Sapphire: A Precious Jewel ibook

Some extraordinary lives belong to everyday people.

This is some of the story of Steve “Sapphire” Merritt—from his earliest beginnings in a tent beside the railway tracks near Narromine and a childhood in a large Aboriginal family in Dubbo, to representative sport, the bright lights of Brookvale Oval, a successful career in public service and, most importantly, the family he built along the way.

Steve’s story is one of talent, opportunity, family and quiet strength. A gifted all-round sportsman and NSW basketball captain, football eventually took him from Dubbo to Manly and then to the Central Coast, where his playing days became part of local rugby league history. Away from sport, his career would take him from working with young people at Mt Penang to senior government roles advocating for Aboriginal people and communities across New South Wales.

But this isn’t a sporting biography or a record of career achievements. It is a daughter’s collection of the stories that make her dad who he is: growing up as the youngest of seven, the formidable mother who raised him, the brothers and sisters who fiercely loved and occasionally terrorised one another, meeting Paula, becoming Dad and Pop, and the humour, loyalty and resilience that have followed him throughout his life.

A celebration of an ordinary man who built an extraordinary life, Sapphire is ultimately a story about family, where we come from, and what we leave behind for the generations that follow.