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Does anyone remember this game?

Perth Red

Post Whore
Messages
65,411
Only chance I got to see the old Reds was in 97 in the WCC, against Sheffield Eagles at Don Valley. They lost! One of the few games an Australian team actually lost.
 

Nuke

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
4,996
I remember that day well. I was there. Dad and I were members in 1995, so we were in the Lillee-Marsh Stand. 24,932 people made it an awesome atmosphere. I was the person who started the 2nd ever "REDS REDS REDS REDS" call that got the whole crowd doing it. Thinking back now, I have no idea what I was thinking doing that, as I wasn't even 14 at the time. I remember starting it, then the people in the row behind me joined in, then it was the whole stand, then it was the whole stadium! There was an older fella behind me to my left who then tapped me on the shoulder and said "You started that!".

When the Reds scored their first ever try, the crowd went off. It was one of the highlights of my sports-attending life thus far. Not the highlight (can't go past the '97 Grand Final for me), but it's certainly up there.
 

W.Smith

Juniors
Messages
616
ahhh yes, i remember that game very well !!!

as a Dragons lifelong fan and growing up in Sydney i was a excited as a young bloke when Illawarra and Canberra were admitted to the Sydney Premiership and again a little more excited when 6 years later the Knights, Bronco's and Giants were admitted

i was taken to Perth for a holiday as a kid and luvd it, i remember i saw a story in a Rugby League annual magazine about that time and saw South Perth wearing the Dragons colours so they became my team to follow in Perth - i didnt even know Rugby League was played there at the time !!

as i got older and saw ads in the RLW for Captain Coaches wanted over in WA i always thought about applying and heading over coz i always felt an affinity to the place after that holiday a sa kid and I used to love seeing the Winfield Cup games get taken to the WACA and because they would always pull solid crowds to the WACA i was keen to see the ARL expand to the West Coast

so when the Reds won admission in '95 with the Crushers and Cowboys i replaced my "second" team, Illawarra, with the Reds - they'd grabbed a couple of my favourite players in Brad Mackay and Mick Potter off the Dragons as well as a bunch of other players i liked such as Mark Geyer, Dale Fritz, Matty Rodwell, Matt Fuller and a coach i respected and was happy to see in his first First grade appointment in Peter Mulholland, so i was into the Reds bigtime and very excited at the prospect of having a team based in Perth coz iud always wanted the ARL to be truly national

i was so into the Western Reds i remember buying their jersey the first time i saw it and it had only been in the store since that morning so i was buying the first one and i still love it to this day !!

the kickoff weekend was a beauty, i was on a rostered day off so i was walking around on that Friday like it was GF day come 6 months early i was so happy and what a first game it was to kickoff the season as the Warriors nearly pulled off a stunning upset over Brisbane

the Satdy arvo ABC live game saw the debuting Crushers get touched up by the Raiders and then we got the live game of Cowboys hosting Bulldogs and getting bashed by the team that would finish Premiers 6 months later

and so it was onto the Sunday game, irony not lost on me that this new team who i was so happy to see in the comp was about to get pumped by my team and i remember watching it just stunned at the dismantling the Reds gave us, it looked a fast game in real hot conditions and the Redsfans were crazy behind their team and although we got nutted i still couldnt get ticked off

the Knights hammered the Reds the next week in their first road trip but then the Reds hit back beating Cronulla at Cronulla in the live ABC game on th following Satdy which i still have on tape

i still have the Reds v STG game on tape and thanks to Fox Sports Chooseday night footy i have it on disc as well as the memorable Reds '96 upset win over Manly, 11-8 at the WACA

have kept following the club via the internet and Rugby League Review magazine and keeping up with the Junior Reds and am so glad the WARL have decided to launch the Pirates after initially being xcited at the prospect of the Benny Elias/Tony Seage consortium getting a Perth team going
 

undertaker

Coach
Messages
10,816
I remember that day well. I was there. Dad and I were members in 1995, so we were in the Lillee-Marsh Stand. 24,932 people made it an awesome atmosphere. I was the person who started the 2nd ever "REDS REDS REDS REDS" call that got the whole crowd doing it. Thinking back now, I have no idea what I was thinking doing that, as I wasn't even 14 at the time. I remember starting it, then the people in the row behind me joined in, then it was the whole stand, then it was the whole stadium! There was an older fella behind me to my left who then tapped me on the shoulder and said "You started that!".

When the Reds scored their first ever try, the crowd went off. It was one of the highlights of my sports-attending life thus far. Not the highlight (can't go past the '97 Grand Final for me), but it's certainly up there.

Sounds like a great story. Apparently it was very hot that day in Perth and the game kicked off around midday or so???

Hopefully you will get the chant started again when Perth is readmitted back into the comp
 

undertaker

Coach
Messages
10,816
ahhh yes, i remember that game very well !!!

as a Dragons lifelong fan and growing up in Sydney i was a excited as a young bloke when Illawarra and Canberra were admitted to the Sydney Premiership and again a little more excited when 6 years later the Knights, Bronco's and Giants were admitted

i was taken to Perth for a holiday as a kid and luvd it, i remember i saw a story in a Rugby League annual magazine about that time and saw South Perth wearing the Dragons colours so they became my team to follow in Perth - i didnt even know Rugby League was played there at the time !!

as i got older and saw ads in the RLW for Captain Coaches wanted over in WA i always thought about applying and heading over coz i always felt an affinity to the place after that holiday a sa kid and I used to love seeing the Winfield Cup games get taken to the WACA and because they would always pull solid crowds to the WACA i was keen to see the ARL expand to the West Coast

so when the Reds won admission in '95 with the Crushers and Cowboys i replaced my "second" team, Illawarra, with the Reds - they'd grabbed a couple of my favourite players in Brad Mackay and Mick Potter off the Dragons as well as a bunch of other players i liked such as Mark Geyer, Dale Fritz, Matty Rodwell, Matt Fuller and a coach i respected and was happy to see in his first First grade appointment in Peter Mulholland, so i was into the Reds bigtime and very excited at the prospect of having a team based in Perth coz iud always wanted the ARL to be truly national

i was so into the Western Reds i remember buying their jersey the first time i saw it and it had only been in the store since that morning so i was buying the first one and i still love it to this day !!

the kickoff weekend was a beauty, i was on a rostered day off so i was walking around on that Friday like it was GF day come 6 months early i was so happy and what a first game it was to kickoff the season as the Warriors nearly pulled off a stunning upset over Brisbane

the Satdy arvo ABC live game saw the debuting Crushers get touched up by the Raiders and then we got the live game of Cowboys hosting Bulldogs and getting bashed by the team that would finish Premiers 6 months later

and so it was onto the Sunday game, irony not lost on me that this new team who i was so happy to see in the comp was about to get pumped by my team and i remember watching it just stunned at the dismantling the Reds gave us, it looked a fast game in real hot conditions and the Redsfans were crazy behind their team and although we got nutted i still couldnt get ticked off

the Knights hammered the Reds the next week in their first road trip but then the Reds hit back beating Cronulla at Cronulla in the live ABC game on th following Satdy which i still have on tape

i still have the Reds v STG game on tape and thanks to Fox Sports Chooseday night footy i have it on disc as well as the memorable Reds '96 upset win over Manly, 11-8 at the WACA

have kept following the club via the internet and Rugby League Review magazine and keeping up with the Junior Reds and am so glad the WARL have decided to launch the Pirates after initially being xcited at the prospect of the Benny Elias/Tony Seage consortium getting a Perth team going

Footage of Reds matches on YouTube are extremely hard to find. Heck, there's even more highlights of Adelaide Rams matches on YouTube.

Anyways, I found this from a match in '96:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFB3jCtB01U

and towards the end of this clip vs Bulldogs in '95 (one of less than a handful of Reds games Ch9 showed into Sydney during their tenure):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xVOVapNzxA

Yes, I've heard a fair bit of talk of that Reds/Sea Eagles match in '96. A fairly big upset back in those days, right?
 
Last edited:

Perth Red

Post Whore
Messages
65,411
Cheers w smith, great to hear your memories of the time, if you ever put them games on tape onto DVD I'd love a copy!

I think a song variant of yohoho and a bottle of rum should be created for our supporters group!
 

Johnny88

Juniors
Messages
1,195
I miss the reds in the comp. I remember watching on tv thought is was so exciting to see the comp expand to W.A. Hopefully a team returns there again.
 
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