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Essays from over yonder

Anonymous

Juniors
Messages
46
This is where we can paste any old F7s stuff from the old TFR or anywhere else before it gets deleted.
 

Anonymous

Juniors
Messages
46
F7s Round 1, 2003

The dash for the door, 1907 - 1910:

1907 saw the earliest known connection between St George and Rugby League. It was during this year that James J. Giltinan, Henry Hoyle and Victor Trumper started arranging meetings in an effort to persuade teams to join the newly formed New South Wales Rugby League competition.

Interested parties in the St George district saw merit in the new breakaway competition which was to mirror England's 'Northern Union'. The formation of the NSWRL was attracting much discussion in the Sydney area and the seeds of controversy between the old Rugby Union and the new Rugby League were well and truly planted.

There are some anecdotal reports that St George lobbyists attended preliminary meetings in 1907 as well as discussions at Victor Trumper's sports store in the same year.

A meeting however did take place between NSWRL officials and local Rugby Union players at Rockdale Town Hall on February 28, 1908. This meeting was mainly instigated by St George Rugby League pioneers, Messers W. Munn and Joe McGraw.

All appeared to go well with the NSWRL chairman, Henry Clement Hoyle delivering a convincing address as to the benefits of joining a competition which offered compensation to injured players. When put to the vote, the Rugby Union players in attendance unanimously voted in favour of joining the Rugby League and representing the district of St George.

At this historic meeting of 1908, a St George Rugby League club was definitely formed with chairman, Mayor Taylor being elected as President.

What happened afterwards is a little unclear. According to one story, a prepared contract was laid out for all to sign and the room went silent... except for the stomping of feet as the players turned on their heels and made a dash for the door. In the end only three players actually signed their contracts. One of those being Ted Courtney who later became a member of the first Kangaroos.

This somewhat humorous story suggests that the players were full of bravado but soon lost their nerve when it came to signing. The truth however lies in the 'behind the scenes' counter-threats made by Rugby Union. The fledgling Rugby League was far from being on solid foundations and any player who signed up was immediately disqualified from playing Rugby Union.

The end result was disappointment for the organisers and a new approach was required.

It took two more years but in 1910, the "St George Third Grade League Football Club" was formed and admitted into the NSWRL third grade competition.

The colours of the club were red and white. The jerseys had red and white horizontal hoops which were four inches wide. They wore black shorts, black socks with red and white tops. The club administration and social headquarters were at Stroud's Hotel, Kogarah. The 'training room' was a small hall (old church) in Gray Street. The new club's home ground was at Sans Souci and a Mr A. Farrat was installed as coach.

On April 30, 1910 the St George third graders became the first St George Rugby League team to take to the field and did so in convincing fashion, thrashing the Newtown thirds by 36-0 at Sans Souci.

The scorers for this historic match were: C. Haydon 3, J. Thomson 2, F. Holt, B. Haydon, A. Gore tries; C. Haydon 4, A. Larkin and S. Territt goals. The referee was C. Negus.

It was tremendous start for the new team. Their success was even more evident with a growing supporter base and junior competition which continued to impress throughout the year and into the years that followed.

St George administrators, led by Joe McGraw, relentlessly lobbied the NSWRL for first grade recognition. Unfortunately, it would take another decade and the intervention of a world war before the district of St George would finally gain admission into the Big League.
 

Anonymous

Juniors
Messages
46
F7s Round 2, 2003

2003_05_17barrett.jpg


Coach Nathan Brown's 'clip' across the face of captain Trent Barrett managed to become a major talking point in what must have been a slow news week for Rugby League. I still don't know what all the fuss about. As a long suffering Dragons supporter, I have regularly felt like grabbing a few of the players by the scruff and delivering a hearty blow across the chops.

But lets talk about the 'clip', or was it a slap? Some have called it a tap. Having seen the footage several times, it looked more like a 'pay attention to me'. Did Barrett deserve it? Well, he wasn't paying attention. Its now quite evident what Brown thinks of players who glaze over when he is issuing instructions.

I'm referring to an incident which occurred during last Sundays St George v Manly match. It was 12-all but Saints were lucky to be within cooee of their opponents. They were not adhering to the game plan and were playing woefully. Errors were mounting and quite frankly, the crowd was getting agitated with the team's performance. Brown must have been agitated as well. The frustration showed when he raced to the sideline calling over Barrett, Lance Thompson and halfback Brett Firman. Brown became extremely animated as he read the riot-act to this disinterested trio. At one point, he shoved his forefinger into the chests of Thompson and Firman but when he turned to Barrett, the finger turned into a hand and Brown administered a clip across the cheek. Still wasn't convinced that they were listening, Brown grabbed the jerseys of Thompson and Barrett and literally dragged them back into line before delivering one final burst of commands.

All the while, the crowd cheered Brown on. The dressing-down they were getting from the coach didn't look pretty but given the circumstances, it didn't look out of place either.

Its history now that the tirade of abuse didn't work and Saints let in five unanswered tries to be embarrassed 38-12 in front of an angry home crowd.

Brown and Barrett sorted out their differences immediately after the match and did so in a mature manner. Brown explained the pressure got the better of him and stressed that although he was within his rights to rev players up verbally; slapping the captain on the sideline was inappropriate and would never happen again. Brown privately and publicly apologised for striking Barrett who accepted the apology without question. The matter was dealt with quickly and that should have been the end of it.

After the match, the talk was initially about the form turnaround of Manly and the on-field ineptitude of the Dragons. But interest soon directed itself back towards the 'slap' and this seemed to draw attention away from the more pressing issues of what happened on the field - the spotlight turned onto the coach, not the players.

Officialdom decided to get involved and the Dragons were 'slapped' with a $5000 fine because according to NRL boss David Gallop, Brown was 'sending the wrong message' - whatever that means. I find it a little ironic that a thump in the head has been virtually endorsed by the NRL judiciary as being part of the game but a minor tap across the cheek is considered unacceptable - such is the power of indignation.

With the media crawling all over it, Barrett began to change his tune. He felt compelled to mention that what Brown did was wrong. Perhaps Barrett was merely sticking up for himself. Afterall, the imagery of having one's face slapped can bruise the even the most forgiving of egos. But in retrospect, a simple 'no comment' or even a joking quip would have been better. Regardless of the intention, apportioning even the smallest amount of blame didn't seem like the smartest thing to do. Maybe Brown is right... maybe Barrett doesn't listen. Perhaps things do go in one ear and out the other.

The fact is, a number of reputations came to grief last Sunday. In my opinion, the indignity suffered from a clip across the ear is nothing compared to the indignity of throwing away possession or refusing to tackle.

In the end, Nathan Brown who played with so much passion for St George, decided to bear the brunt of criticism. The team played terribly and they didn't stick to his game plan. But apparently, a moment of indiscretion on the coach's part absolves the players and in particular, the team captain from any blame.

*750 words*
 

Anonymous

Juniors
Messages
46
F7s Round 3, 2003:

How good is this?
2003return.jpg


In the end, the scoreboard said 28-12 and the StGeorge Illawarra Dragons were never going to lose against a disorganised rabble like the Sharks. But as great as any victory is, it was the lead-up to the actual match day experience that blew us away. Afterall, we're back at Kogarah Jubilee Oval and that's what it's all about.

The battle for Kogarah has been long and arduous. In 1999, Saints were booted out of their spiritual home. We were told the ground didn't meet the NRL criteria. Truth is, the plan was to move the Dragons to Wollongong fulltime. This contradicted the promised 50/50 split between the two districts. The notion that no games would be played in StGeorge was considered unacceptable by the hardy few who refused to give up.

To understand this passion for 'home', we have to first appreciate that Jubilee has been the home ground of St George for 50 years. Between 1950-1999, Saints enjoyed a 70% success rate at Kogarah. They had a winning streak there which lasted a mind-staggering 13 years.

This passion endured when in 1999, Saints played what was to be their 'farewell' match at Kogarah. Some supporters refused to leave. One fan sat on the pitch only to be threatened with eviction by security. It took player, Lance Thompson and another supporter to encourage the fan to finally depart. He said his goodbyes and like many others, never expected to see Saints playing there again. But like most fans, he never really gave up.

Almost immediately, supporters group R2K began the charge back to Kogarah. They had running battles with the club. With little resources to speak of, R2K spearheaded a campaign which eventually saw Councils, the Dragons Football club and finally, the StGeorge Leagues Club seeing the light. There were countless people who were instrumental in getting the Dragons back to StGeorge, in particular, Lachlan McLean from R2K and Robert Stone from the Football Club. They sometimes opposed each other but there's no doubt that both worked long hours with one aim in mind#8230; to get back to Kogarah.

The 'return' match on May 4th 2003 was greeted with the same passion that had existed before. The impending gloom of rain didn't dampen the spirit as fans showed up in force with a sellout crowd of over 17,000. We waited in the drizzle for the gates to open and once in, we started to soak up the atmosphere. The rain, as if fearful of our presence, was kept at bay.

The curtain-raiser saw Saints score first and go on to victory. Despite the weather, the mood was raised even higher. The whole area was enveloped in storm clouds and occasional downpours. But just before the main fixture, the clouds parted and this imperfect bowl that is Kogarah Jubilee Oval was flooded with a bright beam of light.

At this point, the 15 'Legends' were announced. Great players from Matt McCoy to Mark Coyne made their way onto the pitch. Norm Provan stood tall and was surrounded by Billy Smith, Graeme Langlands, Johnny Raper, and Reg Gasnier to name but a few.

I was fortunate to be sitting next to Tony#8230; the very same supporter who was almost forcibly removed when saying his goodbyes in 1999. He just kept saying, "How good is this#8230; how good is this?" - and the main match hadn't even started.

Finally, first grade kicked-off. With the wind at their backs, Saints went on a rampage, dismantling their opponents.

With the match in the bag, I decided to check out the new concrete 'slab' that had been laid only days before. As I hit the steps, I saw Johnny King. Now inducted as a Dragons 'Legend', King scored the first try I ever saw when my father took me to see Saints in the 1960s. I was only a small boy but I remember the try like it was yesterday.

Seeing my boyhood hero, I thought to go and say "g'day" - it was afterall, that sort of day. But as I approached, I saw that Johnny King was looking misty-eyed over the Oval. He was a million miles away. I decided instead to leave him to his thoughts.

I returned to my possie and settled in for the second half. A short time later, a huge rainbow appeared on the horizon. From where I was sitting, it formed a perfect arch over Jubilee. I heard myself saying, "How good is this?"

kogarah_rainbow.jpg
 

chileman

Coach
Messages
10,523
Good old Henson Park, I haven't been there since I was a kid. Here's an oldie of the bluebags vs souths depicted by Tooths!
tooths4.jpg
 

groggo

Juniors
Messages
903
:D i spent many sunday afternoons at that ground watching the jets i can even remeber having a christmas party on the ground one year and carols by candle light also hehehe burn me hands on the candles too BUGGER
 

Slugs

Guest
Messages
876
groggo said:
:D i spent many sunday afternoons at that ground watching the jets i can even remeber having a christmas party on the ground one year and carols by candle light also hehehe burn me hands on the candles too BUGGER

Hey Groggo

I am offended by that signature :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
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