Rod ‘Rocket’ Reddy came to St George in 1972 from Rockhampton. A fire and brimstone second row/lock who played over 200 first grade games for the Big Red V before shifting to the Steelers to round out his career in 1984-85, also played in the inaugural State of Origin match for Queensland and was a member of the 1982 Invincibles Kangaroos Tour.
During the ‘Era of the Biff’, Reddy was tall, rangy, strong and athletic and a brutal backrower who wasn’t afraid to bare knuckles in the interests of a Saints victory. In fact, it was during the 1977 Grand Final where he collected a number of cautions as he ripped in to Parramatta. An integral member of Bath’s Babes, Reddy dominated the early parts of the 1977 decider with brutal defensive displays. He sparred with the great lock Ray Price all day before the game ended in a draw after extra time. In the replay a week later, Price arrived looking like a punching bag and Reddy was ruthless.
2 years later, Reddy would win a second premiership, scoring a try and up to his usual defensive tricks. The ‘old’ guard loved Rocket’s ability to subdue an opposition with disregard for the rulebook. He sailed close to the wind – no, who are we kidding – he should have been sent off a dozen times, but that would spoil the romanticism of the ‘biff’ era. There is no suggestion he was a thug, he was just tough as teak and unafraid to spar. And to remember Rocket as a hard man only does injustice to his great attacking skills and ability to score a try, and his left foot grubber kicks.
At international level, the moustachioed menace took to the English on two Kangaroo tours in 1978 and 1982, dishing out as much as he could to the poor Poms who rumour has it, he loathed as much as Jeff Thompson or Mitchell Johnson did when they bowled to the English in The Ashes.
Winding up his career at the Steelers, he gave them good service before moving in to coaching. He was to coach Saints in 1996 as Brian Smith’s replacement, but signed to Super League and took on the Head Coach role of the Adelaide Rams with mixed results.
Playing in the last premiership winning era of St George, Rocket and his teammates are fondly remembered not only by the Saints faithful, but league fans everywhere. These days his children play first grade rugby league, soccer and netball whilst his son-in-law is the son of his Saints team mate ‘Lord’ Ted Goodwin.
Why hasn’t Rod Reddy got an autograph card? Who knows, but someone should put a rocket up ‘em!
John Dorahy
Joe Cool as John Dorahy was nicknamed was an Illawarra junior who was graded with Western Suburbs in 1974 during the fire and brimstone bloodbaths of the 1970s. Cool and calm under pressure out at Lidcombe Oval when there were clouds of dust and buckets of blood, Dorahy was part of a Western Suburbs outfit that pushed for premiership glory in 1978 under the coaching of Roy Masters.
A week after turning seventeen, Dorahy made his debut in senior rugby league. He went on to play almost 20 years at the top copping plenty of hits in a time when the invasive eye of television replay didn’t catch the thuggery in back play. He was so tough, he actually broke his cheek in a the final round and went on to play in the next week’s semi final by hiding the injury from all his team mates.
During this era of ‘the Fibros [Western Suburbs] vs the Silvertails [Manly-Warringah], the Magpies (sponsored by Victa) topped the NSWRFL table, brawling their way to the top with opposition teams holding genuine fears for their life as the Cheerypickers slapped themselves silly in the sheds pre-match only to come out to thump the bejesus out of their opponents on the park. It was class warfare and the press gasped as fans came out to see Wests wreck havoc upon the comp, baying for blood from the bench seats at the ‘westie’ cauldron. It was a sad day when Wests were fiddled out of a Grand Final to their archrivals, and eventual premiers, Manly-Warringah, having three tries disallowed on the day.
John Dorahy gave great service as a centre to Wests and made minor representative appearances. And after the defeat in 1978, the long-term viability of the club came in to question and reluctantly, and somewhat ironically, Dorahy moved to Manly-Warringah for two injury-plagued seasons. With the Illawarra Steelers admitted to the comp in 1982, John returned ‘home’ and joined them as the captain of the new team and played four seasons in the Steel City before club finances and the 1985 Wooden Spoon sent him packing, moving to Halifax before returning for a brief stint late in the 1980’s with North Sydney.
An excellent cover defender with a top kick and chase, Dorahy remained unflappable right through his career, scoring plenty of points before ending up with numerous coaching stints at a number of top flight clubs though not without some controversy.
These days, he’s a Wollongong Councillor.
Surely, if John Dorahy can sign off on development proposals and the like, surely Joe Cool can sign off a stack of footy cards for his adoring fans.
Keith Barnes
They say Balmain Boys don’t cry.
However, when they talk about Balmain’s greatest ever rugby league players, eyes get moist – the quietly spoken, courageous cleanskin who commanded respect from teammates, opponents and fans for his style of play, good sportsmanship and ability to single-handedly kick the Tigers to victory.
Keith Barnes was known as ‘Golden Boots’ and was Australian Test captain, being a fullback for Balmain, NSW and Australia between 1955 and 1968. He also has the distinction of playing all his matches for Balmain in First Grade and once kicked 11 goals in a club match and is currently 11th on the all time point-scoring list with 1,519. In fact, it wasn’t uncommon for Barnes to boot 6-8 goals in a game.
Balmain made three Grand Finals whilst Barnes was a player [and later, captain], but these appearances were during the St George ‘Eleven in a Row’ era and he retired in 1968, the year before the 1969 boilover grand final against South Sydney. It is amazing to think he played 194 games for Balmain with his injury list filling a medical almanac and his head and light body often held together by bandages.
Playing for Australia on 17 occasions, Barnes played in an era when Ken Thornett, Les Johns and Graeme Langlands were his competition for the fullback position. He also represented New South Wales on 12 occasions. After retirement, he was a referee, a commentator and manager and executive at Balmain, and managed the 1990 Kangaroo Tour. A member of the Balmain Tigers and Wests Tigers Teams of the Century, Keith Barnes was also listed in the 100 Greatest Players in the Centenary season.
My grandfather is 94. As a child, he often told me that Keith Barnes was one of the nicest gentlemen the game had ever produced, was a scintillating player to watch and could literally boot a goal from anywhere across the park.
When talking Balmain, men are men. When discussing high end chase cards, many – not just Balmain boys – cry, wincing in horror that this man has not been tapped to have his own autograph card.
Bob O’Reilly
The Bear is animal that gets angry very quickly if it is annoyed. Some could say the nickname was apt for Bob O’Reilly when he took the field as a prop forward during an era when men were men and scrums frequently erupted in to full-on fisticuffs.
O’Reilly made his debut as an eighteen year old for Parramatta back in 1967. He also went on to become Parramatta’s first junior to go on to represent Australia, eventually playing 16 tests. Quickly, O’Reilly developed as a skilful ball player forward, who monstered defensive lines and bruised and battered those with the ball in hand. Garnering the nickname ‘The Bear’, rival teams winced in fear when this large set man mountain tore in to them on Saturday afternoons.
However, by the mid-1970s his career was in decline and he shifted to Penrith with disastrous results. A transfer to Easts in 1978 saw him at least recover his reputation and he moved home for one final season in 1980.
With Jack Gibson signing on coach at the end of 1980, he begged O’Reilly to reconsider retirement. Lucky for Gibson, the Eels and for O’Reilly himself that he changed his mind, because in 1981, The Bear was back to his very, very best, tearing teams apart with his size, strength and experience and leading the fledging Eels future-superstars of the game to the 1981 decider against the Jets, which the duly won.
And never say props aren’t smart. After the bloodbaths of the 1970’s and the Comans-era clean up of the RL, O’Reilly adapted his game, allowing his frame to now pound teams in to submission and leaving the fist-fights to those who wanted to cool their heels on the sideline.
After winning the Grand Final in 1981 and supped from the winners’ champagne magnum and having finally conquered the competition, Bob O’Reilly played on in 1982 but a chronic ankle injury ended his season early and he missed out on the grand final, choosing to call it quits. Opposition sides would have privately sighed a phew of relief!
When he retired Bob O’Reilly had played 284 first grade games, which was the record until Geoff Gerard took the mantle. His career had gone full circle and whilst a monster of a man, O’Reilly was, and remains, a true gentleman giant. Respected for his size and stature in the game, it would be befitting for the man they call The Bear to daub his paw print over a slab of cardboard for collectors to hunt down and add to their collection.
Graham Eadie
Wombat played for the Manly-Warringah Sea-Eagles from 1971-1983 and in that time amassed 237 first grade matches, and played 20 Tests for Australia and 14 times for New South Wales. He was one of the finest fullbacks of any generation and when he retired his points tally of 1,917 was a premiership record.
A solid bloke, Eadie had a powerful running style; swift, he left defenders clutching at air. In the era when ‘the bomb’ was coming to the fore, he was a safe custodian and ran at the line like a bullock. He endeared himself to the Manly-Warringah faithful with his dynamic performances through the 1970s and in to the 1980s when the peninsula team won four grand finals from six appearances. In fact, the 1983 Grand Final loss would be Eadie’s last NRL match at just age 30. He’d played 237 first grade games for Manly-Warringah and though he did move to Halifax in the UK in the mid-1980s, Eadie still played a few more seasons and 74 more top flight games, winning accolades and cups there too. And when the Clive Churchill medal was retrospectively awarded from 1954-1985, Graham Eadie was the proud 1976 and 1978 recipient.
Eadie made two Kangaroo tours and played in the first State of Origin match for New South Wales in 1980 and probably would have made the 1982 Kangaroos tour, dubbed The Invincibleshad he made himself available. And though he wasn’t the first choice rep kicker, he kicked 847 goals for Manly-Warringah to go with his 71 tries. Eadie was also listed in the 100 Greatest Players in the Centenary season, a deserving accolade for his years of service.
A record breaker – only five other players have scored more points than Eadie – and a wonderful, loyal club man and exciting Australian fullback, Graham ‘Wombat’ Eadie deserves to be recognised as a true legend of our game.
Chris Lauchlan – © 2014
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