Norths 1980 premiership .....

[mud n blood]

1980 .... all copyright to me, lads !!!! Let's chat away .........

<u>Table</u>
Valleys 32 (452-261)
Souths 31 (434-257)
Brothers 28 (342-326)
Norths 26 (380-314)

Redcliffe 23 (429-368)
Easts 12 (404-432)
Wynnum-Manly 9 (328-523)
Wests 7 (209-497)

K/O semi - Norths 24 d Brothers 17
Major semi - Souths 22 d Valleys 14
Preliminary Semi - Norths 15 d Valleys 14
Grand Final - Norths 17 d Souths 15
Norths 17 (Henrick, Dunn, Dutton tries ; Warnock 4 goals)
Souths 15 (Meninga, Moroko, Johnstone tries ; Meninga 3 goals)
Halftime- 7 all Penalties- Souths 13-6 Scrums- Norths 12-10
Attendance- approx. 32,000 Referee - Eddie Ward
**nb - Souths defeated Norths during the year 19-7, 24-7 and 14-9**
Man-of-the-match - Joe Kilroy (Norths)

Norths - 1.Kilroy 2.Bird 3.Dunn 4.Dutton 5.Warnock 6.Murray(c) 7.Henrick 8.Draper 9.Graham 10.Walker 11.Dews 12.Conescu 13.Bernardin coach-Lowe

Souths - 1.Glynn 2.Thompson 3.Meninga 4.Astill(c) 5.Gramm 6.Brackin 7.Sully 8.Phelan 9.Moroko 10.Lumby 11.Naylor 12.Johnstone 13.Brown coach-Bennett

<u>Lower grade grand finals</u>
Reserve grade - Souths 20 d Brothers 13
3rd Grade - Souths 20 d Norths 6

<u>Match report .....</u>

<span><span> </span>The Northern Suburbs Devils beat the odds to down Souths 17-15 in the grand final at Lang Park. As rank outsiders, having been beaten by Souths each time the teams met throughout the season, Norths came from fourth position on the table to defeat Brothers and Valleys in a torrid semi-final series to earn the right to challenge the Magpies for the premiership crown.</span> <span></span><span><span> </span>Having won both of the lower grade grand finals, Souths were striving to repeat their 1945 record of a premiership “clean-sweep”.</span> <span></span><span><span> </span>“Man-of-the-match” and the man who single-handedly turned the tide Norths way immediately after half-time was fullback Joe Kilroy, who savaged the Souths defence with some demoralising bursts.</span> <span></span><span><span> </span>The most telling burst came one minute into the second half when Kilroy fielded a clearing kick from Souths centre Mal Meninga. With the scores tied at half-time 7-7, Kilroy started a 50 metre run in which he beat five defenders and left himself with the chance to set up giant centre Brian Dunn. Dunn took the perfectly timed pass and raced another 25 metres to dive over for a magnificent try. Gary Warnock converted and Norths led 12-7.</span> <span></span><span><span> </span>However, a try by the Devils in the 23rd minute was even more spectacular because it involved so many players before half Ross Henrick crossed for the three-pointer. Norths threw the ball around in sensational fashion to break up the Souths defensive pattern with Dunn bustling his way through the line.</span> <span></span><span><span> </span>Souths struck back with a brute strength try to Meninga just three minutes before half-time. Meninga converted his own try to level the scores at 7-7. Although the Magpies added further tries by George Moroko and hooker Billy Johnstone in the 55th and 72nd minutes respectively, they still found themselves chasing the Devils.</span> <span></span><span><span> </span>The match finished at three tries apiece, but 4 goals by Warnock to Meninga’s three proved the difference. Norths were deserved winners as they played the better football on the day even though referee Eddie Ward had penalised them 13-6. Ward handled the match well, with his toughest assignment coming early in the match when both sides were involved in a vicious all-in-brawl in front of the Frank Burke stand which threatened to get totally out of control. The result was an en-masse caution from Eddie Ward.</span> <span></span><span><span> </span>The win was nothing short of a triumph for Norths kiwi coach Graham Lowe who arrived from Auckland the previous year to take over a club most people tipped to win the wooden-spoon. Norths had finished last in 1978, then fifth the following year under Lowe’s astute coaching.</span> <span></span><span><span> </span>The Devils had shown too much combination in attack and individual brilliance on the day for a star-studded Souths outfit.</span>

 

[ozbash]

i got highlights of that game on a video i just bought, its all about graham lowe and his early days coaching.
i think he really enjoyed his time up your way mud.

 

[mud n blood]

It definitely goes down as one of the most memorable, for anumber of reasons. I remember Lowe saying afterwards something to the effect of "This is my crowning glory". Funny to think the enormity of the comment then, to the profile of the game and all the shit these days.

How much highlights are therein time ? Are they worth copying ? Most importantly, is "THAT" try on there ?

 

[ozbash]

will have a look tomorrow and mail you..

 

[pepe]

great post mud,i remember travelling up to the match from caloundraas a 14 year old with my mate, would you believe our english teacher who happened to be a she shouted us to the game,i think she was trying to get on our good side which she successfully did not that we were bad kids or anything!!!

looking at the sides again norths had a damm good line-up with murray and hendrick in the halves,outside of them were smokin joe and dunn who were'nt bad players,mark graham was a champion who soon departed to norths in sydney and killed them,the turtle conescu played for australia who was no slouch.

i was a big fan of astill from souths,it's a shame he did'nt go to play in sydney to prove just how good he was,then again the brl comp was very healthy at that stage,the media coverage was excellent,remember sportsworld on sundays would devote an hour to just the brissie comp,unheard of these days of course.

valleys had some great sides in that era,always a tough nut to crack,it's funny how everyone hated the diehards,dad used to work with jimmy lewis who you may know mud,what a shock it was when wally departed to the seagulls but thats for another discussion.

cheers pepe

 

[mud n blood]

I sat in the outer that day (like 27 of my 30 GF's) .... sh!t it was hot, from memory .... in line with halfway at the top of the open terraces in front of the McAuliffe stand. we were totally surrounded by Souths supporters waving black and white harlequin flags.

All day I had to listen to "Maaaaaaaaaaaag - piiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiies" over and over again. It was strange (and this is true!), my pop turned to me at halftime and said "Norfs'll win this today. Watch this Kilroy fella go in the second 'arf" ..... amazing! Sometimes I wonder if he had ESP.

I also remember between the reserve and first grade games, a nice little set-to in the outer involving about 5 or 6 blokes supporting both sides, an the usual huge cloud of dust rising up near the old scoreboard. The match "softening up" period was good, but the stink the third-graders put on was one of the best ever !!!

I can also remember the groan and boo's when Eddie Ward walked out. I always thought it funny as a kid, to boo the ref. I used to wonder why ....

 

[Ramit54]

George Moroko the boy from Concord United. His brother Nick came to Ingham to Captain/ Coach the Herbert River side in the Foley Shield, then moved to Townsville to Captain/ Coach Centrals. They were tough buggers.

 

[imported_The One]

That's one gf I'd love to see. In fact, I just love to see any BRL game (let alone grand final) that any one happens to own on video.

I've heard and seen Joe Kilroy's great run a few times.

 

[mud n blood]

One of the best, my friend.

Other grand final final "runs" of note up there with it are (off the top of my head)
- Alan Currie's sideline ballet in 1978 to win it for the Tige's over Valleys
- The unbelievable team effort in 1982 when Terry Butler scored in the corner
- Troy Evans's try for Norfs in '90 after Pat Cleary's sprint
- Brett Tengdahl's try in '83 over 70 metres
- Clinton Mohr in 1987 .... shit, was he quick !
Johnny Callus in '77 was a 'speccy', but it was more the great leadup by Morris, Holben and co that laid the foundations for this one.
- I've seen an old reel-to-reel try by Mick Bierne to win the 1957 final for Valleys. No sound, but does he leave Brothers defenders grasping at air !!!

 

[pepe]

some great names you mentioned there mud,alan currie was a top player as was the whole easts backline in the late 70's,backlines in those days used to stand very deep unlike the flat style of today.

remember the sunday night ''match of the day''replay around dinner time,was it the abc who did the coverage in those days,you mentioned players with a bit of toe,well i'll gofor the flyer from redcliffe by the name of gardiner,he was an australian beach sprint champion,dolphin matt would have loved the tussles between easts and redcliffe in that era.

i'm getting restless for some copies of the brl grand finals from 76-85,i may be showing my bias here but norths v souths would have been the best,the build up in grand final week was huge backin the good old days.

cheers pepe

 

[imported_The One]

...And I'm sure I would have loved it whenever the Dolphins had beaten the Tiger turds like I do today.

 

[mud n blood]

It's funny .... here's how I generalise clashes in the 70's .... obviously when the sides were close in ability.

Norths v Valleys ..... it was always on !!! As was Norths v Brothers in the early-70's.
Valleys v Easts ..... Tough forward clashes. Genuinely closely matched and became bitter rivals.
Easts v Redcliffe or Wests ..... usually glamour sides who threw the ball around willingly. Very entertaining footy for fans and players alike.
Wynnum-Manly v Norths or Easts .... tough-as-teak and refs usually had their work cut out for them keeping it calm.
Wests v Souths ....what can I say ? For some reason these two got to hate each others guts there for a while. The infamous "boots-n-all" effort in 1970 typified the feel.
Brothers v Norths .... a special rivalry that I think stemmed from the hatred of the 60's.

It was also funny that even when Easts weren't travelling well, they often had the measure of Wests and Redcliffe who supposedly were much classier.

 

[Zulu&Yogi]

Hey Mud, you got the actual date of that wonderful G.F?

I'm trying to track down the RLW after the game was played.

cheers.

 

[CPWigan0]

I have the 1980 GF on DVD, Will exchange for the right offer