Enforcers being rubbed out of game
But perhaps the greatest tackle belongs to 1970s Rabbitoh Charlie Frith, who hit Wests prop Bill Cloughessy like a bag full of hammers.
Whacked him so hard that when Cloughessy was rolled over, all his teeth fell out.
"Mate, what if I've killed him?" Frith nervously asked fellow Bunnie Paul Sait as they stood over the carcass. "Well," came the reply, "kill another one."
Souths hard man Les Davidson had a similar outlook, especially when under the tutelage of coach Ron Willey.
"Because Ron," Davidson smiles, "said the more blokes I got stretchered off, the better chance we had of winning."
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/n...bbed-out-of-game/story-e6frfgd6-1111116481409
o one is better qualified to talk about rugby league hitmen than Jack Gibsons former right-hand man Ron Massey, who witnessed all of the best of them and puts former Souths giant Charlie Frith at the top of the list.
Charlie was the best hitter the game has ever seen, Massey says.
The late Bobby Bax was coaching a team in Brisbane when we got hold of Charlie at Souths.
Bobby rang Jack and said theres a bloke up in Brisbane who can tackle telegraph poles.
He explained how his team played against Frith on the weekend and his three best players were back in the sheds by halftime after being wounded by him.
The next week he got dropped from his team because he made no tackles in the second half.
Wherever he was defending, no one would go anywhere near him.
He also made the best and most ferocious tackle Massey says he has ever seen on a football field
It was on a player called Bill Cloughessy in a trial at Redfern Oval, Massey recalls. There was a bloke in the Wests team, who had played with Charlie in Brisbane, and knew a bit about him. Before the game he warned his teammates to keep out of his way.
But anyway, this Cloughessy fella says Im not worried and decides to run straight at him.
Well, Charlies got him in the chest with the biggest hit youve ever seen. It knocked him straight out. When they rolled the poor bugger over, his teeth fell out.
Charlie didnt hit anywhere near his head - it was just the force of the tackle. Im not joking.
In those days when league was played under the five-metre rule, there were big one-on-one hitters at most clubs.
Charlie's claim to fame
If anyone is any doubt as to the wrecking ball qualities of C. Frith
just ask:
Bill Cloughesy - Souths v Wests Pre Season Trial 1978/79? Hospitalised
with broken jaw, broken ribs and severe concussion after Charlie Frith
laid him out cold with a massive hit.
Rod Reddy - Jubilee Oval 1979; rendered senseless after a Frith hit,
eventually helped to his feet and then runs over to the Souths line of
defence completely disoriented, trainer then escorts him off the field.
Reddy later recalls it the biggest hit he ever had put on him.
Tony Trudgett - Souths v St George Semi-Final SCG 1980: went from
running flat out forward to being slammed backwards by "a human
projectile" (Rex Mossop's words) named C Frith in a split second. This
tackle used to feature in the opening credits of Seven's Big League.
Charlie Frith existed when sides could carry big slow men. The 5m rule
allowed Frith to wait another 5m behind the first line of defense and
pick out his marks. He would only average around 16 tackles a match, but
of these, 2 or 3 would be bellringers and eliminate key forwards.
I've never seen a bigger hitter and probably never will because the
game's rules won't support this type of player anymore.
