Gibson was wise with his words, succinct ? and had a delivery like no other.

On Wednesday, Gibson was laid to rest in Sydney, aged 79.

Hastings residents lucky enough to befriend the rugby league great this week recalled the man in a million.

Gibson bought a 34.4ha property at Brombin, 35km west of Port Macquarie, in 1980.

It was used for the training of horses, camps for his players ? and for a hell of a lot of fun.

It was about that time Ron Jackson met Gibson.

"He was a marvellous man, a giant but so kind," Jackson, of Brombin, remembered.

He helped Jackson and his team win the 1979 Hastings League Grand Final.

"I was the coach of Beechwood and we came up against an undefeated Long Flat team.

"Jack came up for the game and asked me if he could help. I ... asked if he would speak to the players before them game.

"It was typical Jack: Short and sweet, no wasted words."

Beechwood flogged the minor premiers.

"I don't think the Long Flat guys knew what hit them," Jackson said.

Wauchope's Mick Sullivan was Jack's dear friend for 40 years.

"He was a great man. He was straight down the middle, never held a grudge and you always knew where you stood with him," Sullivan said.

Sullivan also remembered the man as a collector and larrikin.

The pair dropped into the Beechwood tip one day.

"There was an old guy there who had been looking around for hours. Jack saw a pair of overalls and picked them up and slipped $50 in the pocket," Sullivan recalled.

"When the old guy came back Jack picked up the overalls and pulled it out, you should have seen the look on the old guy's face. He was spitting chips."

"I've never laughed so hard." Gibson loved the race track, which is where he met Shane Adkins, who later worked on Gibson's property for four years.

"One of the stand-out things I remember of Jack is that when he spoke, everyone listened.

The horses, however, really romanced Jack.

"He would often call and tell me to go get money out of the freezer ? he always had a stash of cash there ? and head down to the races.

"One day in particular, I can remember leaving the track with 16 grand. That was a lot of money back then. I just took it back to the farm and put it back in the freezer," Adkins said.

Gibson knew Wauchope's Rick Taffe, too.

As always, he was full of advice.

"I remember him saying to Shane and myself, 'If you think you are gunna make a million dollars out of them race horses, boys, you better start with two million, cause sure as s**t you will only have a million left'," Taffe said.

Jack Gibson's prowess as a football coach can only be matched by his loyalty and devotion as a friend and mentor, as is best put by Ron Jackson.

"He was the kindest, gentlest man ever; he was a truly great man."

Jack had turned his farm into a holiday farm for his friends and footballers and everyone was welcome.

"He had everything that you could want on that farm, there was a shed full of motor bikes, canoes and buggies and paddocks full of horses, he was a very generous man," Taffe said.