darren Parkin fondly remembered meeting Mr Fairbrother, who he described as a “bubbly, mad Cats supporter”.
“Wayne used to call every day to talk about sports,” Mr Parkin said.
“He’d always make jokes. He was fairly lighthearted about sports but he loved talking about it.”
Mr Parkin said Mr Fairbrother was the longest-serving sender of text messages to SEN.
“It’s a big loss to the SEN community. He was a part of every one of our shows and it just won’t be the same without him.”
Mr Fairbrother is survived by his mother, Barbara, four siblings and daughter Siobhan.
