Moses Suli

[Dragon David]

"Butler came through the ranks at St George Dragons (S.G. Ball Cup and Jersey Flegg Cup) and was graded in 1976 and played most of the year in the Under 23's.

He won a premiership with St George Dragons in his debut first grade year in 1977 after replacing Tony Graham in the starting line up. He played wing in the 1977 drawn Grand Final and the 1977 Grand Final replay and had a marvelous year under the coaching of Harry Bath.

He played 1978, and was a reserve back in the 1979 Grand Final taking the field late in the match to replace the injured Michael Sorridimi. He retired after the match."

I know that this is a Moses Suli thread and much of the recent posts relate to Bath's Babes and has been included in this thread to show that players (some being just club players) can be coached to reach grand final status. Players that have been brought through the Dragons system and want to play for the Dragons. I don't know if Suli is one of the guys who will have his heart in playing for us.

 

[boardlumps62]

I know that this is a Moses Suli thread and much of the recent posts relate to Bath's Babes and has been included in this thread to show that players (some being just club players) can be coached to reach grand final status. Players that have been brought through the Dragons system and want to play for the Dragons. I don't know if Suli is one of the guys who will have his heart in playing for us.

Good to see Moses Suli thread back on track. Of course any player can win a GF if he is in the right team. What you need is a team of talented goers but you need a good coach. Staying on track we haven't got Suli yet when we do I rejoice then he needs to be worked on. Why would he come here anyway must know something or someone. There back on track easy

 

[denis preston]

Good to see Moses Suli thread back on track. Of course any player can win a GF if he is in the right team. What you need is a team of talented goers but you need a good coach. Staying on track we haven't got Suli yet when we do I rejoice then he needs to be worked on. Why would he come here anyway must know something or someone. There back on track easy

OK , good post.Without intending to be too insulting & of the belief that any player to play one game of NRL is to be absolutely respected, who in your mind are some players very lucky to be premiership winners ? We all hear of great players never to win a comp but not the opposite. Nominations ?

 

[Coffs dragon]

OK , good post.Without intending to be too insulting & of the belief that any player to play one game of NRL is to be absolutely respected, who in your mind are some players very lucky to be premiership winners ? We all hear of great players never to win a comp but not the opposite. Nominations ?

Hey Denis, surely John Rheinberger would be top of the list. Only played 2 games for the Roosters in 1975 and one was that friggin Grand Final thrashing of our mighty club. I was there at the SCG and it was a sad day to witness my RL hero (Changa) struggle on one leg.

 

[Como Connection]

Hey Denis, surely John Rheinberger would be top of the list. Only played 2 games for the Roosters in 1975 and one was that friggin Grand Final thrashing of our mighty club. I was there at the SCG and it was a sad day to witness my RL hero (Changa) struggle on one leg.

I was the hill on front of the Scoreboard.
Agree, sad day.
CC

 

[Coffs dragon]

I was the hill on front of the Scoreboard.
Agree, sad day.
CC

I was in the same spot Como and was a sad sad day indeed. I walked out with about 15 mins to go & grown men were crying, I was a young kid so it was acceptable!

 

[denis preston]

Hey Denis, surely John Rheinberger would be top of the list. Only played 2 games for the Roosters in 1975 and one was that friggin Grand Final thrashing of our mighty club. I was there at the SCG and it was a sad day to witness my RL hero (Changa) struggle on one leg.

Great get ! He was a better cricketer ( for Waverley ) than footballer ! I think you may find it was his ONLY first grade game .

On the Australian selections i think Kevin Goldspink being selected instead of Bob McCarthy for the 1967 kangaroo tour was the biggest stitch up. It was the first year of 4 tackle football and the small minded selectors didn't like the concept of a second rower standing out near the centres , even though Bob was great at it and recreating the role of a forward under limited tackle football. our Barry Beath played a similar game. Goldspink never represented again. Others like Wayne Bennett,Ross Strudwick, John grant were also strange selections but they did it under the token Queenslander rule.

 

[2010]

Having had the privilege of seeing Bath’s Babes going around I think some of those players from that era would spend more time at the judiciary then on the field, the game now is not what it was then, and I miss the old games

 

[Dragon David]

Having had the privilege of seeing Bath’s Babes going around I think some of those players from that era would spend more time at the judiciary then on the field, the game now is not what it was then, and I miss the old games

Those were the days as the saying goes!

 

[jak]

Having had the privilege of seeing Bath’s Babes going around I think some of those players from that era would spend more time at the judiciary then on the field, the game now is not what it was then, and I miss the old games

you mean back when men played the game.

 

[Dragonslayer]

Having had the privilege of seeing Bath’s Babes going around I think some of those players from that era would spend more time at the judiciary then on the field, the game now is not what it was then, and I miss the old games

To me thats the biggest issue we have, that is, having to refer back to the good old days just to have some memory. Untortunately, the idiology of Baths Babes wouldnt cut it in todays game. Commercialism, rules and $$$ have basically put an end to that.
Sad that our greatest memories are so focused on the distant past, not the recent. I wonder why?

 

[hazzbeen]

To me thats the biggest issue we have, that is, having to refer back to the good old days just to have some memory. Untortunately, the idiology of Baths Babes wouldnt cut it in todays game. Commercialism, rules and $$$ have basically put an end to that.
Sad that our greatest memories are so focused on the distant past, not the recent. I wonder why?

Definitely loved the softening up period in games , today is just push and shove mouthing off ... Loved the whack that D . Walker copped for mouthing off .....

 

[redandwhite4evr]

Definitely loved the softening up period in games , today is just push and shove mouthing off ... Loved the whack that D . Walker copped for mouthing off .....

I keep hearing that the successful St George teams of yesteryear would have spent a lot of time at the judiciary today. I'm not so sure- yes Poppa Clay would have have to cut out his spear tackles but he wasn't a head hunter or dirty player. I'm probably older than most of the posters on this forum and as a teenager, I went to a lot of the Dragons 60s games- call me one eyed and biased if you like, but my recollection of the golden era St George teams- particularly those containing Norm Provan -were that they were hard but fair.
I'm pretty sure that if we checked the judiciary records of the late 50s to the mid 60s, the teams with the worst records would have been the Dragons arch enemies and biggest rivals Western Suburbs - Noel Kelly wasn't nicknamed Ned for nothing- Peter Dimond was notorious, among many incidents, for flattening a priest (John Cootes) Mark Patch, Kel O'Shea, Dennis Meaney- all backroom brawler types. Souths with Sattler, O'Neill, Piggins and co would have taken over the dirtiest team mantle in the late 60s to early 70s after Wests went into decline.

 

[Stan Gorton 2511]

I keep hearing that the successful St George teams of yesteryear would have spent a lot of time at the judiciary today. I'm not so sure- yes Poppa Clay would have have to cut out his spear tackles but he wasn't a head hunter or dirty player. I'm probably older than most of the posters on this forum and as a teenager, I went to a lot of the Dragons 60s games- call me one eyed and biased if you like, but my recollection of the golden era St George teams- particularly those containing Norm Provan -were that they were hard but fair.
I'm pretty sure that if we checked the judiciary records of the late 50s to the mid 60s, the teams with the worst records would have been the Dragons arch enemies and biggest rivals Western Suburbs - Noel Kelly wasn't nicknamed Ned for nothing- Peter Dimond was notorious, among many incidents, for flattening a priest (John Cootes) Mark Patch, Kel O'Shea, Dennis Meaney- all backroom brawler types. Souths with Sattler, O'Neill, Piggins and co would have taken over the dirtiest team mantle in the late 60s to early 70s after Wests went into decline.

True re Souths I remember as a boy seeing Lurch O'Neill marched at the SCG for kicking Barry Beath in the head once of the worst things I ever saw lol

 

[redandwhite4evr]

True re Souths I remember as a boy seeing Lurch O'Neill marched at the SCG for kicking Barry Beath in the head once of the worst things I ever saw lol

Hullo Stan-still using the Brylcreem?- you scored one of my all time favourite tries at the SCG- an intercept when Souths were attacking down inside our 25 at the Paddington end- what followed was essentially an 80m match race between you and Mike Cleary but he couldn't get to you and you dotted down at the Randwick end.

One of the worst things I heard of- but didn't see- was when a boom 17yo St George forward (Kevin someone) was thrown into the St George front row against a full strength Souths in the late 60s or early 70s when Souths were at their peak. He was bashed from pillar to post in the scrums and he never played first grade footy again and disappeared without a trace.

 

[Stan Gorton 2511]

Hullo Stan-still using the Brylcreem?- you scored one of my all time favourite tries at the SCG- an intercept when Souths were attacking down inside our 25 at the Paddington end- what followed was essentially an 80m match race between you and Mike Cleary but he couldn't get to you and you dotted down at the Randwick end.

One of the worst things I heard of- but didn't see- was when a boom 17yo St George forward (Kevin someone) was thrown into the St George front row against a full strength Souths in the late 60s or early 70s when Souths were at their peak. He was bashed from pillar to post in the scrums and he never played first grade footy again and disappeared without a trace.

Hey mate no got rid of the bylcream in the 80's lol
That player was Kevin Gibson but he did come back and played a season in 1976 with us but played mainly reserve grade

 

[denis preston]

Hullo Stan-still using the Brylcreem?- you scored one of my all time favourite tries at the SCG- an intercept when Souths were attacking down inside our 25 at the Paddington end- what followed was essentially an 80m match race between you and Mike Cleary but he couldn't get to you and you dotted down at the Randwick end.

One of the worst things I heard of- but didn't see- was when a boom 17yo St George forward (Kevin someone) was thrown into the St George front row against a full strength Souths in the late 60s or early 70s when Souths were at their peak. He was bashed from pillar to post in the scrums and he never played first grade footy again and disappeared without a trace.

Yes, Kevin Gibson had a blinder in a losing Final game and appeared on the front page of the Mirror because he was a 17 year old front rower. I guess all the hype got to him as in a pre season game the next season we played souths in a night game. Kevin obviously took some real bad advice from someone and decided to show Sattler, Oneill who was boss. They pulverized him and he basically wasn't seen again.He may have also taken some lifestyle choices that didn't help his football but in those days he wouldn't have had a monetary incentive to really put in so i don't really know if he was ever up to it or his body just grew too big for elite football.

 

[denis preston]

Hey mate no got rid of the bylcream in the 80's lol
That player was Kevin Gibson but he did come back and played a season in 1976 with us but played mainly reserve grade

Great to talk to you from the grave Stan ! I remember one day at Jubilee you scored two 80 meter tries when Chang played centre ( i was playing fullback ! ) and set you up beautifully . Boy you could run and those were the days when wingers took the last half hour off training as it was related to defense !

 

[Stan Gorton 2511]

Great to talk to you from the grave Stan ! I remember one day at Jubilee you scored two 80 meter tries when Chang played centre ( i was playing fullback ! ) and set you up beautifully . Boy you could run and those were the days when wingers took the last half hour off training as it was related to defense !

Hey Denis, last time I saw you was when you played fullback in the 71 Reserve Grade GF you were a good player shame you had Chang ahead of you. We had had some good backup number ones in those days Keith Hemsworth was another and then we bought Lord Ted as well

 

[redandwhite4evr]

Great to talk to you from the grave Stan ! I remember one day at Jubilee you scored two 80 meter tries when Chang played centre ( i was playing fullback ! ) and set you up beautifully . Boy you could run and those were the days when wingers took the last half hour off training as it was related to defense !

So many good full backs at one club-agree with Stan that you were unlucky to be behind the freakish Chang- however, you were one of the reasons why I always arrived at Jubilee at midday for the lower grade games. Another was an earlier era utility player- the brilliant Johnny Stathers - who would have played a lot more first grade but for Poppa and injury.