South Sydney 1989-90: what happened?

[Jason Maher]

Not another lol@souffs thread. A genuine question on my part. 89-90 were the first two seasons I followed league, but I never did quite figure out why Souths went from the Minor Premiership to the Wooden Spoon in 12 months.

Having a look at the squads for the two years, they were remarkably similar. There are a few players who played most of the season in 1989 but only played a few or no games in 1990 (Michael Andrews - 23 & 2; Mark Ellison - 21 & 8; Paul Roberts - 21 & 0; Bruce Longbottom - 19 & 9; Ross Harrington - 18 & 3; David Boyle - 18 & 3; Wayne Chisholm - 16 & 2; Bronko Djura - 15 & 0; Tony Rampling - 12 & 0) so perhaps injuries undid them? They did lose Ian Roberts to Manly, which no doubt didn't help, but this was pretty much cancelled out by picking up Mark Carroll from Penrith (who toured with the 1990 Kangaroos).

Any Souths fans able to shed some light? Any other fans old enough to remember?

 

[Walt Flanigan]

We broke them.

 

[The Enforcer]

We broke them.

Salary cap says hi.

 

[_snafu_]

Their teeth fell out.

 

[AlwaysGreen]

Salary cap says hi.

Wrong year dill.

They ran into a better side in 1989. In 1990 they remembered they were souffs.

 

[The Enforcer]

Wrong year dill.

They ran into a better side in 1989. In 1990 they remembered they were souffs.

Didn't make a difference what year it was, look at the side..........dill.

 

[MaxPower]

The Enfarcer

 

[AlwaysGreen]

Didn't make a difference what year it was, look at the side..........dill.

It does make a difference. You're either over or you're not. In 1989 we weren't.

Anyway this is about the dills from souths.

 

[Walt Flanigan]

Didn't make a difference what year it was, look at the side..........dill.

There was no salary cap in 1989. Keep on DeRpin'

 

[Dogs Of War]

They really had a small sized pack. Some injuries and the loss of Roberts hurt. Don't read too much into 89. They were great defensively in 89, but losing players to injury in 90 meant the floodgates opened and they were unable to score enough to keep them competive. Just look at some of the better teams of that era, it really was the end of defence and the start of some great attacking teams.

 

[Jason Maher]

You chaps may find this thread more suitable for your present discussion: http://forums.leagueunlimited.com/showthread.php?t=411936

 

[Dogs Of War]

Probably should add that a lot of teams were going part time professional with the salary cap while souths were operating on an old model.

 

[axl rose]

Any Souths fans able to shed some light? Any other fans old enough to remember?

Roberts was a gun player. There were other distractions as well, with Piggins cutting football club spending. Mario and plenty of others were shown the door. Simply told by Piggins that we cant pay you.

 

[AlwaysGreen]

You chaps may find this thread more suitable for your present discussion: http://forums.leagueunlimited.com/showthread.php?t=411936

Perhaps Jason, if you really wanted a sensible answer you would have started this thread in the souths forum.

 

[Flapper]

Perhaps Jason, if you really wanted a sensible answer you would have started this thread in the souths forum.

Or, perhaps a bit more reastically, people remember this is a RUGBY LEAGUE forum and people should be able to talk about all teams seriously without a subset of bellends continually shitting up each and every South Sydney thread with f**king rubbish.

 

[Jason Maher]

I was under the impression the NRL forum was for sensible discussion...

 

[AlwaysGreen]

I was under the impression the NRL forum was for sensible discussion...

Then you should be banned for life.

 

[Walt Flanigan]

:lol:

 

[AlwaysGreen]

You want serious discussion?

1989 Good solid team with a couple of real stars but the game was changing. Look at the hookers from Canberra and Balmain and compare them to Mario. Say what you like about Benny but the little bastard could play and began the revolution of a hooker with halfback skills. Walters continued it. Souths were consistent but their rise that year was a bit of a shock.

1990 Canberra were outstanding, look at the team - Meninga, Belcher, Stuart, Lazerus, Clyde, Daley, Walters. Throw in Ferguson. Penrith under Gould had shown their hand in 1989, in 1990 they were fantastic with Freddie and Geyer making their entrance and Alexander brilliant. Souths had injuries and faded away.

As one poster said, some teams including Penrith and Canberra were turning more and more professional, others like souths got left behind.

 

[axl rose]

Probably should add that a lot of teams were going part time professional with the salary cap while Souths were operating on an old model.

True. The chook raffle model. And as long as we run out in our jersey/colors every week and remember players who played 30 years ago with a broken jaw 'she'll be right'