Get it first, get it right, get it published.

It was a creed that served him well.

His work also served the reading public well.

Amongst a pantheon of talent - many of whom went on to larger and greener sporting fields - Peter was one of the finest sports reporters The Daily Advertiser has employed.

He was ahead of his time when it came to sports coverage.

Long before other newspapers saw the value in widespread coverage of female sport, Peter ensured the Advertiser devoted coverage - and prominence - to girls' and women's participation.

His insistence that junior sport be dedicated not just pages but its own reporter no doubt helped inspire generations of youngsters in the City of Good Sports and across the region.

These were the days when children, especially, loved seeing their names and faces in the paper.

I recall attending Pacific Area Newspaper Publishers' Association conferences at which other editors, mostly if not all male, would marvel - even scoff - at the pages the Advertiser allotted to female and junior sport and ask why this was so.

The answer was simple: Peter Baker not only knew it would sell newspapers and plenty of them, but it was also the right thing to do.

Peter Baker became the Advertiser's sports editor on the death of his and my mentor Ted Ryder in 1987.

Ted was a big man with a voice that bellowed and a presence and reputation across the Riverina matched only by his girth.

Ted was brash, gruff and unapologetic but we looked up to him, we respected him and we loved him.

Peter was a more than capable successor to Ted.

What a coincidence that Ted and Peter should pass away on the same date - 12 March - 35 years apart.

When Peter was in charge, the Wagga Wagga cricket scores were accurate and complete.

If there was a missing fourth grade scoresheet, he would take the trouble and make the calls to get and print the result with all the runs and sundries added up.

Peter covered the Farrer and South Western District Football Leagues for many years before turning his hand to Rugby League, mainly Group Nine, in 1981.

Local Australian Rules officials knew they had lost a good one and even went to the trouble of "clearing" him to transfer codes ... with the proviso he would be welcomed back any time!

In August 1998, at the age of 51, Peter stepped into the role of senior writer. At the time he was the newspaper's longest-serving journalist.

During his career Peter covered the 1986 Edinburgh Commonwealth Games, Riverina Rugby League team's tour of Papua New Guinea in 1987 and the Group 20 trip to Japan in 1997.

I worked with Peter for more than 20 years and can never recall having cross words with him.

We played cricket with and against each other and never have I come across a more competitive player.

We were opposing captains once and he was as tough and wily as they came.

You needed to employ your best fielder at point and have two gullies and quite a few slips because Peter was a master of the cut shot.

Had work - and National Service - not intervened, Peter could have been anything as a sportsman ... cricketer, footballer ... he was adept at anything to which he put his hand.

He had shown his potential at Wagga High and was a popular student, captaining the school in his leaving year.

I will miss Peter dearly and am grateful for having known him and learnt from him for so many years.

My sincerest condolences go to his daughters Kirilee, Amanda, Tara, Jaclyn and partners Rod, Jason, Justin and Grant and his 15 grandchildren.

They have suffered great loss in the past year, also losing their mother, mother-in-law and grandmother Evelyn, who Peter lovingly cared for in her latter years.

Michael McCormack is the Federal Member for Riverina. He worked at The Daily Advertiser from 1981-2002, the last 11 years as editor.