Fifty Years Ago - Round 8, 1971

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Our weekly look back at how footy looked exactly fifty years ago, thanks to George Peterson!

Cronulla defeated Manly 7-0 at the Sydney Sports Ground and in capital letters the one-word headline in the Sunday paper said it all - INSPIRED!! 

In their first seven matches, the undefeated Sea Eagles had scored 41 tries while racking up 191 points, but against the Sharks they were held scoreless. Cronulla's captain / coach Tommy Bishop, once again, left the field before the siren, but this time it was the referee who brought his match to a finish by dismissing him and Manly's Alan Thompson for fighting. Both players wrestled and punched each other as Referee Keith Page blew the pea from his whistle. When both players trudged off there was 25 minutes left and Cronulla led 2-0.

It was a wet day and the Sports Ground became a muddy and slippery surface, which probably helped the Sharks keep their star studded opponents scoreless. The 7,491 fans who braved the conditions where on the edge of their seat until Cronulla grabbed a try in the 75th minute boosting their lead beyond a converted try.  Alan Clarkson, offered the simplest of explanations for the result, "Cronulla were the better team!".

1970 wooden spooners, Parramatta (23) crushed St George (14), in a match where the final score was misleading. Senior writer Alan Clarkson reported that the Eels led 23-8 early in the 2nd half and the Dragons were never able to overcome the enthusiastic visitors led by Captain Ron Lynch. Saints coach Jack Gibson gave a straight-forward explanation, "you can't win if you don't tackle".

Over the ‘Bridge', North Sydney (8) drew with Newtown (8) in a dour match, that saw both teams grab two tries and both goal kickers miss opportunities to snatch victory via late attempts at penalty goal. The close score kept the 5242 paying customers on edge, but the wet and slippery conditions meant that both teams struggled to maintain possession or threaten their opponents line.

4,799 Canterbury fans braved the weather and conditions at Belmore but were disappointed with the home team's effort. The Roosters (27) defeated Berries (10) but that score flattered the home team. The visitors ran to a 27-2 lead and although Canterbury grabbed two second half tries, they were never competitive. Roosters officials were particularly happy with front rowers Arthur Beetson and Jim Morgan, describing Beetson as "at his lightest and most mobile, in a long while". (ED: I'm not sure if that was a compliment or a back-hander!!)

Premiers South Sydney 12 struggled but still finished off Penrith 12-10, but only after injury reduced the home team to 12 men. The Panthers had used their two injury replacements when second rower Peter Wright was forced from the field with an injured knee.  Both teams scored two converted tries with a Ray Brannigan penalty proving the difference. Test forward Bob McCarthy grabbed a try for Souths but no one in the ‘Bunnies' dressing room sang the winners song with much gusto after Coach Churchill described his team as lazy in attack and just alright in defence.

Over at the Sportsground, 1969 Premiers, Balmain defeated cellar dwellers Wests Magpies 23-14, showing their best attacking form this season - but it was a match of two halves. In the first stanza, the Tigers ran in four tries to lead 18 nil at the break.  After ‘Oranges" the Magpies ran in three tries in five minutes, but the Tigers would not be denied.  Paul Cross grabbed his 2nd try, which when converted by Len Killeen, pushed the margin back out to nine points.   

The Representative Season starts! 

Teams for the annual City vs Country fixtures were announced with few surprises although Parramatta centre Ron Graham was rewarded for his attacking efforts in the first two months of the season and would join Bob Fulton in the star-studded city backline.   City seconds was a mixture of experience and youth, with selectors rewarding a trimmed down Arthur Beetson with another shot at representative honours.  (Young Wests half Tom Raudonikis was rewarded with selection on the replacements list for 2nds, despite his teams' poor season form.) 

The Arthur Summons coached Country team included Ted Goodwin (Dapto) and Warren Ryan, (Illawarra Wests) who'd captained Cronulla in 1968 before relocating to the Illawarra region.  

The City v Country matches will be played at the SCG next Saturday with a full round of club matches set down for Sunday.  

In news from Brisbane, the QRL announced their squad for the upcoming interstate series, including, for his first match a 21-year-old Police Officer Wayne Bennett, whose uncle Eddie Brosnan was a 1948 Kangaroo tourist and brother Bob Bennett played for QLD, 11 years earlier.   

Next week we'll have news from City v Country added to the full round of first grade match-ups.