The 1974 Brisbane Easts First Grade side. John Grossi is the second player from the left behind the seated players
Former Brisbane Easts’ forward, John Grossi has died after an illness in Thailand, where he had lived for some years.
Grossi played First Grade for Easts in 1974 under the captaincy of Des Morris and alongside Test hooker, John Lang, and Des’s younger brother, Rod, who went on to represent Australia.
John then played for Southport based Gold Coast Tigers and Surfers Paradise Pirates, before finishing his career at Burleigh Bears. A lock/second rower, he was chosen in the Gold Coast representative side in 1978, a team coached by ‘Immortal’, Clive Churchill.
The rep side included the likes of former Brisbane Brothers’ players, Glen Frahm, John Short, Ian Dauth (captain); former Wynnum-Manly halfback, Des Lee and future State hooker, Jay Hoffman. (The manager was former Qld prop, Ray McCarron).
With Grossi in the pack, Burleigh won the 1979 Gold Coast First Grade Premiership under the coaching of Eric Lilley. Burleigh celebrated its centenary this year, and many people regard the 1979 team as the best in the club’s history, a team capable of matching it with Brisbane clubs. John began his senior football career with Wentworthville in Sydney’s west.
Prominent journalist, Max Uechtritz paid a wonderful tribute to Grossi, describing his former Burleigh teammate as a “tough-as-teak” forward.
“I was glad he changed clubs (from Surfers to Burleigh) as he was one of the toughest tacklers ever to rattle my ribs,” Max wrote. “One of my favourite memories was from our first game together – in a trial against Bob Fulton’s visiting Sydney (Easts) Roosters under lights at the Tweed Seagulls’ ground. Grossi and George Moroko bedazzled the southern silvertails with a set move involving five eighth, Jim Clancy to produce not one, but two tries on the night, with the exact same move. The mirth (on the field) was only matched by the post-game feast of mud crabs with Easts. Peter McNamara won the eating contest with something like 16 bugs.
“We hadn’t seen each other for decades, but I was chuffed when he rang me from Thailand last year and the decades dissolved as we chatted and laughed about what was really a golden era of footy on the Gold Coast.
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