Remembering 'Changa': The prototype for the modern fullback
Graeme "Changa" Langlands traversed three eras and was a champion in every one of them.
In the days of unlimited tackles, fullbacks, other than his fellow Immortal Clive Churchill, were mainly defensive players and engaged in kicking duels.
Remembering 'Changa': Rugby league Immortal Graeme Langlands has died. Photo: Simon Alekna
They would return the ball with long-range kicks rather than run it, yet Changa, who also played centre and wing, had a devastating sidestep off both feet that mesmerised opponents.
In the brief era of the four-tackle rule, when attack from fullbacks was expected and they were additionally required to defuse notoriously difficult bombs, Langlands was already ahead of his time.
The six-tackle rule saw him further consolidate his place in the game's pantheon, the forerunner of the modern fullback, a position that today is the most important attacking position on the field.
He was also incredibly tough, with a high threshold of pain, and he expected the same from his teammates. When John "Dallas" Donnelly, a young prop from Gunnedah, played his first game for NSW, he complained to Chang at half time, saying: "I think I've corked my arm." A volley of abuse followed, mainly focused on the need for young forwards from the bush to become accustomed to a little pain. Dallas had broken his arm.
His ability to play with injury was to be the source of his most embarrassing moment when he was forced from the field while captain-coach of St George during the 1975 grand final against Easts.
It was widely reported that a needle to help deaden the pain of a groin injury hit the "wrong spot" but it's more likely the medication was a bad mix with whatever else he had taken to get him up for the game.
Looking back: Graeme 'Changa' Langlands played 45 Tests for Australia, including 15 as captain. Photo: SMH
It's unlikely there will ever be a rugby league back as versatile as Langlands. He was selected on a Kangaroo tour as a winger and frequently filled in as centre.
It is an axiom in coaching that one should never weaken a position to strengthen another. Yet when Langlands was moved to, say, wing to allow Canterbury's Les Johns to play in the No.1 jumper, the team became stronger.
His versatility cost him a place in rugby league's Team of the Century. While he was just below Churchill in the voting for fullback and a step below his St George teammate Reg Gasnier as a centre, he missed out on both starting positions and, like another versatile champion, Bob Fulton, ended up on the reserves bench.
Yet, in a list of the 10 players who polled most votes, Langlands and Fulton are placed very high.
So good was Changa's sidestep it confused his own teammates. Geoff Carr, a former winger with the Dragons, recalls complaining to then coach Jack Gibson how hard it was to adhere to the demand to follow Langlands.
Carr said: "Do you know how difficult it is to follow him and give him options? I just can't read him. He loses me."
Gibson, ever the pragmatist, said: "When he's got the ball, run 20 metres upfield, stay on one side of the field and he'll come to you."
"And he did," recalled Carr.
Just as every young fan wanted to be Benji Marshall after Wests Tigers won the 2005 grand final, Changa was those growing up following the Dragons in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Storm coach Craig Bellamy has always said Langlands was his idol. Changa's only weakness was his poor articulation. I recall him telling me that he became frustrated when trying to explain to players he coached how they had taken a wrong option in attack in a game.
Slow-motion video analysis came too late for him.
His curt language did not endear him to some. Frank Hyde, the legendary commentator, covered the match of the day for 2SM at the SCG when the Dragons were a regular fixture.
Frank was having a feud with Changa and regularly awarded the prize watch to other players in the St George team.
Finally, came the day Langlands outplayed everyone to the extent that Frank simply had to give him the Seiko.
As the highly respected Hyde rose from his sideline seat, moving to Langlands on the sideline, he declared: "My man of the match is Graeme Langlands." Changa's response was quintessential Langlands. "Stick it up your arse," he said.
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...-for-the-modern-fullback-20180121-h0lprg.html
Graeme "Changa" Langlands traversed three eras and was a champion in every one of them.
In the days of unlimited tackles, fullbacks, other than his fellow Immortal Clive Churchill, were mainly defensive players and engaged in kicking duels.
Remembering 'Changa': Rugby league Immortal Graeme Langlands has died. Photo: Simon Alekna
They would return the ball with long-range kicks rather than run it, yet Changa, who also played centre and wing, had a devastating sidestep off both feet that mesmerised opponents.
In the brief era of the four-tackle rule, when attack from fullbacks was expected and they were additionally required to defuse notoriously difficult bombs, Langlands was already ahead of his time.
The six-tackle rule saw him further consolidate his place in the game's pantheon, the forerunner of the modern fullback, a position that today is the most important attacking position on the field.
He was also incredibly tough, with a high threshold of pain, and he expected the same from his teammates. When John "Dallas" Donnelly, a young prop from Gunnedah, played his first game for NSW, he complained to Chang at half time, saying: "I think I've corked my arm." A volley of abuse followed, mainly focused on the need for young forwards from the bush to become accustomed to a little pain. Dallas had broken his arm.
His ability to play with injury was to be the source of his most embarrassing moment when he was forced from the field while captain-coach of St George during the 1975 grand final against Easts.
It was widely reported that a needle to help deaden the pain of a groin injury hit the "wrong spot" but it's more likely the medication was a bad mix with whatever else he had taken to get him up for the game.
Looking back: Graeme 'Changa' Langlands played 45 Tests for Australia, including 15 as captain. Photo: SMH
It's unlikely there will ever be a rugby league back as versatile as Langlands. He was selected on a Kangaroo tour as a winger and frequently filled in as centre.
It is an axiom in coaching that one should never weaken a position to strengthen another. Yet when Langlands was moved to, say, wing to allow Canterbury's Les Johns to play in the No.1 jumper, the team became stronger.
His versatility cost him a place in rugby league's Team of the Century. While he was just below Churchill in the voting for fullback and a step below his St George teammate Reg Gasnier as a centre, he missed out on both starting positions and, like another versatile champion, Bob Fulton, ended up on the reserves bench.
Yet, in a list of the 10 players who polled most votes, Langlands and Fulton are placed very high.
So good was Changa's sidestep it confused his own teammates. Geoff Carr, a former winger with the Dragons, recalls complaining to then coach Jack Gibson how hard it was to adhere to the demand to follow Langlands.
Carr said: "Do you know how difficult it is to follow him and give him options? I just can't read him. He loses me."
Gibson, ever the pragmatist, said: "When he's got the ball, run 20 metres upfield, stay on one side of the field and he'll come to you."
"And he did," recalled Carr.
Just as every young fan wanted to be Benji Marshall after Wests Tigers won the 2005 grand final, Changa was those growing up following the Dragons in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Storm coach Craig Bellamy has always said Langlands was his idol. Changa's only weakness was his poor articulation. I recall him telling me that he became frustrated when trying to explain to players he coached how they had taken a wrong option in attack in a game.
Slow-motion video analysis came too late for him.
His curt language did not endear him to some. Frank Hyde, the legendary commentator, covered the match of the day for 2SM at the SCG when the Dragons were a regular fixture.
Frank was having a feud with Changa and regularly awarded the prize watch to other players in the St George team.
Finally, came the day Langlands outplayed everyone to the extent that Frank simply had to give him the Seiko.
As the highly respected Hyde rose from his sideline seat, moving to Langlands on the sideline, he declared: "My man of the match is Graeme Langlands." Changa's response was quintessential Langlands. "Stick it up your arse," he said.
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...-for-the-modern-fullback-20180121-h0lprg.html
