I've held off commenting too much about the new inductees until now. It's great to see the event to celebrate our 100 years, and the Legends Walk is a tremendous asset to St George.
For those who don't know, the Legends Walk was fan-driven concept that culminated in it's unveiling by
Norm Provan in 2004. I remember that, and I also remember when St George juniors
Robert Stone and
Billy Wilson were inducted into the walk a few years later.
In regards to the latest inductees, there does seem to be too much focus on recent players and not enough on past greats.
Harry Bath should have been a no brainer. But I would like to go back further, before the post-war players that dominate the walk. Fact is, the current legends are standing on the shoulders of the legends that came before.
I know, the entire 1921 team has been inducted. It is a nice touch and a worthy addition. But my question is this: does this mean the players from the 1920s etc won't ever be inducted as individuals? Players like
Herb Gilbert (first captain-coach),
George Carstairs (first try scorer and was selected for Australia that year),
Alby Johnston (also selected for Australia that year, a Carlton boy who later coached us),
Ernie 'Curly' Lapham in the 1920s was rated as the fastest forward in the game and his team mate
Aubrey 'Jockey' Kelly was once rated as the greatest forward in the world.
And what about
Arthur 'Snowy' Justice? He played 113 games for St George in the 1920s-early 30s (11 seasons), captain-coach, NSW rep, Australian rep and later Club Secretary.
Players from the 1941 team also seem to be largely forgotten in the Legends Walk. It was our first premiership, and
Neville Smith, the Club's youngest ever captain-coach was a standout. A second-rower, Neville had a personal tally of 13 points to bring home our maiden premiership.
Norman 'Johnny' Hawke captain-coached St George to our second premiership in 1949. One the best five-eighths in the Club's history, Hawke controlled all aspects of the match. Those who witnessed the grand final say we never would have won it without 'Johnny'.
Then there's the great
Jack Lindwall who, from the 30s and 40s, held numerous Club records.
...scored 28 points in just his second game for Saints' third grade in 1937.
Holds club record of six match tries against Manly in 1947 and equalled Les Griffin's match points scoring record of 36 first grade points in the same game.*
Scored five tries or more for Saints on five other occasions. Was the club's top point scorer in first grade in 1946, 1947 and 1948.
Played in 1941 Grand Final victory as well as the 1942 and 1946 grand finals.
Scored 110 first grade tries, at the time a club record.
All household names in their day.
I could go on but you get the gist, we have an abundance of choice from the early years. Here's more (needs updating):
http://www.jubileeavenue.com.au/history_champ.php
There was a fair bit of post-match discussion about the Legends Walk last Sunday at the Taj, helped on by a few amber bevies.
Frank Facer was mentioned... he is a legend no doubt. Played for St George (including the 1949 grand final win) but as Club Secretary he was instrumental in our 11-in-a-row. And it was noted that the club may have never existed if it wasn't for
Joe McGraw, our first Club Secretary. A local referee, Joe did the heavy lifting to set up our junior leagues which made it possible for us to get the nod for First Grade. He may have never played first grade for us, but I think Joe's contribution should be acknowledged. Perhaps another section in the park near the walk.
As for the latest inductees, there was no drama with St George junior
Jason Nightingale, although we wondered why another great winger
Nathan Blacklock was overlooked. A few question marks over the JV players being included ahead the likes of those St George greats mentioned earlier in the post. Not a bad word was said about
Ben Hornby and
Ben Creagh, they
are legends. But questions were raised.
Edit:
*
18 June 2002: Jersey Flegg (third grade) back Wes Naiqama has secured a club record by scoring 38 points. Naiqama crossed for five tries and kicked nine goals from as many attempts to surpass the joint record of 36 points held by Les Griffin and Jack Lindwall.
Griffin scored two tries and kicked 15 goals in 1935 while playing for St George and Lindwall made his mark with six tries and nine goals in 1947 while also donning the ‘Red V’.
