Fifty Years Ago - Round Two, 1971

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George Peterson continues the 1971 retrospective, with a look back at the second round of the 1971 NSWRFL season.

Manly (32 - 18) continued their good work from round one, with a strong win over Eastern Suburbs. Coach Ron Willey had the Manly backline humming, running in 16 tries in two matches. Ken Irvine (4) and Bob Fulton (3) looked like they'll threaten the try-line every week, ensuring opposition coaches would have much to ponder as the season progressed. Reigning premiers South Sydney are also two-from-two after adding victory over Balmain (28 - 11) to their first-round win over Saints. Over at Endeavour Field, Cronulla defeated Penrith (31 - 12), taking their two-match try haul try to 13.  Sharks captain-coach Tommy Bishop has his team 'travelling well' and he's especially happy with fellow Englishman George Taylforth who's booted 19 goals so far.

Alan Clarkson at the Herald did his maths again on this weekend.  60,140 fans had turned up for Round 1 and just over 60,200 challenged the turnstiles this week. "Clarko" pointed out that the first two weeks had seen more paying customers than in the corresponding rounds in 1970.  All the matches in round two were played under blue skies with bright sunshine, but obviously fans were diverted from their normal weekend fare.

In other matches, Parramatta thrashed Canterbury (38 - 14) leaving "Berries" fans scratching their heads while calling for consistency from one of last years semi-finalists. So far, the blue-and-white team have been consistently awful, especially in defence, conceding 19 tries (93 points). Herald reporter Rod Humphries gave the "Mayor of Parramattta" Ken Thornett high praise after the Eels first win, suggesting that Parramatta would get great value from their fullback, even if he wasn't the 'force' he'd been two or three years ago. 

North Sydney, at home, defeated Western Suburbs (21 - 16) in front of just over 5,600 fans while ‘over the bridge' at Henson Park, St George (23 - 12) defeated the home team. Newtown are equal last with no wins from two matches, along with Penrith and Canterbury.

Next week's scheduled match at Redfern between equal leaders South Sydney and Cronulla has been upgraded to "match of the day" status and will be played at the S.C.G.

Ed's Note: Check out the full scoresheets from Round 2, 1971 thanks to RugbyLeagueProject.

Check out the Round 1 edition of this column here.