Bulldogs defence in action during the NRL, Round 6, Parramatta Eels v Bulldogs match at ANZ Stadium in Sydney, Sunday, April 19, 2009. The Bulldogs beat the Eels 48-18. AAP Image/Action Photographics, Grant Trouville
No wonder the Bulldogs-Eels clash on Friday will set a record for a crowd at a finals match. The game takes rugby league back to its heartland, the wild west of Sydney, and to a time before the fancy, glitzy expansion to a NSW competition took it across the Tasman and along the length of the eastern seaboard of Australia.
It’s no accident that the record for finals matches in Sydney is 57,973 and was set in 1963 when Parramatta and St George played each other (clashed, surely?) at the spiritual home of rugby league in Sydney, the great oval of the SCG.
These were the days of Rex Mossop and his unique take on rugby league as a fighting man’s game. “A good punch,” he once observed, “never hurt anyone.”
You knew what he meant, but some of the hits did send players into dizzy-land and false teeth were a requirement of most players, especially the forwards.
Some memorable quotes have been given an airing from some of the hard men who played for these two great clubs during the hard days when rugby league was a battlers code, for spectators and players.
Here is Terry Lamb, the great backer-upper, talking about what he’d do if his opponent was trying to protect a broken jaw, as Brett Kimmorley will be doing on Friday: “I would be belting the shit out of him.”
And remember the hard man Peter Tunks, the giant battering ram, rumbling up with the ball and thumping anyone with the ball or in his vicinity when he was on defence.
Here’s what he said about trying to contain Ray Price: “You’ve no idea how good he was. He’s probably the toughest player I ever played against, the punishment we used to give him … There were some terrible things we did to him. We had plenty of stinks but nobody got killed.”
I love that last line.
Judging by the photos of Price after the matches, which showed him splayed out on the bench, drained of energy and exhausted as if he’d been flayed by a threshing machine, the great destroyer must have come close to being annihilated.
Photographers at the SMH told me that they’d come into the Parramatta dressing after a finals match, and when Price would see them, he’d immediately collapse as if he’d been hit by a sledge hammer.
The dramatic shot of him would appear in the newspaper next day with Price looking (in the SMH’s Andrew Stephenson’s splendid phrase) rather like “the Black Knight of Monty Python fame who absorbed incredible physical punishment yet with the same leer on his face.”
I’m hoping Parramatta get up and go on to win the grand final.
This is mainly because I loved the way the Jack Gibson-coached Parramatta sides played and won their finals with zip and courage. The 2009 model has the same sort of style, with Daniel Anderson doing a Gibson with them.
There is also the consideration that the way Price was treated by the Sullivan regime was unacceptable behaviour towards one of the club’s greatest players, and indeed one of the code’s finest.
With Price back in favour and allowed to talk to the players and encourage them to emulate the great deeds of the past, Parramatta are invoking their glory days with a panache and dash that must make Peter Sterling, Mick Cronin, and Brett Kenny (back in the fold again, at last) feel like taking a line from Steve Mortimer’s address to the Bulldogs before one of their grand finals victories: “I wish everyone a good game. Let’s get out there and f—ing bash them.”
Let the battle of the wild west begin!
skull
Guest
I think the big worry here for both teams is the grand final like build up. The winner may well feel they have won the comp already and be easy meat for the Storm in the real GF.
David Park
Guest
Ray price the legend http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuBeUTDPb_k
Westy
Guest
I know Spiro's preference . He does not hide it. The article is genuine. I have agreat affection for that 70's and 80's rugby league . Terry Lamb not only talked the talk but gave it and received it. Who can forget his infamous tackle on the English centre Ellery hanley ? in the grand final against Balmain and copped it knocked senseless by Meninga against Canberra grand final. Just deserts. Funny the game always had away of working out proper revenge. Listening to Rex Mossop crucify the English language with poor Noel kellly saying what does that word mean? Meatpro hampers passing competitions. Being at a wests game at Lidcombe to be told over the PA Buddy Cain would be unavailable as he was assisting police with their enquiries. Huge roar from the crowd. Terrible.... politically incorrect .Different days. Way back first televised game of rugby league on TV and there is Neville Hornery in the first scrum throwing massive upper cuts from the second row. The rugby boys of the same era were just as tough . The problem is some of the current wallabies have lost some of the attitude whereas Australian rugby league although a cleaner game today has maintained an attitude of unrestained physicality . Attitudinally The Blacks play like league players or vice versa. Some less loyal Australian rugby league fans actually say they like the way the blacks play. The Blacks play more games at provincial and in the NPC at a harder more consistent level then the wallabies. NRL players train to play 3 or 4 preseason matches 26 rounds against professional teams capable of beating each other on their day , the elite 3 SOO , 3 tests and if you make the finals possibly another 3 or 4 high quality games. There conditioning seems to be for a sustained consistency over time rather than for one big match. The wallabies appear to be the opposite. I am sorry this is not an attack just my observation. The consistency of the current wallabies is woeful.My problem is not always the losing it is the attitude and conditioning with which they play. The days of calling cattledog or lets fucking bash them are gone. But not the sustained aggression I witnessed from the blacks against the wallabies and Brisbane Broncos against St george. Physical savage unrepentant barrage within the rules of the game. St george made a braver attempt at standing up then the wallabies. They kept trying until the end.
Steffy
Guest
Clever - damned with faint praise
sheek
Guest
Spiro, The Wallabies especially & rugby union generally, are so on the nose at the moment, former rugby fans are looking afield to see what AFL, NRL & soccer have to offer. I guess you're doing the equivalent same as a journalist, seeing if you can cut it discussing rugby league!!!!!
Chop
Guest
Gerry, I'll take 24.5 points start on the Eels any day of the week sunshine, how much can you afford to lose?
Chop
Guest
Worlds biggest, they actually shared a home ground twice, The Bulldogs played at Cumberland Oval while Belmore was being renevated, then the Eels played at the new Belmore until Parramatta Stadium was built. Strange for massive rivals but with the suburban parks back then it made sense....
Gerry Faehrmann
Guest
Watch the Eels choke on some Dog bone!!! Dogs to win by 25.
True Tah
Guest
How about Terry Lamb "Thug"?
Mick from Giralang
Guest
It was a wonderful sight to watch Price break from a Wallabies scrum and literally hurl himself at Pommy and All Black five eights. He and a few of his comrades back then had the beast factor that is sadly missing from the current crop of Wallabies.
Karlos
Guest
Fancy Spiro talking League again. Come over mate. We accept all types. Perhaps he is just trying to promote the bash mentallity and steer people away from the great skills that will be displayed. Something he never saw in the RU Tri-nations.
Hugh Dillon
Guest
So glad that Ray Price, who almost single-handedly took on the All Blacks in 1974, is back in the Parramatta fold. One of the greatest in both codes. And I like Steve Mortimer's comment. Who, in the Wallabies' dressing rooms, is saying Let's Go Out and FUCKING BELT THEM!! ?? Maybe Price and Mortimer could teach a soft metrosexuals something about football as combat.
Worlds Biggest
Guest
Great article, brings back wonderful memories of the clashes in the 80's between these two great Clubs including two Grand Finals decided by two points. At one stage both Clubs shared the same ground - Belmore Oval. Agree with Michael B, these local derbies are captivating and I can't wait for the game. Both Clubs have done remarkably well to get this far. As for a tip, geez it's a toss of the coin. The Eels have the momentum & the Dogs know how to win the big games. Bring it on !.
Michael B
Guest
This is the reason why the NRL should try to keep as many Sydney teams as possible. These local derbies capture the fans imagination like no other.
Tom Alexander.
Guest
Maybe some of the Wallabies should attend the game to remind them of how to play with a bit of focus and determination, or even better, with a lot of heart, which is what we will definately see tomorrow night. Should be one hell of a game. I just hope both the onfield refs and the one in the box, Mr Bill Harrigan doesn't ruin it with crazy decision making. Bulldogs to win.
AndyRoo
Roar Guru
The League boys earn their money that’s for sure, but those NFL guys do too. The padding and helmets may have been introduced for protection but are now just tools to allow them to hit harder. The average life expectancy (life expectancy not career span) is quite low for an NFL footballer (55 years) compared to the general populous (77). Just as the rates of early arthritis are much higher in Rugby League players than normal people.
JimC
Guest
The early 80s Eels. What a player Kenny was. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tHsJ0zgw6Y&feature=related
oikee
Guest
No worries spiro, they still get paid peanuts in my eyes.Compare what they go threw, to what the yanks with pads do. I would love to have a rest after every play, be like playing Union dont you think ? :) Either way, i think the demands on league players to keep intralling us league loving crowds will eventually take its toll on players careers. The guys are getting bigger and stronger now. Thank goodness we dont make them push in the scrums. :) But yes mostly agree with your post, at least now those followers are starting to come back out of the wood-work, you not one of them are you spiro?
The Link
Guest
Spiro - appreciate the the positive piece on RL. I don't think its sacraligous to be a Rugby follower and write pieces like this, keep them coming!!
Spiro Zavos
Expert
Oikee, it was really spirit of the game at the time that I was trying to get to. The players were essentially paid peanuts to belt themselves into a pulp. The teams had their loyal district followers. There was not much fancy-dan stuff, although the skills of players like Peter Sterling was of the highest quality. I suppose there was a certain nostalgia for what seem to be the days of the black and white photos when the players somehow seemed to me, at least and presumably to others, to be more iconic than they are now. All the football codes have become more skilful. The thing I like about the modern Parramatta Eels is that they tend to play a more sweeping passing game than the one-up barging game of other clubs. I notice, too, that the faction that has taken over the club has sort of forgiven Denis Fitzgerald for ostracising the legendary players like Ray Price. A club is more than its present personnel, and Fitzgerald did a disservice to the traditions of the club by keeping these old players out of the dressing room and from the training fields.i