Welcome to the first Howzat Building Waratahs in History for the 2026/27 season.
This Q & A is with Pat & John Shepheard and some of the Manly Cricket family of Michael “Juice” Shepheard – Life Member #51
Our Waratahs in History series is proudly sponsored by Howzat Building Services. Visit Andrew Watkins and the team at www.howzatbuildingservices.com.au for all your building needs.
Remembering Michael “Juice” Shepheard
1979 – 2022
A tribute to Michael, told with his parents Pat and John, and the Manly Cricket Club family.
Foreword
When we sat down with Pat and John to start piecing together Michael’s story, we thought we already knew a good deal about the man everyone at Manly called “Juice.”
Twenty-seven years is a long time to be part of a cricket club, and it felt like everyone had a story about him.
What we didn’t fully appreciate, until Pat and John generously shared it with us, was just how much Michael had already overcome before he ever set foot at Manly Oval. From the night he was born, through open-heart surgery, therapy, and years of learning to walk and be understood, his early life was shaped by challenges most of us will never have to face.
Reading through those years, it’s impossible not to see where his determination came from. The same determination that turned him into Juice: the boy with the drinks, the man who never missed a Saturday, the friend hundreds of us called our own, and Life Member No. 51.
This is his story, told in two parts. The first is about the boy before Manly, the years that shaped him. The second is about the man Manly knew and loved, in the words of his family and the many people whose lives he touched along the way.
We hope it helps you see, as it helped us, just how much Michael overcame on his way to becoming one of the true legends of Manly Warringah District Cricket Club.
Remembering Michael “Juice” Shepheard – The Early Years
A conversation with his parents, Pat and John Shepheard.
Q: Michael’s early life started with some serious health challenges. Can you tell us about that?
Michael was born on 11 June 1979 and was diagnosed straight away with Transposition of the Great Arteries, which meant he needed a medical procedure the very night he was born, at Camperdown Children’s Hospital. Two weeks later he had a febrile convulsion, something we later learned was connected to his cerebral palsy caused by the fact that his bowel hadn’t formed properly, a condition called Hirschsprung’s Disease. At three weeks old he had a colostomy, which was an incredibly difficult thing to go through, but the doctors trained us to manage it.
At three months he needed open heart surgery to correct his arteries, and over the following eighteen months there were countless doctors’ appointments. When he was twenty months old, he had further surgery to correct his bowel and reverse the colostomy. Around this time, because he still couldn’t sit up properly, he was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, and that was the start of many years of therapy at Allambie Heights.
Michael started crawling at two, and he also had eye surgery around that age. He walked unassisted just before he turned four, and that was more or less the end of the major surgeries. From there, his progress came through therapy rather than the operating table.
Q: What was Michael like as a young boy, do any early memories stand out?
Michael was a happy boy with his own way of expressing himself, and he always had a smile. Once he found his feet, quite literally, given he didn’t walk until nearly four, he developed his own unique gait and pace and just got on with things.
He loved lawn mowers, and pushing one around helped his walking, so one Christmas he was given his own. minus the engine and spark plugs, which he pushed up and down our lawn and the neighbours too’ “mowing the grass.”
From an early age he showed an interest in cricket, playing with his older brother Ryan and friends in the courtyard you could always hear him yell “Howzat!” with his finger raised. One game ended with a broken window in the lounge room.
When he was about nine, he carried a neighbour’s metal garbage bin up to the local park to use as a cricket wicket for a game with Ryan and friends. A couple of hours later the neighbours rang asking if anyone had seen their bin. The boys said no, until Michael admitted he’d taken it and left it at the park. He set off to bring it back and returned not only with the bin but with a bunch of flowers for the neighbour and me. When we asked where the flowers had come from, he simply said he’d picked them from another neighbour’s front yard.
Q: How did the family navigate his early challenges together?
Michael’s early years were very difficult, there were so many medical appointments and treatments he didn’t enjoy, and not walking until nearly four had a big impact on him. With Ryan only two years older, it affected him too, and we leaned heavily on grandparents and family to get through that period.
Michael’s sister Fiona came along later, ten years younger than Michael, so for a long stretch it was really just the two boys navigating things together.
As a teenager, around fifteen, Michael went through a particularly difficult stretch. It was a hard couple of years, and it’s around this same time that cricket started to become a bigger part of his life.
Q: Were there moments where you saw him push through his challenges that made you especially proud?
One of the very first was seeing him walk unaided for the first time, at nearly four years old.
Michael’s love of sport meant he tried almost everything. He did Nippers at North Narrabeen and was given a big start in the beach sprint, but he was so busy looking around that he rarely won a race, Beach Flags were even harder, just getting up off the sand. He also played soccer, even though getting to the ball and coordinating a kick was a real challenge for him. Over the years he competed in Multi Disability Games in both athletics and swimming and won many medals in his category at the National level.
He went to St Joseph’s School at Narrabeen, where he met Joel Mason and his siblings. At the school athletics carnival the whole school would cheer him on as he ran down the straight, laughing and waving even though he was well behind everyone else. The swimming carnivals were the same, everyone cheering. He gave everything a go, and it made us so proud.
Q: Did he have any nicknames growing up?
At Manly he was known as “Juice” because he was always the one bringing the drinks out for the boys, but within the family he was “Froggy,” a nickname that came from my side of the family. Nobody really remembers how it started; it had nothing to do with the way he ran or walked. At his funeral, my brother spoke and said, “We know him as Juice, but we know him as Froggy.”
Q: What kind of outlook helped him cope with things day to day?
Michael coped by accepting the guidance of the family and, as he got older, by holding onto routine and tradition. He liked things to stay the same Christmas, birthdays, family gatherings. He would ask “why?” if plans ever changed. He liked to be organised, to know exactly what was happening, and to be on time. He was, in every sense, a traditionalist.
Q: Who were the people – family, teachers, therapists who supported him early on?
In his early years, Michael didn’t fully understand or appreciate the help he was getting from family, doctors and therapists at the Cerebral Palsy Alliance, but it was a hugely important part of his development. At school, his kindergarten teacher Mrs Frances Taylor and his special education teacher Mrs Rivett were wonderful. they were able to identify where he needed support and find ways to help his concentration.
We also had a very special friendship with the Bradstreet family. Bill, Neridah, and their sons Shawn, Darren and Gavin. When Michael was about ten, he was asked to be ball boy for their rugby league team, and he loved it, the boys embraced his enthusiasm completely. He was so excited the first time he had to run the sand out to Darren for a conversion attempt that by the time he reached him, the bucket was almost empty, he’d spilt it all across the field on the way out.
As he was growing up Michael had a wonderful relationship with our families and especially with each of his Grandparents who supported and followed him in his endeavours.
Q: How would you describe him in three words?
Loyal, loving, and determined.
Q: Is there anything else that captures who Michael was in those early years?
Michael grew into a very independent young man who valued being organised, being on time, and knowing what was going on around him. Everything he faced the surgeries, the therapies, the frustrations of growing up with a disability, he met with a determination that would go on to define the rest of his life, long before he ever set foot at Manly Oval.
Remembering Michael “Juice” Shepheard
Part Two: His Years at Manly Cricket Club
Q: How did he first get involved with Manly Cricket Club?
Michael was about 15 when Shawn Bradstreet encouraged him and Ryan to come down to Manly Oval to watch cricket, and they started out helping on the scoreboard. Shawn then got Michael involved with the First-Grade team on Saturdays, taking him along to away matches. Once Michael left school, he was able to go to training sessions too. Geoff Rogers, also a family friend, was there supporting Michael through all 27 years at Manly.
Q: What did he tell you about why cricket meant so much to him?
Michael’s involvement with Manly extended his love of the game from the scoreboard to his role as “Juice.” He never really needed to tell us why it meant so much, he talked constantly about everything that happened in a match and every team selection, and he always had strong opinions about what should be happening. On game days you could watch a whole wave of emotion cross his face, he felt every high and low with the team, win or lose, as much as anyone out in the middle.
Q: Did he talk about specific teammates, coaches or moments from his time there?
It’s hard to name everyone who helped Michael over 27 years, there were hundreds of players, coaches and officials, and our apologies to anyone we’ve missed. Among those who meant the most to him: Geoff Rogers, Shawn Bradstreet, Richard Fry, Craig Glassock, Craig Little, Jamie Heath, Tim Cruikshank, Michael Bevan, Mathew Phelps, Phil Marks, Nathan Dodd, Jay Lenton and Joel Foster.
Michael took his job seriously the kit bag, drink bottles, drink container, two bags of ice, lollies, and his own cricket bag, all somehow making it onto the bus or into his driver’s car on game day. He’d often get so swept up in the moment that he’d go over on the Manly Oval turf altogether, chasing the drinks out to the boys. A few of the stories that still make us laugh:
- Geoff Rogers and Michael once missed the turn-off to Penrith and ended up on the road to Campbelltown with the kit bag. They rang us for directions, and since Michael couldn’t read a map on his phone, we relayed instructions to the driver over the phone. They got there eventually and had plenty of laughs about the detour afterwards.
- One night after a home game, Michael still wasn’t home by midnight and wasn’t answering his phone. We rang Shawn, who told us not to worry the last he’d seen of Michael, he was deep in a serious “tete-a-tete” with Michael Bevan at the Steyne Hotel. We eventually met his bus at Mona Vale at 2.30am. Michael wasn’t fussed at all, he said the time had just gone by.
- After the Club won a First-Grade Premiership one year, there was a late-night celebration at Manly Oval that included a “nudie run.” The other players complained that Michael didn’t run fast enough and they were left waiting in the cold, all taken in good fun.
Q: Was there a particular game, season or achievement he was proudest of?
There were so many amazing moments over the years, but one that stands out was a final at North Sydney Oval, where Michael was so nervous he was like “a cat on a hot tin roof.” He couldn’t bear to watch the final overs and disappeared up into the stand to hide. Minutes later, once they’d won, he was a completely different person full of emotion.
Q: How did being part of the Club change him, if at all?
Being part of a club like Manly made Michael feel included, wanted, and that his opinion mattered. He took it seriously when captains over the years asked for his thoughts, he didn’t favour anyone, and he was always honest. He was, in every sense, the heart and soul of the club.
Being made Life Member No. 51 was an extraordinary recognition, and the presentation night was an incredibly emotional one for our whole family. Due to Michael’s disabilities, outside the family he often felt excluded or felt like he didn’t belong and struggled to find his place. However, at cricket he truly did find this place. He found his people. The cricket community accepted and celebrated him for who he was as a person, and it was so obvious to us how much that mean to him.
Over his 27 years at Manly he gave the club laughs, tears and plenty of fun in equal measure.
Q: Is there an everyday memory of him you’d love the Club to remember?
On Saturday mornings he loved to be at Manly Oval by 7.30, well before anyone else, getting everything ready. There were often people sleeping rough up near the ground, and Michael was always compassionate about it “They’re fine, Mum, they won’t worry you, they’ll move on now that I’m here.” He had to be there two hours early because there was so much to organise the drinks, the ice, the kit.
Q: What do you think he’d want people to remember about him?
Michael would want to be remembered for his 27 years of love for the cricket scene at Manly, and for the friendships he built along the way. He’d also want to be remembered for his loyalty to the Balmain/Wests Tigers rugby league team, which he supported for more than 20 years, travelling up to three hours each way on public transport, and even flying interstate, staying loyal to them through more downs than ups.
Michael would want to be remembered as a good friend, He valued his friendships at the club so highly, he always cared so much about all of the players, took the time to get to know them and their families.
In Craig Glassock’s Words
Former First Grade captain and coach
I’ve been asked to contribute something about my involvement with Michael “Juice” Shepheard and our shared time with Manly Cricket. There are so many great memories of Michael to choose from. For the five years I captained First Grade, Michael was everything you could ever want from a teammate off the playing field. He thought carefully about his role and the contribution he could make. He prioritised the team above himself. He rejoiced with those who succeeded and commiserated with those who hadn’t. Perhaps best of all, Michael made us smile and laugh. A lot.
In my mind’s eye I can so clearly see him patrolling the outside of the boundary fence at Manly Oval, that perpetual half swing of his arms, clapping a clenched fist of one hand into the palm of the other. When Michael raised his hands to his mouth as a megaphone it was always when the moment called for it — “Keep your head down, Phelpsy.” “Keep working boys, it’s coming.” “Fire up, Heathy.” When the wicket fell, Michael would have the drinks crate in hand, be down the steps, scorch the grass with his trailing leg, and seemingly be in the huddle as it was forming. When there, he never overstepped his mark — but he’d often have a quiet final word of encouragement for someone before he resumed his post outside the boundary fence.
At the end of the day’s play, it was a regular practice for us to open the floor to anyone who wanted to say something. Michael would patiently wait his turn to speak, making sure he didn’t jump the gun. Sometimes, in his own unique way, he would repeat exactly what had just been said by someone else, in double the time, and justly cop a hammering for it — after all, he was one of the boys. But as the years went on and his own cricket IQ developed, he would increasingly contribute an insight that had somehow escaped the rest of us. It was a joy to see Michael grow in confidence and maturity, both in a cricket sense and in life in general.
Michael felt deeply. Win or lose, the result was always written on his face. I vividly remember his tears of sadness after a heart-breaking finals loss ended our season, and I recall his tears of joy, and relief after we won a competition.
After my cricket life ended, we would sometimes chat on the phone or in person. He was always interested in my life and asked questions that showed he cared. We all cared for him. He was much loved by everyone at Manly, and by our opponents.
I still miss his big smile, his presence and his friendship. I’m not Robinson Crusoe on that front. I’m so glad he was part of our team and club, and I’m glad I got to be his friend.
In Shawn Bradstreet’s Words
Long-time friend and First Grade colleague
Michael Shepheard was a very special human and a huge part of the Manly club. He arrived at our club as a shy young boy and ended up being First Grade manager and a Life Member of the club.
He was a great mate and my right-hand man for many years. He was as loyal as anyone I have ever met. His knowledge of cricket and his understanding of what was important for a team and club to succeed was next level.
He will forever be a legend of the club and is sorely missed.
In Jay Lenton’s Words
Former First Grade captain – Teammate
Juice, where to start. The nickname’s probably a story for Shank to tell. He was my favourite teammate, even though we never shared a ball on the field, he personified passion. You wouldn’t find a more passionate, loyal Manly person than Juice. So many incredible stories, and he touched so many generations of Manly cricket, though I’d dare say most of the words people use about him would be almost the same.
One highlight, the occasional fall he’d have running drinks out to the boys. He’d get so embarrassed, and the boys would have a laugh, not at him but with him. It never stopped him though. After one fall, I noticed the soles on his shoes were almost completely gone. That week at training I brought in a couple of old pairs of shoes with the soles still attached and gave them to him. “No more falls, Juice,” I told him. He just grinned and said, “I just like the freedom.” In a way, which was Juice all over, he wanted his own freedom in every part of life and never wanted to be treated any differently. He was just one of the boys.
Our little inside joke with Juice was that it was always his birthday. Every week or so in the group chat, someone would post “Happy Birthday Juice,” and everyone would pile on, wishing him well. At first, he didn’t get the joke, so an obligatory “Boys, it’s not my birthday, but thanks” would come back. It got so deep that half of us genuinely lost track of when his actual birthday was.
One last story, possibly one of the funniest things I’ve seen at the Steyne. Juice liked a beer but saved his big nights in Manly for special occasions. It must have been the last round of the season, and we were all heading into Manly after a few at the RATT. Juice was well and truly merry. Standing in line at the Steyne, he stumbled up to the bouncer, who did the usual routine checked his ID, asked how many he’d had. Juice said, “Only a couple after cricket.” The bouncer said, “Sorry mate, you’ve had too many, you can’t come in.” Without missing a beat, Juice replied, “Mate, I’ve got cerebral palsy, are you serious?” I’ve never seen a bouncer look more embarrassed in his life, Juice was escorted straight in. Once through the doors, he turned to me with a massive grin and said, “I’m actually so drunk.”
We miss him every day. It was such a wonderful, bittersweet feeling winning a premiership for him last year. His baggy hat will be with me forever now.
I’ve had it tattooed on my arm. Happy Birthday, Juice.
One Last Story
At a recent Sydney Sixers game, young Joel Davies was asked if he had a preferred playing number. He chose 51. Michael’s Life Membership number as a quiet tribute of his own. Every time Joel takes the field for the Sixers now, in a small way, Michael is still out there with him.
A Thank You from the Family
Thank you to Joel, Jay and Henry for the honour given to Juice in making him part of the Grand Final this year, it was amazing. Thank you to the entire team, coaches and officials who embraced this honour.
As parents, we found the Grand Final incredibly emotional, walking through the change room and seeing Michael’s shirt and photos, still part of the team, was unbelievable. Thank you for the presentation of the Premiership ring. Juice would have been so proud; it meant more than words can say.
We must also say that on the day of Michael’s service, the guard of honour formed by the entire Manly Cricket community down Raglan Street was an amazing send-off, and one that is imprinted in our memory forever.
“Juice”
By Andrew Fraser – MWDCC President and mate of Michael
We’ve sadly farewelled a gentleman, one of the true greats,
Affectionately known as “Juice”, he had hundreds of mates.
At his beloved Manly Cricket Club, he really was our heart & soul,
His passing is still surreal & has left one very huge hole.
Whilst his loss is tough and so hard for all of us to understand,
It’s also important we celebrate, such a loyal & humble man.
Juice was such a big part of our cricket family, he was Life Member #51,
In his 27 years at our club, he’s provided us with laughs, tears and plenty of fun.
On game days, a wave of emotions Juicey would always surf,
He’d sometimes get too excited & would face plant on the Manly Oval turf.
He was such a caring person and would do anything for his 1st grade boys,
Watching him sing the team song with them after a win, was one of life’s great joys!
We will miss you dearly Juicey, as you made such a huge impact on all our lives,
Summer down at Manly just won’t be the same, without your celebratory high fives!
Thank you for everything you’ve done for us Juicey, your legacy will never end,
Rest easy now mate, with the knowledge you were our much-loved friend!
RIP Michael ‘Juice’ Shepheard; 1979–2022.
