Memories of the 1975 NSWRL finals series

After looking back at the 1978 finals series, I figured it was time to go back to a year when the Roosters were crowned minor premiers.

1975 was not the last time the boys from Bondi finished first after the regular season, but in this season they were so clearly dominant the won the minor premiership by 10 points.

In fact, Eastern Suburbs won 19 consecutive games from Round 4 to completely overshadow the rest of the competition.

Built on a miserly defence, under the tutelage of master coach Jack Gibson, the Roosters were defending the title they won with similar dominance in 1974.

However, in the early part of the finals series, it was another club that caught the imagination.

The Parramatta Eels, only two seasons previously the whipping boys of the competition, finished the regular season level on points with both Western Suburbs and Balmain.

All finished on 21 points, and while Wests had the better points difference, the rules stated that a play off was needed to determine fifth place.

Wests had even more reason to feel aggrieved: they had been docked one competition point earned in a 9-9 draw in Round 15 when it was ruled they had played an ineligible reserve in Mick Liubinskas.

That extra point would have seen them in clear fifth place.

As it stood, two play-offs were needed. Balmain’s name was drawn from a hat and they had the luxury of sitting back and watching the Eels and the Magpies clash on Tuesday August 26th, at the SCG.

In pouring rain, Parramatta won the game 18-13 and then had to back up on the Thursday to face a more rested Tigers side.

However, the Eels were courageous in winning 19-8, their third game in six days, to finally qualify as the fifth side and go into the elimination semi final against Canterbury-Bankstown.

No-one gave them a chance; four games in a week was an inconceivable obstacle.

Yet the Eels beat the Bulldogs 6-5 to stay alive in the premiership, despite being held tryless in the game.

This would not be the only time a team won in the finals series without scoring a try.

St George beat Manly 10-3 in the major semi final in Week One and their “reward” was a match against the rampant Easts side in Week Two.

Yet four penalty goals from four attempts by Henry Tatana gave the Dragons a shock 8-5 victory and direct passage to the grand final.

Meanwhile, Parramatta’s brave run was finally halted by Manly-Warringah, who beat them 22-12 in the knockout semi final the day after the Roosters-Dragons game.

The match was in the balance until the last few minutes, when Manly centre Ray Branighan intercepted a pass almost on his own line and ran 100 metres to score at the other end.

So Manly faced Easts in the preliminary final and the Roosters looked suddenly a little shaky.

A leg injury prevented star centre John Brass from taking goal kicks, something that was seen as a major issue leading into the match.

Up stepped John Peard, who kicked eight from eight as the Roosters comfortably accounted for the Sea Eagles 28-13.

On top of Peard’s radar accuracy, Easts lock Kevin “Stumpy” Stevens scored a hat-trick of tries to end Manly’s season.

The 1975 grand final is best remembered for two reasons.

Graeme Langlands and the final scoreline. “Changa” Langlands, one of the greatest players of modern times and captain-coach of the Dragons, took the field in white boots.

That might not be unusual nowadays but it was seen as the ultimate show-pony act in the mid seventies.

Sadly, Langlands also took to the ground with a pain-killing needle that went badly wrong, numbing his right leg and making him look a shell of the great player we all knew.

And that scoreline: 5-0 up at half-time, the Roosters won 38-0 to record the biggest winning margin in grand final history, a mark that stood for 33 years.

The eight tries the Roosters scored equalled the number Souths scored in 1951 as the most tries by a side in a grand final.

While the Roosters were head and shoulders above the competition in 1975, the second half of the premiership decider came out of the blue.

A triumph for the tri-colours and a sad career epitaph for Graeme Langlands and white boots.