Have seen this going around so thought I’d chuck it on here too Name your favourite player from each club. Be it any era of your life time. Just follow my lead. Brisbane Broncos : Steve Renouf Canberra Raiders : Brett Mullins Canterbury Bulldogs : Mark O’Meley Cronulla Sharks : Andrew Ettingshausen Eastern suburbs/Sydney City: Brad Fittler Gold coast Titans: Preston Campbell Manly Warringah Sea Eagles : Cliff Lyons Melbourne Storm : Glenn Lazarus Newcastle knights : Andrew Johns North Queensland cowboys : Matt Bowen New Zealand Warriors : Stacey Jones Parramatta Eels : Jamie Lyon Penrith Panthers : Mark Geyer South Sydney Rabbitohs: Sam Burgess St George dragons : Mark Gasnier West Tigers : Benji Marshall And if you go back far enough Illawarra Steelers : Rod Wishart Balmain Tigers : Paul Sironen West’s Magpies : David Gillespie North Sydney Bears : Mario Fenech
Brisbane Broncos : Tonie Carroll Canberra Raiders : Ruben Wiki Canterbury Bulldogs : Sonny Bill Williams Cronulla Sharks : Preston Campbell Eastern suburbs/Sydney City: Adrian Morley Gold coast Titans: Kevin Gordon Manly Warringah Sea Eagles : Ben Kennedy Melbourne Storm : Marcus Bai Newcastle knights : Timana Tahu North Queensland cowboys : Matt Bowen New Zealand Warriors : Iafeta Paleasina Parramatta Eels : Fui Fui Moi Moi Penrith Panthers : Tony Puletua South Sydney Rabbitohs: Greg Inglis St George dragons : Nathan Blacklock West Tigers : Benji Marshall
I recall when Tallis gave that brutal, over the top, hiding to that Penrith player it was Puletua who stopped him. Either Tallis was all punched-out or he simply wasn't having a go at Tony. As for my favourites, they are strictly 'of the time'. For example, as the years have passed, I think Whizz Freeman was a dirty player. I still like him though. Brisbane Broncos: Paul Hauff Canberra Raiders: Brent Todd Canterbury Bulldogs: Jarrod McCraken Cronulla Sharks: Kurt Sorenson Eastern Suburbs/Sydney City: Gavin Miller Gold Coast Titans: Brent Todd Manly Warringah Sea Eagles: Hoppa Melbourne Storm: Glenn Lazarus Newcastle Knights: Sam Stewart North Queensland Cowboys: Jake Granville North Sydney Bears: Mark Graham New Zealand Warriors: It has to be Manu. Parramatta Eels: Eric Grothe Sr. Penrith Panthers: Mark Geyer South Sydney Rabbitohs: Craig Coleman St George Dragons: Rod Wishart Wests Tigers: Gary Freeman I treated merged clubs, and replacement clubs (i.e. the Gold Coast), as one and the same. Any Kiwi rated highly back in the day! Hence 'Toddy' at the Raiders and Gold Coast.
The defunct clubs of the modern (NRL/Super League) era: Western Reds. South Queensland Crushers Hunter Mariners. Any more?
Brisbane Broncos :Sam Backo Canberra Raiders : Chicka Ferguson Canterbury Bulldogs : Andrew Ryan Cronulla Sharks : Andrew Ettingshausen Eastern suburbs/Sydney City: Craig Salvitori Gold coast Titans: Scott Prince Manly Warringah Sea Eagles : Darrel Williams Melbourne Storm : Glenn Lazarus Newcastle knights : Paul Harrigon North Queensland cowboys : Jonathan Thurston New Zealand Warriors : Manu Vatuvei Parramatta Eels eter Johnstone. (some of his hits were friggen huge...and proper tackles) Penrith Panthers : Brad Fitler South Sydney Rabbitohs:Bruce Longbottom St George dragons : Matt Cooper West Tigers : Keith Galloway And if you go back far enough Illawarra Steelers : Anthony Mcindoe Balmain Tigers : Paul Sironen West’s Magpies : Jason Taylor North Sydney Bears : Gary Larson
Brisbane Broncos : Steve Renouf Canberra Raiders : Noa Nadruku Canterbury Bulldogs : Daryl Brohman Cronulla Sharks : Kurt Sorensen Eastern suburbs/Sydney City: Roger Tuivasa Sheck Gold coast Titans: David Mead Manly Warringah Sea Eagles : Craig Innes Melbourne Storm : Marcus Bai Newcastle knights : Paul Harragon North Queensland cowboys : Matt Bowen New Zealand Warriors : Ali Parramatta Eels : Eric Grothe Sr Penrith Panthers : Brad Fittler South Sydney Rabbitohs: Mario Fenech St George dragons : Nathan Blacklock West Tigers : Benji Marshall
Some good names being thrown around so far, seems like plenty of names from the glory days of the Winfield Cup
Brisbane Broncos : Jamayne Isaako Canberra Raiders : Brett Mullins Canterbury Bulldogs : Nigel Vagana Cronulla Sharks : David Peachey Eastern Suburbs/Sydney City: Jared Warea Hargreaves Gold Coast Titans: Preston Campbell Manly Warringah Sea Eagles : Kevin Iro Melbourne Storm : Matt Rua Newcastle Knights : Andrew Johns North Queensland cowboys : Jason Taumalolo New Zealand Warriors : Ali Lauititi Parramatta Eels : Fuifui Moimoi Penrith Panthers : Tony Puletua South Sydney Rabbitohs: Isaac Luke St George dragons : Amos Roberts West Tigers : Taniela Tuiaki Loved Jeremy Smith, but found him hard to place.
Re Graham at Norths. He left in '88 to play in the UK. That was unfortunate, for him, the club and Kiwi league fans. Norths were outstanding during that superb Winfield Cup Era, late-80s/early-90s. Not only would Graham have played finals but he might've been the difference for Norths, who never quite made a GF during that time.
We can add North Sydney too, and tecnically, the Northern Eagles. I worked at North Sydney Oval (NSO) during their last year or two in first grade. Small crowds, poor results, a merger with Manly a sure thing. In hindsight, I should've taken some photos of those Bears' last days. NSO was a great ground, both in day and night. I was a casual GC fan throughout all those years of failure and rebranding. King Wally was there in '92, for that Seagulls launch. As was Rowdy Shearer. Two Maroons legends. I'm going to look at the Adelaide Rams roster now, I'm intrigued.
Brisbane Broncos : Glenn Lazarus Canberra Raiders : Brad Clyde Canterbury Bulldogs : Paul Langmack David Gillespie Cronulla Sharks : Gavin MIller Eastern suburbs/Sydney City: Bryan Fletcher Gold coast Titans: Preston Campbell Manly Warringah Sea Eagles : Ian Roberts/Michael O’Connor Melbourne Storm : Scott Hill Newcastle knights : Paul Harrigan North Queensland cowboys : Matt Bowen New Zealand Warriors : Steve Price Parramatta Eels : Brett Kenny/Peter Sterling Penrith Panthers : Mark Geyer/John Cartwright South Sydney Rabbitohs: Mario Fenech/Les Davidson St George dragons : Mark Gasnier /Paul McGregor West Tigers : Robbie Farah Illawarra Steelers : Paul McGregor, Brett Rodwell Balmain Tigers : Paul Sironen/Steve Roach West’s Magpies : Steve Kearney North Sydney Bears : David Fairleigh/Gary Larson
Every time I read someone else's reply I often think to myself, 'maybe that player was my favourite, not the one I picked?' Price at the Warriors, for example. What a champion pick-up for us. I'm so glad he had crackingly good years there.
I tried to stick to 1, but couldn’t... not having Stacey, Mannering, Luck, Campion, Ali, Etc for the Warriors was weird, but I loved everything about Price, he was a champion in every sense
that early 90s Bears team was terrific, Fenech, Fairleigh, Larson, Moore, Florimo etc... just Penrith and Canberra, then Brisbane had a bit extra. Same with late 80s Souths, Fenech, Davidson, Boyle, Andrews, Roberts, Chisholm Colman, Blake... and the Dogs of War my favourite era tbh At full strength, something like Boyle, Fenech, Roberts, Chisholm, Davidson, Andrews... what a pack... bit then the Dogs had Kelly, hooker?, Tunks, Dunn, Gillespie and Langmack Always loved Perith though, perennial losers the signing Dunn, Clarke, Kelly and Mortimer to mentor their brilliant juniors. Geyer was a monster until the Ben Alexander tragedy
Agree, agree, agree. There was a sort of non-de script-looking winger for Norths at that time, average height and build, brown hair, wispy mustache. Beave has mentioned him a couple of times in the recent past. He was scoring tries at an alarming rate for the opposition. I can't help but make a direct comparison between Penrith's 1992 season and the Warriors' 2009. Both sides had outstanding seasons before, only to fade badly the following year. The key would be the tragic deaths of the young stars, Ben Alexander and Sonny Fai. Incidentally, I drove through the suburban intersection where the former died, every day for a year. I was just on my way to Mt Druitt TAFE (Polytech). There's a small plaque there but I never got close enough to find out who had died there. Only later, when I did some morbid research, did I realise that was the scene of the accident.
David Hall would be the man you’re thinking of. Sad the Bears aren’t there anymore, they were the first footy jersey I got while at primary school. Unbelievable that they went back to back in 1921 and 1922 and never made another grand final. So many might have beens as well, think it was 1991 when Halligan kicked 0/5 and they got bundled out, and 1997 as well when Seers was in the clear to seal the game and Albert got him a few metres out. 1 of my favourite club game memories is Taylor knocking over a drop goal to end Brisbane’s reign in 94 Going through the garage the last few days came across a DVD of “Big League, the Winfield Cup years” and also a 1991 year in review, keen to throw both of those in the player during the lockdown