Lessons from the 1989 NSWRL Grand Final: Mal's immortality, wingers being wingers, and buckets of sand

This week I decided to lift the doona on a long repressed childhood memory and re-watch the 1989 NSWRL Grand Final. Would it be as tragic as my mum made out? It was with this trepidation that I loaded up the grainy YouTube video and settled in for 90 minutes of nostalgia.

With the full knowledge that Tigers were not going to win, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the 70 minutes I watched. Yes, at this point the compulsion to turn it off overcame me.

Here are 13 learnings I took from the 1989 NSWRL Grand Final.

1. Meninga is immortal

I had forgotten how good he was. At times it was like watching a man against boys. Bigger than the forwards and faster than the backs. He kicked goals (badly) but also kicked in general play. He had what all the greats had: time and vision.

2. Quick play the balls

Yes, as you’d expect. But there was an almost innocent air to it, as defensive players genuinely tried to clear the ruck quickly, not realising that it was not to their advantage. An unexpected consequence was the low tackle counts. With only one or two players in each tackle, the highest tackle count going into half time was about 15. How times have changed.

3. Buckets of sand

I’d almost forgotten these. It looked like big Mal was building a sandcastle at the beach as he knelt down and lovingly moulded the sand to receive the ball.

4. The ground was rough as guts

The Sydney Football Stadium in 1989 was the top league field in Australia and it resembled a dust bowl in the middle. The curators must have really got a lot better since then, because if that was what the SFS was like, I would have hated to have gotten tackled on a suburban ground towards the end of the footy season.

5. The jerseys were massive

We all remember that, one size fits all and long sleeves you can hack off with a blunt knife if you wanted a tougher look. The jumpers were so big and the shorts so small the jumpers actually hung out the bottom of the shorts! Was weird.

6. Minimal stoppages

I expected to notice this and it was lovely when it unfolded. The game simply flowed and flowed. There were few stoppages, no bunker reviews, no captain’s challenges, no playing for a penalty. Play continued whilst injured players were treated in the back field and then the trainers took their magic sponge and ran off.

7. Good defence and poor attack

The tackling technique was impressive, few misses and few high shots. What did surprise me was how simple the attacking looked. Just a backline fanned out with one player passing to the next and running fast with the ball under the arm. This looks to be an area where the game has really developed. I put it down to the time and video analysis available in the professional era to get good structure and set plays.

8. The players are lean

The look fit but they are not bulky yet. No surprise, 1989 was the end of the ‘run them into the ground approach’ to rugby league fitness. The 1990s brought in a new era of strength training and explosive track work but in 1989 they still looked like regular joes.

9. Peter Sterling in the commentary box

Early days of his commentating, but like a rookie player who excludes class, you could tell he had something special. With Rex Mossop leading the call, Sterling did not get a lot of airtime, but when he did, he was deliberate and insightful. Unexpected pleasure from the 1989 coverage.

Peter Sterling (Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Images)

10. Bill Harrigan in his first Grand Final

Bill is held up as the best and he was good on this day. What was interesting in a really frustrating way was listening to the commentators’ coverage of decisions. It was old school and respectful. ‘Referee’s decision is final and move on’ type thing. It was classy and has aged well.

I know the bunker, the captain’s challenge and the incessant replays have changed the landscape but the commentators could do well to better support the officiating.

11. Wingers were wingers

If you wanted to keep a clean jumper this was the best position on the field, strolling outside where there was grass and scoring tries. There were no towering, spiral bombs, no running through the valley of death early in the tackle count. Wingers were for looking good and keeping the touch judge company.

12. Kicking not so good

Not sure if it was the balls at the time or the technique but most of the kicks in general play were complete bludgers by today’s standards.

13. Half-time entertainment failures

Some things never change. I had to smile as the coverage resumed after half-time – there was an announcement apologising for the half-time entertainment. Note sure of the details but some failure to launch.

May rugby league never change.