Your prehistoric NSWRL team.

[Blair]

This may have been discussed before (heck, there's about a million posts) but who did you support in the Sydney comp before 1995 (if you're old enough) and do you still care now?

I was a Canberra nut, cried in '91 when the Panthers denied them three in a row. Thought they were the most exciting team I'd ever seen, but I peaked in '94 (like the Raiders actually) and have lost all interest.

An aside, does anyone remember a TVNZ competition where a couple won a trip to the '91 GF? A Maori couple from Northland won and the whole thing had a feelgood vibe which I haven't forgot. Greg Clark interviewed them by the Opera House. Anyone remember?

 

[hitro]

When I discovered Winfield Cup I initially liked Balmain, at the time featuring Freeman, Sironen and Pearce but also later floated among other teams who were good and had NZ players. Some names spring to mind like Hoppe, McCracken, Timu, Iro... I really liked the classic Canberra line-ups with Daley, Meninga, Kroker, Clyde, Mullins... always hated Ricky Stuart though, to this day!

 

[TheDMC]

I hated Canberra because they were so good and had f'cken horrible green jerseys (similar reason I hate newcastle, their jerseys make we wanna smash something).

Liked Western Suburbs - black jerseys and because this young fella named Jason Taylor, who as a skinny 70kg white boy, I could identify with.

Choose NSW without even knowing where NSW and Queensland were, completely random selection and I've stuck with it. In hindsight I shoulda picked Queensland as they were the underdogs with less players blah blah, but can't really change now...

So yeah, basically chose on shallow reasons such as jersey color, but I was only 13 or so and had no RL roots...

 

[_addict]

I have to confess in the mid 80's I liked the Raiders, but by and large I just enjoyed the games, and had some favourite players.

In the late 80's the Panthers caught my eye. They had several players that I really liked watching. Although he wasn't among the greats, Brad Izzard was one that I liked the most, just for his no-nonsense embodiment of what being a league player was about, also the guy seemed to be made out of granite. I'm sure this clip will help you appreciate why he brought a smile to my face.

 

[MKEB...]

I always supported Cronulla, because when I was a young fulla, my aunty went to sydney and bought me a cronulla t shirt.... It was fun though watching a cronulla team back then with the back line they had and an imposing forward pack. Oh and yeah the other reson I supported Cronulla was cos of the Sorensens... later on the back line of Green, healey, McGaw, Ettinshasusen, rogers , barnett and Peachey were always going to be a great side to watch

 

[vvvrulz]

Not old enough, but I always liked the North Sydney Bears for some reason. That club name just sounds badass and I remember them vaguely owning the Warriors a few times.

 

[MKEB...]

Not old enough, but I always liked the North Sydney Bears for some reason. That club name just sounds badass and I remember them vaguely owning the Warriors a few times.

Greg Florimo cracked me up

 

[Scott]

North Sydney Bears for life.
Thats all.

 

[NZ Warrior]

Of course, Scott!

Back in the day, I was a Penrith fan. Then Brad Fittler went to the Roosters and I then became a Broncos fan, until the Warriors came along in '95. I was over the moon, when the Warriors signed Greg Alexander.

 

[Skinner]

Served my Rugby League apprenticeship with the mighty Western Suburbs Magpies.

 

[ozbash]

Manly

 

[Matua]

I used to move between the teams with the most Kiwis. So I was a fan of the Bulldogs and Manly much of the time. I'd just pick the team with the most Kiwis in each match and cheer for them. Was great weekends in the early days of Sky.

I think I liked all teams at one stage except the Broncos and Newcastle!

 

[kuwaiti kev]

Balmain, then Manly (was a huge fan of Kevin iro), then finally settled on Newcastle when John Schuster switched to play there. Became a big fan of Sargent, Harrigan, Kemp, Stewart, then on to MacDougall, Johns, Johns etc.
They didn't win many games as a whole but always had a brutal forward pack which appealed to me.

It was hard to not support Maori Warringah when Lowie was coaching. Iro, Iro, Williams, Ridge, Shelford, Innes and even a Weepu playing reserve grade lol.

 

[shinobi]

Move to Australia in 88. That year the Dogs and Tigers made the Grand Final we were living in Canterbury area so everyone was going for the Dogs so i went for the tigers. We got smashed. Was devasted the year after when we lost to the Raiders in over time. Still hold a soft spot for the Tigers and was happy for them when they won in 05.

 

[IanG]

wonder if it's cause Manly and the Knights had a big following there that it was those 2 teams that played the first Premiership game in NZ

 

[Skinner]

Of course, Scott!

Back in the day, I was a Penrith fan. Then Brad Fittler went to the Roosters and I then became a Broncos fan, until the Warriors came along in '95. I was over the moon, when the Warriors signed Greg Alexander.

I had the honour of watching Freddy's first ever first grade game when the Panthers played the Maggies at Campbelltown. He was 17 years of age and had "star" written all over him. I still love him to bits.

"I just told him to harden the f**k up" :lol::lol::lol:

 

[NZ Warrior]

I had the honour of watching Freddy's first ever first grade game when the Panthers played the Maggies at Campbelltown. He was 17 years of age and had "star" written all over him. I still love him to bits.

"I just told him to harden the f**k up" :lol::lol::lol:

Yep, apart from playing for and coaching the Roosters, he's a deadset legend.

And I loved that golden piece of commentary too!

 

[Beavers Headgear]

Don't think i need to go into too much detail lol

 

[NZ Warrior]

Don't think i need to go into too much detail lol

Another Norths fan?

 

[Bobby DIGital]

I thought I'd see way more Maori Warringah fans in here.

I've been a Raiders fan since 1989. I couldn't bring myself to switch to the Warriors, I just loved the Raiders faaaaaar too much. It was insane...still is.

I miss the old players like crazy though. Those were the days. Loose jerseys, shoulder pads, no wrestling, no split halves bullsh*t. Back then you had halfbacks at first receiver, 5/8's at 2nd. I yearn to see a halfback to 5/8 to centre to CENTRE backline move. Or dummying to the outside centre and turning it back inside to the fullback. Brett Mullins used to score some awesome tries off scrum plays.

Mark McGaw was on NRL on Fox last year and he was saying he doesn't understand why centres don't pass to centres anymore. Back in the day he used to swing to the outside of ET and they'd team up out wide. It's too structured these days. We don't only have split halves but split 2nd rowers.

I'd love to see a coach bring back some old school tactics. Even kicking duels were awesome back then!!!