THE RED V NOSTALGIA THREAD

[justadragon]

Why was he banned?

He had quite an aggressive nature RVH

 

[jeffdragon]

Remember skull in the sheridan stand at scg every Saturday we were playing what an atmosphere and experience

After the game in the late 80s on Carlton station most of the young kids would listen to him ranting about Eddie Fraud and Graham Annusley as he used to call them.
Also Greg Mccallum.
He would say he'd suplex them off the top turn buckle as le loved wrestling and would commentate on wrestling.at clubs that hold events in Sydney.

 

[Number of the Beath]

Dragon Slayers??
When I first started following the Red V, wondered why are they were called the Dragons when the club insignia showed the Knight St George slaying the Dragon beast. Discovering the original nick name after all these years has now answered my question...

I'd love to see us revive the old badge. It adorned my first jerseys (#5 in honour of Geoff Carr for some reason and #8 for Rocket) and I still buy them off eBay and stitch them onto beanies and stuff cos I prefer that to the modern merchandising.

 

[Trifili13]

Arrived 1 Friday night late at Jubilee with a mate who follows the Rooster's for a Dragon's vs Warrior's game and Greg Alexander was playing for Warrior's. We decided to watch the game from the outside with Skull. As an example of the type of person Skull was I still remember him screaming to Alexander that he should also have been in the car that his brother was in and killed.

 

[Dragon David]

Arrived 1 Friday night late at Jubilee with a mate who follows the Rooster's for a Dragon's vs Warrior's game and Greg Alexander was playing for Warrior's. We decided to watch the game from the outside with Skull. As an example of the type of person Skull was I still remember him screaming to Alexander that he should also have been in the car that his brother was in and killed.

It's no wonder that Alexander dislikes us if he had heard what was yelled out by the Skull. I would have been really upset over that. That would have been well and truly beyond a joke.

 

[Number of the Beath]

It's no wonder that Alexander dislikes us if he had heard what was yelled out by the Skull. I would have been really upset over that. That would have been well and truly beyond a joke.

Well, that and Steve Linnane trying to scratch his eyes out...

 

[Old Timer]

It's no wonder that Alexander dislikes us if he had heard what was yelled out by the Skull. I would have been really upset over that. That would have been well and truly beyond a joke.

Not too mention Steve Linnane testing his eyes to see (sorry for the pun) if had glaucoma.

Skull was a complete nutter he once ran against Gough in the seat of Werriwa and his platform was he would burn babies with any abnormalities.

 

[blue bags]

Before the start of the 1921 season, trial matches were played at Sans Souci and training took place at the Drill Hall in Arncliffe with actual games played at Hurstville Oval.
In 1925 the club started using Earl Park at Arncliffe as its headquarters and home ground and remained there until the end of the 1939 season.
In 1933 St George sneaked into the semis in fourth place and won their way into the final against minor premiers Newtown before losing 18–5.
That same year they won the first night competition conducted by the NSWRL, a six-club competition played on three Saturday nights at the Sydney Showground.

https://stgeorgedragons.com.au/1934-round-3-st-george-v-souths-highlights-earl-park/

The first ever footage of our great club in action.

Two years later an emerging Dragon Slayers, as they were then known, made league history when they annihilated Canterbury-Bankstown 91–6, the biggest win in their history and still the biggest winning margin ever.
In 1937 for the fourth time in the club's short history, they finished as competition runners-up. Their inaugural premiership had still not been achieved when at the end of the decade, following the 1939 season, the club moved its home ground back to Hurstville Oval.
Former Mayor of Sydney, Jack Mostyn became President of the club in 1937 and retained the role for the next eight years.

The long wait for the club's first premiership finally ended in 1941 when they defeated Eastern Suburbs 31–14 at the SCG. They were captain-coached by Neville Smith while brothers Jack and Herb Gilbert Jr., the sons of the club's first captain-coach Herb Gilbert both played in the match.
In 1945 the club adopted the iconic Red V on white jumper.
A year later, Saints captained by Herb Narvo and starring the backline brothers Jack and Ray Lindwall were runners up again losing to Balmain 12–13. Shortly after Ray Lindwall would take the new ball for Australia in Test cricket. Quite an elite sportsman was Ray.

The St George Football Club came of age in the 1950s when a move from Hurstville Oval to Kogarah Oval saw the RedV take on Souths before a crowd of 12,500 fans in their inaugural match at the ground. Due to its close proximity to Kogarah Oval, the Carlton Hotel became the local watering hole for the players after training.

In 1953 the first St George Leagues Club was built on the corner of Princes Highway & Rocky Point Road and was to become the scene of many victory celebrations over the next decade as premiership after premiership were added to the club resume.
View attachment 93867

I love the street sign
Wollongong left
Sydney Right

 

[blue bags]

Why was he banned?

Apparently ran into the field
And tackled a North Sydney Bear's player
And stopped him from scoring
Scoreboard end. But grandstand corner
That corner he and his group would always hangout There.
When banned from ground
He would always hang around the same corner
But on the outside. Would climb the trees
And yell out stuff

 

[blue bags]

Yes jd that evidently was the case as the St George demographic had changed and there were now fewer kids playing league. Still our junior league has been able to survive to this day, so I question was the merger vital or even necessary.

I feel it was necessary

 

[blue bags]

Dragon Slayers??
When I first started following the Red V, wondered why are they were called the Dragons when the club insignia showed the Knight St George slaying the Dragon beast. Discovering the original nick name after all these years has now answered my question...

Yes known as the Dragon Slayer's
And some called them the Red n Whites
And the Illawarra club

 

[blue bags]

Well, that and Steve Linnane trying to scratch his eyes out...

Yes I remember now
He got in trouble for that

 

[Number of the Beath]

Yes I remember now
He got in trouble for that

12 months suspension, if I remember rightly.

 

[Gourley's Socks]

Should have tried the Stephen Crichton defence that Alexander shut his eyelids on Linnane's fingers.

 

[denis preston]

After the game in the late 80s on Carlton station most of the young kids would listen to him ranting about Eddie Fraud and Graham Annusley as he used to call them.
Also Greg Mccallum.
He would say he'd suplex them off the top turn buckle as le loved wrestling and would commentate on wrestling.at clubs that hold events in Sydney.

Yes the kids used to follow skull around , so naturally they were called the Hitler youth !

 

[Hound of Dracula]

Apparently ran into the field
And tackled a North Sydney Bear's player
And stopped him from scoring
Scoreboard end. But grandstand corner
That corner he and his group would always hangout There.
When banned from ground
He would always hang around the same corner
But on the outside. Would climb the trees
And yell out stuff

I swear he had a ladder

We were only young and didn't fully understand his Neo Nazi politics. Wasn't aware I was part of the 'Hitler youth' - YIKES!

We did know he was not a bloke to mess with.
Ross May AKA Skull -Bald, extreme muscles and coke bottle glasses.

In the days of train tickets, Skull would ball his fist and display his swastika ring right in the face of the ticket collectors.

No-one ever challenged him

Supporting the Dragons was his only redeeming feature

 

[baggygreen man]

He had quite an aggressive nature RVH

Given his violent history letting him watch from outside the ground was the best thing. But must've pissed him off as he was also an avid Dragons fan.

 

[baggygreen man]

The Beginning of a Dynasty: 1956-1966.

When St George began the 1956 season little did the club or every footy fan in the country know that they would blitz the comp like never before and be 11 consecutive year premiers, a world record for a team sport that astoundingly still stands more than half a century later.

September 8, Sydney Cricket Ground the setting for the 1956 Rugby League Grand Final between St George and Balmain. The two teams had battled it out two weeks earlier in the major semi with the Saints running out close winners 30-25.
The Tigers were out for revenge so the scene was set. The huge crowd was on tenderhooks. A mere 13 minutes into the match Saints centre Merv Lees suffered a cracked collarbone and Red V supporters hopes sank as 13 against 12 in any match let alone a grand final was not the perfect scenario. ( no replacements in those days)
If anything this lifted the Saints and after a 38 minute arm wrestle livewire winger Tommy Ryan drew the Balmain fullback Keith Barnes to send hard working prop forward Kevin Brown powering over for their first try. So with a buffer at half time the Saints went into the final stanza full of confidence. Further tries to Bob Bugden and Kevin O'Brien came quickly after oranges with Harry Melville scoring the last try 18 minutes in and putting the final nail in the Tiger's coffin. Balmain skipper Brian Staunton added to his earlier try with a late consolation three pointer but too late to deny the Tiger Slayers their third premiership 18-12.
Inspirational prop forward Billy Wilson had a blinder and was a worthy man of the match.

The 1956 Premiers: Back Row: Tommy Ryan, Bryan Orrock, Norm Provan, Merv Lees, Kevin O'Brien, Kevin Brown.
Front Row: Bob Bugden, Billy Wilson, Peter Carroll, Ken Kearney (c), Doug Fleming, Ross Kite, Harry Melville.

The RED V won every minor premiership during their GOLDEN ERA with the only exception being 1961 when the NSWRL split the minor premiership prize money between Saints and their bitter rival at the time Wests.
In 1959 Saints went through the season undefeated, only the third team in history to do it. They also won countless club championships and had premiers in all three grades in 1963.
Such was their dominance up till 1966, the law makers of our game were forced to end the no limit tackle rule to finally halt this rugby league juggernaut.

It's difficult to pin point the precise reason why St George were able to pull off such a remarkable run of wins. Definitely the group of world class players on their roster provided the main criteria, yet some credit must go to the club administrators, specially former player 'Fearless' Frank Facer who was elected as CEO in 1956 and held the top job of this famous club until his death in 1978. It was Facer who was responsible for bringing many champion players into the team. Such as arguably two of the best to ever lace a boot, 'Immortals' Johnny Raper and Reg Gasnier.


Ken Kearney who led the
Dragons in many of their titles.

 

[baggygreen man]

Guys is this sufficient material on our record breaking era or do I add more detail..

 

[Dragon David]

Guys is this sufficient material on our record breaking era or do I add more detail.

You have done a really good job so far RVH. If things come up that you would like to include, by all means. Same goes for anyone else. When things have not been so great this past decade for the Dragons, the period from mid 1950's to mid 1960's for the Dragons certainly keeps us fanatics going and all the stories of off field antics makes for good reading during the off season.