Twenty years of GDL service marked at Blackall sale

Thursday's weaner sale at Blackall was the 20^th anniversary of Ms Russell starting with the stock and station agency in the western Queensland town, and was marked by an announcement before GDL began selling.

Branch manager Jack Burgess said she'd made his job very easy.

"She's a very important part of building the excellent team that we have," he said. "She goes above and beyond to get the job done right, and she's not only a key member of GDL Blackall but across the GDL network."

Mr Burgess said clients would often ring Ms Russell if they knew he was out of range, given the excellent wealth of knowledge she had.

Founding branch manager Andrew McCallum said he often told people the best day's work he did was in employing Ms Russell, who had been working in the pharmacy at Blackall.

"GDL has been in Blackall for 26 years, one year less than GDL itself," he said.

"Ann's very well respected throughout our 29 branches in Queensland and the Northern Territory.

"The team in the NT sends a lot of cattle down to Blackall and they're all processed by Ann."

Mr McCallum, now GDL's real estate manager and a director, said they would be lost without her.

"She's been tremendous, not only in Blackall but for the company culture, and how she interacts with clients, offering a helping hand," he said. "She's a terrific organiser and a big help with new, younger staff too."

Asked what other things he knew about Ann, he joked, "she gets annoyed when you don't spell something right".

Managing director Peter Daniel agreed that her attention to detail was excellent.

"You can sell all the stock in the world but you've got to get the details right for the clients," he said. "It's harder to get these days, and clients love her for it."

Mr Daniel said Ms Russell could take a fair bit of credit for the success of GDL Blackall.

"She gets the blokes out on the road and makes sure they've got all they need," he added.

One of the clients, Winton's Cameron Woltman, who buys and sells at Blackall, said he'd been dealing with Ms Russell ever since he could remember.

"She does all the pencilling at sales; she never gets it wrong," he said.