Fifty Years Ago - 1971 Preliminary Final report

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George's look back at the 1971 season reaches the penultimate week with a review of the Dragons-Sea Eagles 1971 Preliminary Final.

"Saints Shock Manly" was the Sunday Herald headline on September 12, 1971. 

St George (15) defeated Manly (12), in a result that must have perplexed senior rugby league writer at the Herald, Alan Clarkson as much as it did Sea Eagles Coach Ron Wiley. In the Sunday wash-up Clarkson was still bemoaning the loss he never saw coming;  

"When you put the sides down, (on paper) side by side and study their make-up, there did not seem to be any way Manly could lose. They had an advantage in weight, in speed and in experience".  

St George were the better team with the better plan according to the Sunday morning analysis.  However, I think what also mattered was the contribution (or not) by the superstars in both teams.  Graeme Langlands and Billy Smith were standouts for the Dragons while Bob Fulton and Mal Reilly for Manly, were ‘seen but not heard'.  As I read the comment pieces and analysis, I wondered if it mattered that Bob Fulton was one of the "injured five" who'd played Souths last week at less than 100%?  I wondered if it mattered that another one of the five was Malcolm Reilly, who'd played just one match in twelve weeks?  According to Clarkson, Reilly should NOT have played. The big English forward was in agony after a tackle half-way through the first half but refused assistance.  The knee injury acquired 15 weeks prior will be monitored and then assessed to see if surgery will be needed to work out what's wrong.  

However, looking for the reasons that Manly lost, is disrespectful to the team that won.  St George won because they did the simple things best and their two superstars, were always finding ways to turn the big Manly pack and force them to work hard, both with and without the ball.  

Five minutes before half time Manlys' lanky second-rower Lindsay Drake, crossed for a try with Saints fullback Langlands laying on the ground behind him, bleeding from a broken nose.  This was the seventh or eighth time Langlands had allowed his nose to get into a fight with opposition boots or fists.  The half-time score was Manly 7 - St George 4 and Saints half Billy Smith speaking after the match, said;  "I thought we were gone."  
What Smith could not have known was that his team would take the opportunities that came their way in the 2nd half and that the bounce of the ball, would fall their way.  The Manly scrum, supposedly better and heavier, conceded a penalty three minutes into the 2nd stanza and Langlands added the two points from the penalty goal.  Six minutes later, at the end of an attacking set Billy Smith kicked the ball high. Manly fullback Bob Batty and his winger Derek Moritz, between them managed to let the ball bounce and almost as if it was pre-ordained Graeme Langlands, leaped high to catch the ball and then spun his way out of the grasp of two tacklers to score.  What had started as St George 4 - Manly 7 was now St George 9 - Manly 7 but there was more to come.   
Three minutes later Billy Smith broke through down the blindside and didn't really have to look inside to see who might be supporting him (like Billy Slater or James Tedesco from later eras) fullback Langlands loomed up to accept the pass, ran twenty - five yards to score in the corner and for good measure kicked the conversion.  The score was now St George 14 - Manly 7 and the Dragons, never surrendered the lead.  Ken Irvine grabbed a try for Manly but it was not enough.  St George hooker Col Rasmussen, and his pack of "lightweight" forwards won the last five scrums of the match, denying possession to their opponents, as the clock wound down.   
A crowd of over 48,000 watched on as St George, against all the odds, defeated the "Manly Millionaires" and man of the match, Billy Smith set up two tries and kicked three field-goals.  Twelve months earlier, in the same final, on the same day, Manly had finished Saints season, winning (15 - 6) while slotting five field goals along the way, three by Bob Fulton and two by Bob Batty.  You can bet that Saints coach Jack Gibson and chief playmaker Smith, planned and hoped for the opportunity to kick those goals, whispering, "remember last year" each time, the arm of referee Keith Page, went up to confirm the goal.   

Smith's kicking feat has only been equalled once in the 50 years since and that was by Adam Reynolds for the Rabbitoh's in 2018. The same Adam Reynolds who will lead South Sydney in the 2021 Grand Final. The same Adam Reynolds, unwanted at Redfern, who will ply his trade for the Brisbane Broncos in 2022 and beyond.    

With their win, St George cemented their place as the top club in 1971 by qualifying three teams into grand finals.  Along with first grade, the Dragons will play cross town rivals Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in both the reserve grade and third grade Grand Finals.