By Heath Aston
LABOR recruit David Boyle has been forced to call on the help of rugby league mates Trent Barrett, Shaun Timmins and Rod Wishart in a bid to keep his contentious campaign for the NSW south coast federal seat of Gilmore afloat.
The former South Sydney front-rower has found himself at the centre of a blizzard of animosity on the south coast where local Labor Party members are furious that he was parachuted into the seat by ALP head office against the wishes of local branches.
A number of south coast ALP members have either resigned or are threatening to quit in protest against Sussex Street shafting previous candidate Neil Reilly, a Kiama councillor, in favour of Mr Boyle, 50, who wasn't even a Labor Party member until he was approached to run.
His closest previous links to Labor were as a member of the Electrical Trades Union at BHP in the Illawarra before his footy career took off in the early 1980s.
Local branch members are refusing to assist Mr Boyle's campaign and many say they will stay indoors on election day. Feelings are running so high that Bomaderry local Daphne Carlson-Lucas is giving away $400 worth of pickles, chutneys and jams she made in her kitchen to raise money for Labor.
Mr Boyle, who concedes he needs to ''learn the politics of politics'', will instead use high-profile football contacts and retired surfer Michael Lowe to add weight to his campaign in what is expected to be a knife-edge seat.
Mr Boyle was recruited by his mate, Matt Thistlethwaite, the former ALP general secretary and lifelong Souths fan, who was ousted from Sussex Street earlier in the year.
His preselection was the last decision Mr Thistlethwaite made before leaving to join Labor's ticket for the Senate at the next election.
Gilmore is held by the Liberal Party's Joanna Gash.