As an eighties lad trying to capture Eric Grothe, I was rubbish – probably the worst. So any sympathy for defenders steamrolled by the Parramatta wrecking-ball certainly didn’t flow from my spot on the hill.
Laying hands on Scanlens bubble-gum cards showcasing the bearded juggernaut often proved more difficult than stopping the real thing.
Affectionately known as Guru, the peaceful giant appeared anything but with ball in hand, using colossal hip-drive and cheetah-like speed to accumulate 78 tries during Parramatta’s glory days in the 1980s.
Officially recognised in 2008 as one of only 10 wingers in Australia’s 100 best players of the century, Grothe stands alongside Kerry Boustead as the two greatest of the last 35 years. But to a generation of Bata Scout wearing traders, the 1982 Invincible proved far more fearsome on cardboard – sporting untamed fuzz and poorly managed tufts in a series of bikie-style portraits.
Ironically, the blades were ditched after a clean shaven image announced the 19-year-old rookie in 1979. A fully thatched pose ushered in the new decade giving rise to various trims across 152 games until 1989 when chronic knees stopped what most others couldn’t.
The savage Steeden-returner cracked a grin in 1981, the one and only in the Grothe collection. Former gum-chewers reasoned it was pain free joy, while blue and gold loyalists believed it was the holy-guru spirit behind the Eels’ maiden premiership later that year.
The flipside to the jovial powerhouse quantifies a physique comparable with today’s buffed corner-post contortionists, yet bigger than most forwards of his era. Standing at 181 centimetres and 88 kilograms, the strapping wingman was only four kilograms lighter than legendary Dragons skyscraper Rod Reddy.
Leading into the trophy laden years, Grothe joined Mount Pritchard teammate Steve ‘ZipZip Man’ Ella and young halves Peter Sterling and Brett Kenny to form one of the best club backlines of all time. Together they teamed with veteran Australian centre Mick Cronin in all four Eels triumphs, including the club’s last in 1986.
At the time interest in Parra footy cards escalated with each title. When demand finally exceeded supply, bus stops descended into chaos where multiple Bulldogs and even more Bears typified the currency for one Eel.
School winters in my world flared amid deceitful card trades and 10-course bubble-gum lunches that translated to stories of horror from the dentist chair in the years that followed.
A Grothe hat-trick against Souths rumbled the Cumberland Oval grandstand before fans finished it off with fire one year later on the night of Parramatta’s ‘ding dong the witch is dead’ premiership.
The Eels shifted to Belmore Sports Ground in 1982 during the construction of Parramatta Stadium, which oddly coincided with Grothe’s most productive years. The flying behemoth crashed through rivals to score 52 four-pointers in 75 matches including two four-try hauls – at the time club records.
His freight train displays and long-range efforts transferred to the highest level, leaving English and French locals gob-smacked in 1982 as part of an eight-game Test career that featured at least one try in every match.
Laid out by an ugly – albeit perfectly executed – back-hander from Chris ‘Choppy’ Close at Lang Park in 1981, the Blues left wing enforcer eventually squared the ledger lining up for New South Wales’ inaugural series victory in 1985.
Off the field in 1983, kids tossed Best & Less replicas in protest when Scanlens flicked a 20-year card tradition for an inferior sticker product. As if waving the footy card flag in response, Guru Grothe produced a non-stick performance of trademark balance and power against the Bulldogs in the same year at the SCG.
Respected league journalist Ian Heads outlined the crowd numbing effort in Rugby League Week.
“Eric Grothe scored a try which was, simply, one of the finest ever seen at the ground. No one else in rugby league could have scored the try,” he wrote.
“Grothe discarded five would-be tacklers in his 40-metre charge to the line and carried a sixth, Steve Mortimer, with him.”
Lunch money headed back to school canteens as the footy-sticker phase flopped until Scanlens’ bubble burst in 1986. The return of powder-coated footy cards occurred in the same year Parra returned home and Grothe upstaged the monarchy.
When Queen Elizabeth II officially opened Parramatta Stadium on March 5, she wouldn’t have envisaged the Guru paving the sidelines with gold in a ceremony of his own seven weeks later. But that’s precisely what happened during his first touchdown in a coast-to-coast effort that remains one of my most treasured sporting memories.
Showered in shredded newspaper on Sydney’s newest hill, the magic moment surprisingly unfolded in front of me as the Arthur Beetson coached Roosters pushed for points at the northern end. Initially startled by a cross field bomb, Grothe casually defused the situation.
Then in a blur of hyper-extended strides, the bump-and-run merchant instantly found top speed in a Decepticon-style transformation, leaving a trail of broken tacklers the entire length of the eastern touchline. With four points assured amid decaying powers, the overwhelming force crashed in an exhausted heap under the southern end posts.
The effort incited false bravado from an overzealous ground announcer whose quip, “have another pie Mr Beetson” not only split the sides of 20,000 euphoric fans but fired debate about the likely uncomfortable resting place of the cheeky offender’s microphone.
Unfortunately for Grothe a complication of his own resulted in omission from the 1986 Kangaroo tour and rolled into three injury-plagued final seasons and retirement at the age of 29.
The axe fell two seasons earlier in newsagents when Scanlens selectors responded to Grothe’s spasmodic showings by closing the shoebox on a decade of beard crunching memories, dropping him from packets for his final two seasons.
Reckon you can pick the winning team? Build your own dream team with Draftstars daily fantasy and compete on any match. For great odds on the NRL head on over to PlayUp. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.
Queensland often has the right mix of generational talent, playmaking brilliance and these nuts-and-bolts players that bind them together like glue.
There are few greater sledges you can give an NRL team than calling them pretenders but the Cowboys will not be contenders until they…
The Parramatta coach was furious with his side after coughing up a first-half lead and going on to lose 44-16 in an embarrassing second-half…
Jamayne Isaako missed five out of nine conversions in a huge win over the Eels - with the Channel Nine team having some fun…
The Eels led 8-4 at half-time. They lost 44-16 in a Dolphins onslaught.
Who is this team and what have they done with the Dolphins? With Wayne Bennett consigned to his sick bed back in Redcliffe, the…
