Jessica Halloran
June 5, 2007
http://www.smh.com.au/news/news/childhood-memory-of-class-war-on-the-ball/2007/06/04/1180809427077.html
AS A 10-year-old, Paul Oliver remembers clutching his rosary beads and listening to the violent clashes of Wests and Manly rugby league teams on the radio. He recalls jaws being broken and ambulances screaming away from the football field during that violent season of 1978.
Mostly he remembers the hate between the "Fibros" and "Silvertails". But were all his western suburbs childhood memories true?
To check his recollections, Oliver decided to interview those at the centre of rugby league's class war. The result of his research is
The Fibros and Silvertails, which has been the fastest-selling film at the Sydney Film Festival. Due to popular demand, a second screening has been scheduled.
The former Wests footballer Tommy Raudonikis was at the centre of the biff and blood on the field. He said he knew why people were flocking to the film today.
"It's because people love a battler," Raudonikis said. "People love battling teams. The Silvertails, they lived by the seaside listened to the surf coming in, and we, the Fibros, listened to heavy machinery. That's what people liked about the western suburbs. I'm proud of that era."
Oliver, who narrates the documentary, said the violence, tribalism and heartbreak of that time come through in the words of the former footballers and coaches. The Magpies fan spoke to a number of players, including the former Wests coach Roy Masters and the Manly captain Max Krilich.
"Even after all this time the division is still there," Oliver said.
"I really wanted to test my childhood memories. It seemed to be an intense and controversial time, and I just wanted to go back to speak to those at the centre of it and rake through that time."
In the film the Wests players talk of the hate they felt for Manly. Bruce Gibbs, of the Wests, recalled: "I'm not a hateful person but I actually hated the guts of them. All of us did. You went out to physically maim them."
In the documentary Masters explains why he encouraged the clashes. "I wasn't asking people to go out and physically murder and maim," he said. "It was hard, physical violence - but it was honest violence."
Oliver said he got great satisfaction from seeing his memories were true and documenting that time. "I hope it gives something back to people. Going back over it gave something back to me."
