John Elias (left) and Wally Lewis discuss the gouging allegation after the 1990 clash between Balmain and the Broncos at Leichhardt Oval. That’s Broncos statistician Col O’Gorman (left) and Media man Kev Keliher in the background
Broncos’ lock, Wally Lewis was charged with gouging Balmain forward, John Elias during a torrid rugby league clash at Sydney’s Leichhardt Oval.
Balmain won 18-16 but the result was secondary to the drama unfolding around the bitter confrontation between Lewis and Elias, two warriors who had a history dating back to 1985 when Elias played for Souths in Brisbane and Lewis for Wynnum-Manly. Elias was close to the best player in Souths’ shock 10-8 win over Wynnum in the 1985 Brisbane Grand Final, when he made it his mission to make Lewis’s life miserable.
Coach, Wayne Bennett had stripped Wally of the Broncos’ captaincy for the 1990 season with Gene Miles handed the leadership role at the only privately owned club in the then New South Wales Rugby League competition. Lewis had captained the Kangaroos on their successful tour of New Zealand in 1989, which made Bennett’s decision all the more controversial and unexpected.
Bennett chose Lewis at lock for the Balmain game with Canberra Raiders’ signing, Kevin Walters at five eighth, the position Lewis filled in the Australian and Queensland sides. Balmain had started the season with losses to Manly and Penrith while Brisbane had drawn with Wests and then emphatically beaten Parramatta.
Coached by Warren Ryan, Balmain had been something of bogey team for the Broncos, and the trend continued in round 3, 1990. It was a spiteful, controversial game with sin binnings, penalties and Elias’s accusation of gouging. The referee was Graham Annesley who binned Broncos’ halfback, Allan Langer and hooker, Kerrod Walters.
Tigers’ centres, Ian McCann and former Wallaby, James Grant were superb against league Test pair, Tony Currie and Peter Jackson, while Balmain winger, Steve O’Brien scored two tries. Up front, hooker, Ben Elias and John Elias (not related) were outstanding. State of Origin front row rivals, Greg Dowling (Broncos) and Steve Roach (Tigers) had an absorbing duel. Broncos’ fullback, Dale Shearer scored a try and kicked four goals for a personal tally of 12 points.
Lewis was cited after the game and had to front the judiciary during the week, with a not guilty verdict being handed down.
In his book ‘Sin Bin’ (ghost writer, Josh Massoud) John Elias gave his account of the ‘gouging’ incident. He says he was tackled by Lewis, Dowling and Miles and as he was getting to his feet, felt a finger gouge his eye.
“I was certain it was Wally,” Elias said. “I must admit that I didn’t see his finger, just felt it hooking into my eyeball. But something just told me it was him. I got to my feet complaining about being gouged. Quick as a flash, Benny Elias demanded that I lodge an official complaint with the referee. Benny hated Wally from their clashes in State of Origin and would have loved nothing more than to see his nemesis be tainted with a suspension for gouging. I went through with the complaint because I was angry. I’d never been gouged in Australia before and felt it was off limits. In France (Where Elias played with Avignon) that kind of stuff happened regularly, but it was a different set of rules.
“There was no tolerance for grubby acts like gouging, spitting and biting in Australia and that’s the way it should be. The complaint was a huge deal, even for the rest of the match. Our boys went at him (Lewis) with unprecedented venom (with verballing).
“Then something very strange happened after halftime. Broncos’ forward, Mark Hohn lodged a complaint to the referee that I had eye gouged him. Video evidence would later show I was nowhere near the tackle in which Hohn claimed to be gouged. But he still made the claim. We won the game but I walked off in a foul mood. Why would Hohn lie?
“Then it became apparent. As all the players walked up the tunnel, Wally trotted up alongside me with an offer. ‘If you drop your complaint against me, I’ll get Mark to drop his against you,’ he muttered. I laughed and told him to get lost.”
Elias says Bennett phoned him leading up to the judiciary hearing asking for “the honest truth – did Wally do it?”
“I told him the truth about the tackle and Wally’s offer afterwards,” Elias said. “As always, Wayne gave little away after fielding my response. He just said thanks and hung up.”
Hohn had withdrawn his gouging allegation and was later fined $1,000 for bringing the game into disrepute.
At the judiciary none of the camera angles in video evidence proved conclusively that Lewis had gouged Elias so it came down to Wally’s word v Elias’s, so the panel had no choice but to find Lewis not guilty.
In his book, first published in 2010, Elias said he didn’t hold a grudge against Lewis. “The man still remains the best player I’ve ever seen play.”
The other ‘Queensland’ side in the competition were the Tweed Heads’ based Gold Coast Seagulls, and they were hammered 41-6 by Illawarra in Round 3. Winger Rod Wishart kicked 6 goals for the Steelers with co-winger, David Moon scoring two tries. Seagulls’ Test prop, Phil Daley was sent to the sin bin by referee, Neil Almond.
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Well the Broncos would finally get a win over the thugs from Balmain later that year in front of a packed Lang Park crowd. Sadly, the King wasn’t on the field that day to enjoy it as he was nursing the broken arm that led to him controversially missing the 1990 Kangaroo Tour. If I recall, he broke the arm in a televised Sat arvo game against St George. Those few minutes he managed to play in the preliminary final against the Raiders weren’t enough to convince the ARL doctor and more importantly, Arko, of his fitness for the Roo Tour. And what a Roo Tour it was!!