THE RED V NOSTALGIA THREAD

[baggygreen man]

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.

Much appreciated DD. There are the brutal yet enthralling 60s GF battles with Wests. My first game was '63 there I was knee hi to a grasshopper with my older brother pushing his way to the fence where we stayed for the entire match despite it belting down. Two old Saints die hards looked after us by sharing their umbrella.

 

[justadragon]

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

Do as you want RVH, I dont think you can set a limit on happiness

 

[denis preston]

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.
View attachment 93905
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.

View attachment 93904
Ken Kearney who led the
Dragons in many of their titles.

Difficult to pin point my arse ! Firstly we had a vast growing area from the Cooks River to the National Park with a huge junior participation & secondly the Leagues club in Rocky pt road was trading its arse off by the late 50s. This enabled us to buy just about who we wanted, and we did ! We were the millionaire club until Wests did the same in the 60,s and Manly in the 70,s. Certainly the club was well managed but their war chest certainly helped

 

[baggygreen man]

Difficult to pin point my arse !

Now now Denis settle down.

 

[baggygreen man]

Another piece of history was made at the '63 'mudbath' when an impromptu embrace at the end of the match by rival skippers Norm Provan and Arthur Summons was captured by Sun-Herald photographer John O’Gready. The photo (below) named "The Gladiators" was to become the model (below) for the NSWRL premiership trophy from 1982 to 1995 and the NRL trophy from 1998 to the present..

 

[baggygreen man]

True story. I met the great Norm 'Sticks' Provan in person when I was 10 during a school holiday. As I attended a boarding school I had no time to attend matches during footy season let alone have player signatures for my scrapbook so I talked my big brother into taking me to Norm Provans electrical shop at Kogarah, or was it Allawah as I personally intended asking the giant man for his autograph.
Gotta say I was as nervous as a kitten as I expected him to say something like ''take a hike sonny I am busy''. To my astonishment he put his huge hand on my head rustled my blonde hair and said, ''of course I will tiger''. I lucked in too as there happened to be a couple more Saints men in the shop at the time, if I recall correctly one was Ian Walsh and the other Elton Rasmussen. Big Sticks even offered to have more players sign if I left the book with him and returned a week later. I told him ''I just had to have the monikers of my two heroes, Johnny Raper and Reg Gasnier. "You shall sonny'' and he was true to his word as a week later I had not only those two but the entire Dragons team, unfortunately other than Kevin Ryan.
The nervous 10 year old that walked into Stick's shop a week earlier walked out elated a week later.

 

[Dragon David]

I met the great Norm 'Sticks' Provan in person when I was 10 during a school holiday. As I attended a boarding school I had no time to attend matches during footy season let alone have player signatures for my scrapbook so I talked my big brother into taking me to Norm Provans electrical shop at Kogarah, or was it Allawah as I intended personally asking the giant man for his autograph.
Gotta say I was as nervous as a kitten as I expected him to say something like ''take a hike sonny I am busy''. To my astonishment he put his huge hand on my head rustled my blonde hair and said, ''of course I will tiger''. I lucked in too as there happened to be a couple more Saints men in the shop at the time, if I recall correctly one was Ian Walsh and the other Elton Rasmussen. Big Sticks even offered to have more players sign if I left the book with him and returned a week later. I told him ''I just had to have the monikers of my two heroes, Johnny Raper and Reg Gasnier. "You shall sonny'' and he was true to his word as a week later I had not only those two but the entire Dragons team, unfortunately other than Kevin Ryan.
The nervous 10 year old that walked into his shop a week earlier walked out in elation.

Good work RVH. Good ol' Sticks and the great players of those days signing your autograph book. Do you still have it RVH?

 

[baggygreen man]

Do you still have it RVH?

Sadly no longer DD, lost it is a house move in '88.

 

[Dragon David]

Sadly no longer DD, lost it is a house move in '88.

Yes, what a sad shame RVH. Well who knows, we could win a premiership under Flanno in 2026 - 10 years after he won one for the Sharks - and then you could ask the guys who played in that Grand Final for their signatures. I know not the same as those legends of yesteryear but better than nothing and us winning in 2026 would be the best this decade anyway.

 

[justadragon]

True story. I met the great Norm 'Sticks' Provan in person when I was 10 during a school holiday. As I attended a boarding school I had no time to attend matches during footy season let alone have player signatures for my scrapbook so I talked my big brother into taking me to Norm Provans electrical shop at Kogarah, or was it Allawah as I personally intended asking the giant man for his autograph.
Gotta say I was as nervous as a kitten as I expected him to say something like ''take a hike sonny I am busy''. To my astonishment he put his huge hand on my head rustled my blonde hair and said, ''of course I will tiger''. I lucked in too as there happened to be a couple more Saints men in the shop at the time, if I recall correctly one was Ian Walsh and the other Elton Rasmussen. Big Sticks even offered to have more players sign if I left the book with him and returned a week later. I told him ''I just had to have the monikers of my two heroes, Johnny Raper and Reg Gasnier. "You shall sonny'' and he was true to his word as a week later I had not only those two but the entire Dragons team, unfortunately other than Kevin Ryan.
The nervous 10 year old that walked into Stick's shop a week earlier walked out elated.

A true gentleman RVH, and a true captain, unlike the numb nuts we have now, but anyway we always used to buy our electricals from Norm Provan and I always used to hassle my old man to get his tyres from JAX because of Raper

 

[Inisai Toga]

Speaking of ads, I swear I saw Billy Smith and Chang promoting Big Ben pies on TV when I was a kid. Anyone else recall..? I remember cause always preferred a Sergeants pie, but if it was good enough for the dynamic duo, it was good enough for me…

 

[baggygreen man]

A true gentleman RVH, and a true captain,

...and captain/coach jd, Sticks picked up so many awards post career.

In 2018 Provan was inducted as a Rugby League Immortal along with pre-WWII greats Dally Messenger, Dave Brown and Frank Burge. Certainly esteemed company.

In 2004 Provan was admitted into the Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame.

In 2008 was named in the list of Australia's 100 Greatest Players (1908–2007) Provan. In 2007 he was selected by a panel of experts at second-row in an Australian 'Team of the 50s'.

In 2015 was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.

Named in the second-row in Australian rugby league's Team of the Century. in 2008, as well as for NSW.

In 2022 was named in the St. George Dragons District Rugby League Clubs team of the century.

Reflections​

 

[baggygreen man]

This gives you and insite into the man and the footballer, in this introduction to the Stephen Haddan book The Finals – 100 Years, reflecting on the dressing room mood before the momentous 1965 Grand Final:

It's 1965, St George and Souths in the grand final at the Sydney Cricket Ground. It's five minutes before we walk out. The boys are sitting around, very quiet now, just thinking about their own games. I have finished my last 10-minute talk to the team, just a summary of our general plan – no shouting or yelling or 'geeing' up. These players just don't need that. I have this terrible sick feeling in my gut. We have to lose a grand final sooner or later. The law of averages demands it. This one would make it 10. A nice round figure and I can retire happy. The linesman comes to the door, looks at me and nods. I nod back. We all stand up. The sick feeling is gone. 'Let's give it another go!'.

 

[Gippsy]

This gives you and insite into the man and the footballer, in this introduction to the Stephen Haddan book The Finals – 100 Years, reflecting on the dressing room mood before the momentous 1965 Grand Final:

Thanks baggy. It seems they had none of the arrogance that now seems to exist with a current club aiming for a measly 4 in a row!!! Different times I suppose.

 

[baggygreen man]

'Let's give it another go!'.

..and Sticks did with his best mates in the trenches overpowering the Bunnies to win the Dragons magic 10th and the big man playing his last game of 289 across his storied Saints and Test/State career.

 

[Hound of Dracula]

Not quite mature enough to remember any of the 11 in a row but old enough to become a Dragons fan watching Changa & Billy play.

In the days of a very popular TV show '6 Million Dollar (Bionic) Man' I remember a full page spread in Mirror titled the 'One Million Dollar Man' featuring a a large photo of Billy Smith with arrows pointing to all parts of his body where he'd had ops, breaks, screws, plates & other surgery throughout his career.

he was a mighty tough bugger!

I kept the article for years but sadly, now I can't even find it on-line.
Too old!

 

[baggygreen man]

Lets keep the anecdotes coming guys.

 

[Trifili13]

Not quite mature enough to remember any of the 11 in a row but old enough to become a Dragons fan watching Changa & Billy play.

In the days of a very popular TV show '6 Million Dollar (Bionic) Man' I remember a full page spread in Mirror titled the 'One Million Dollar Man' featuring a a large photo of Billy Smith with arrows pointing to all parts of his body where he'd had ops, breaks, screws, plates & other surgery throughout his career.

he was a mighty tough bugger!

I kept the article for years but sadly, now I can't even find it on-line.
Too old!

Use to love watching The Six Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman growing up. A primary school teacher I had who I think played 3rd grade for Canterbury in the 70s actually looked like Steve Austin.

 

[baggygreen man]

Another true story guys. During my days as a journo with the St George Leader I was given an assignment to interview Billy Smith who worked as a driver for a major brewery and delivered to local pubs in the Saints and Shire districts. I was lucky to tee up an interview with arguably the best half back this country has produced at a warehouse in Carlingford, if memory serves. Billy was a joy to interview and was so co-operative, specially when I told him I was a diehard Dragons fan. I had heard he was a larrikan and cheeky which made the interview even more fun. Just when the chit chat with one Saints great could not get any better another Saints great turned up, none other than Johnny Raper. I was over the moon as I added the 'maestro' to my interview. I wondered at the time whether Chook turning up was impromptu or had been was arranged by Billy.
My editor was also over the moon that I managed to interview not only one of the clubs immortals but two..

The two greats still chuffing along in their late 70s, I am guessing.
Is that pic at Kogarah?

 

[Trifili13]

Another true story guys. During my days as a journo with the St George Leader I was given an assignment to interview Billy Smith who worked as a driver for a major brewery and delivered to local pubs in the Saints and Shire districts. I was lucky to tee up an interview with arguably the best half back this country has produced at a warehouse in Carlingford, if memory serves. Billy was a joy to interview and was so co-operative, specially when I told him I was a diehard Dragons fan. I had heard he was a larrikan and cheeky which made the interview even more fun. Just when the chit chat with one Saints great could not get any better another Saints great turned up, none other than Johnny Raper. I was over the moon as I added the 'maestro' to my interview. My editor was also over the moon that I managed to interview not only one of the clubs immortals but two..
View attachment 94179
The two greats still chuffing along in their late 70s, I am guessing.
Is that pic at Kogarah?

Photo is at Kogarah.

Given some drinking stories you hear about Billy Smith, I am surprised that any alcohol made it to the place he was supposed to deliver it to.