Mark Shulman Dead at Age 70

[Illusion]

Another great player that showed size did no matter , R.I.P will be missed ......

 

[Dragon David]

R.I.P. Mark. Condolences and deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Mark.

Another one so soon after big Norm and Chook. So sad.

 

[Dragsters]

I watched Shulman when I was a kid. He didnt seem wasn't much taller than me, but was playing FG. My 9 yo head was swimming at the possibilities.

RIP St George legend.

He was my first favourite Saint. RIP

Same and same.

I loved him in '77 and was shattered when that thug Ray Higgs kneed him in the back and he missed the GF.

RIP CHAMPION...

 

[Gareth67]

Geeze , and to think I blamed Ray Price for the knees , turned out he was a nice guy after all !

 

[Willow]

Geeze , and to think I blamed Ray Price for the knees , turned out he was a nice guy after all !

Haha. No place for nice guys in those two grand finals.

I recall going to work the next Monday and telling a workmate about it, I was incensed and said that I hope Ray Higgs gets hit by a bus. My older, gentler and more mature workmate was shocked by my outrage. Looking back on it I don't blame him.

 

[jak]

harry baths little mate,RIP mark

 

[shiloh dc]

One of our best half backs in the past half century. RIP.

 

[getsmarty]

Sad news ...R.I.P and condolences to the Shulman Family

 

[Drain the Dragon]

Holy crap thats a shock - RIP
Way too young, condolences to the family

 

[Gareth67]

Haha. No place for nice guys in those two grand finals.

I recall going to work the next Monday and telling a workmate about it, I was incensed and said that I hope Ray Higgs gets hit by a bus. My older, gentler and more mature workmate was shocked by my outrage. Looking back on it I don't blame him.

Your right there Willow , the Dragons went after the Price with Rod Reddy his shadow giving it to him at every opportunity.

I recall Barry Beath throwing the ball at Ray Higgs and it hit him right on the back of the head . The dopey sod got rather upset by that - but I suppose that all’s fair in Love and War .

 

[TruSaint]

RIP.

Great player with a massive heart.

 

[Drakon]

Shocked and saddened to hear the news. He was tough like Toovey and played way above his weight.
I too was at both the Grand Final and GF replay.
Thanks for the memories Mark. Gone but not forgotten!

 

[Crush]

Very sad, I remember going to a BBQ at Marks place as a young bloke, we played footy in his backyard, great bloke.
R.I.P.

 

[Hard Yards]

The Parramatta club doctor said he had never seen so many head wounds that needed stiching during the game-77 GF replay. Rod Reddy was a wrecking ball, along with the rest actually the whole team dominated the eels from the opening whistle it was a sporting war of attrition for 80 minutes, with out regard for the welfare of the opposition, you could sense the red v were there for one thing only- to win.

 

[Willow]

Your right there Willow , the Dragons went after the Price with Rod Reddy his shadow giving it to him at every opportunity.

I recall Barry Beath throwing the ball at Ray Higgs and it hit him fair in the face . The dopey sod got rather upset by that - but I suppose that all’s fair in Love and War .

In the very early version of these forums, we had two members who played in both those grand finals. One from St George and one from Parramatta. They both worked at the same Club and found the discussions here to be an enjoyable distraction during their night shifts. A couple of us worked out who they were (from their posts) so I started asking for inside info about the 77 grand finals. The Parramatta ex-player took up the challenge and said to me, "Willow, they ate us alive!" I didn't get it at first and asked for clarification, he just repeated it, "It's what I told you... they ate us alive!"
I then got it. lol.

 

[Gareth67]

In the very early version of these forums, we had two members who played in both those grand finals. One from St George and one from Parramatta. They both worked at the same Club and found the discussions here to be an enjoyable distraction during their night shifts. A couple of us worked out who they were (from their posts) so I started asking for inside info about the 77 grand finals. The Parramatta ex-player took up the challenge and said to me, "Willow, they ate us alive!" I didn't get it at first and asked for clarification, he just repeated it, "It's what I told you... they ate us alive!"
I then got it. lol.

I do remember reading some Parramatta player/s saying something about that in the next days paper .

Of course I really don’t believe it as our boys were all Saints - unless that chain smoking walking advertisement for B&H Harry Bath told them to sink their teeth into the task at hand ?

However it is always pleasing to listen to the thoughts of ex-players , regardless of whom they had played for . Apparently we have 1or 2 currently on our forum ?

 

[RedVee]

This is a bit of a shock. Way too young. Some years ago Mark Shulman actually phoned me to correct something on the Jubilee Avenue website. We had a great chat and a few additions were added to his profile (below) as a result. A true gentleman. I asked him about the knees in the back during the first '77 grand final, but he laughed it as just one of those things that can happen on the field.

I remember seeing it a bit differently at the time. Ray Higgs dropped his knees into Shulman, the smallest guy on the field (some say it was Ray Price but it was definitely Higgs). There was certainly a lot of anger amongst Saints fans over the following week. Harry Bath tapped into this brilliantly when he brought Bantam on the field, in full kit, and sat him down on the reserve bench. The fans loved it. It set up what was to be a great day.

Mark Shulman (c)
'Bantam'

St George, 1971-78
56 games (includes 5 repl.)
8t (24pts)

Halfback.
St George junior (Arncliffe Scots).
At 5' 2" (157cm) and 9st 4 lb (59 kgs), Shulman was one of the smallest men to play the game.
Graded in 1970, Shulman debuted in first grade in 1971. His career stalled briefly after breaking his leg in 1973. He had a plate inserted but made a comeback in 1974.
He played in the historic 1977 drawn grand final but suffered a back injury after receiving knees in the back courtesy of Parramatta forward Ray Higgs.
Shulman watched from the sidelines as Saints won the Grand Final replay 22-0.
In 1978, Shulman was named captain, taking over from Steve Edge. In the same year, a neck injury forced Shulman's retirement (Craig Young taking over as captain).
In all, Shulman played 170 games for St George - some 55 to 60 in first grade (including Amco Cup).
Shulman's nickname, 'Bantam' was coined by team mate Billy Smith and stuck throughout most of his career. Another nickname of 'Mighty Atom' was only used in the media early in his career and rarely used.
A favourite of supporters during the successful 70s era, Shulman went on to coach in the lower grades before being elected to the Saints' board in 1984. He later moved to Brisbane.

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I thought it was Higgs, but Reddy in the replay convinced me it had to be Price.

RIP Mark Shulman

 

[RedVee]

View attachment 58001

View attachment 58002
(Credit: Fairfax Media)

Is that Aposai ? Or Inosai?

 

[Trifili13]

I was at the 40 year reunion of the 77 GF and a story was told about Harry Bath taking Rocket and Shulman to the golf course out the back of the leagues club (from memory they said on the morning of the GF) for Rocket to run at Shulman to see if he could stand up to the tackling required and visa versa. Rocket went easy on him and Harry being the old fox realised what was going on and told Rocket to have a real go. Alas we know that Shulman did not make it to the big dance on the day.

But it was great to see him walk out and sit in front of the bench. He could have been mistaken for a ball boy as I am sure they were bigger than him.

RIP Mark.

 

[greg789]

What a great player . I toured Papua New Guinea in 1967 with NSW schoolboys , Mark was halfback and everytime he touched the ball something positive happened in every game. You could tell he was going to make it. Quite a schholboys side , with a young Russell Fairfax at fullback , another one you could ell was going to make it.