Chad Reed and the dirt bike track at West Wallsend

So he posted an aerial photo on Instagram of a dirt bike track at West Wallsend.

“It was a short ride into the bush from where we lived. Literally as far as you can see, I knew like the back of my hand. The memories are endless,” he said. 

In the comments, Nadine Easterbrook recalled going to her nan’s at West Wallsend at Christmas and “hearing the roar of motorbikes ... coming down the street”.

The Matildas 5-0 win over Chile in Newcastle on Tuesday brought smiles to the faces of plenty of fans.

Matildas striker Sam Kerr showed again that she gives a lot of time to fans.

“National treasure Sam Kerr spotted an Azzurri scarf in the crowd and demanded she get a photo taken with it,” said a Hamilton Azzurri FC Supporters Facebook post. 

Kerr referred to Azzurri as “the people’s club”, before asking how pre-season was going.  She’s a good’un. 

Speaking of women’s soccer, Newcastle Herald journalist Jessica Brown sent us a cracking story from the BBC about referee David McNamara.

David was banned for three weeks over an incident in Manchester City's match against Reading in the Women's Super League. He’d forgotten his coin, so he asked the captains to play rock, paper, scissors to decide which team kicked off. 

“The FA can confirm that referee David McNamara has been suspended for 21 days, starting from November 26, after accepting a charge of ‘not acting in the best interests of the game’,” an FA spokesman said.

Topics reported on Friday that Newcastle soccer great Craig Johnston rode recently in Steve Waugh’s 800-kilometre charity ride through the Victorian Alps.

British decathlon champion Daley Thompson, who won two Olympic gold medals, was also among the riders.

Johnston, who played for Liverpool in England in his heyday, said he had “known Daley for years”.

“In fact he came and trained with Liverpool, a bit like Usain Bolt did with Central Coast Mariners. He was a really good footballer. He scored an overhead scissor-kick in training.”

The Liverpool players were gobsmacked.

It’s Bloke’s Day – also known as International Men’s Day – on Monday.

The #MenToo hashtag has been suggested to promote the event. Cheeky that. 

But we need a break from hashtags. Let’s just speak plainly. Men’s health advocate Greg Millan puts it this way: “It’s a day to celebrate that men are good”.

Obviously we’re not talking about Hitler, Napoleon, Pol Pot or Harvey Weinstein. Neither are we talking specifically about men like Albert Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci, William Shakespeare, Charles Darwin, Jesus Christ, Nelson Mandela, Neil Armstrong, Paul McCartney or Donald Bradman.  

We’re essentially saying that a lot of ordinary men are good, even great.

Greg is tired of hearing the term “toxic masculinity”. He wants to talk about “wholesome masculinity”. And he’s keen to let people know that The Man Quiz will be held on Monday at Carrington Bowling Club at 7pm. “People can just rock up,” he said.

Greg said some ways to mark the day include valuing male role models, acknowledging the contribution of men and boys, improving male health, tackling discrimination and disadvantage, improving gender relations and making the world a safer place.