CELEBRATION OF A GOLDEN ERA FOR THE BRL

When John Ribot quit Brisbane Rugby League in 1978 for the bright lights of Sydney he thought everything would be bigger and better in Australia’s premier competition.

Instead he found himself yearning for the big match atmosphere of Lang Park on a Sunday afternoon when his former clubs, Wests and Valleys would regularly play in front of big crowds. The Wests’ team of the mid-1970s was the glamour side of the Brisbane competition, and it was not unusual for the Panthers to attract over 20,000 fans to a home and away match. Ribot had joined the Newtown Jets in Sydney, and their home crowds at Henson Park averaged just 3,816.

“Look, Sydney was more professional, and the depth of talent was greater than Brisbane, but it wasn’t a giant step up for me,” Ribot said. “The 1970s were the peak of club football in Brisbane, and I was proud to be part of it.”

Ribot, who made his Test debut from Sydney Wests in 1981, was one of 10 former Brisbane Rugby League stars interviewed at a 1970s Family of League Foundation Brisbane South Committee ‘Celebration of the Seventies Lunch’ at Brisbane’s Pullman Hotel on October 3, with over 340 paying guests, most of them former players and officials from that era.

Media figures, John McCoy and Steve Ricketts interviewed the 10 former stars, across three different panels. The first panelists were Norm Clarke (Valleys), Des Morris (Easts) and Mark Murray (Norths). They were followed by Ribot, John Salter (Souths) and Bob Jones (Redcliffe). Salter, a former State halfback, wore his 1970s’ Souths number 7 jersey. The final panel of four was made up of Geoff Richardson (Wests), John Lang (Easts), David Wright (Brothers) and Wally Lewis (Valleys). Lewis played for Wynnum-Manly in the 1980s before becoming the Broncos’ inaugural skipper in 1988.

Valleys dominated the 1970s with five premierships, and the club also dominated the gathering at the Pullman, having bought five tables for former players, officials and supporters. And most of those at the tables were decked out in the club’s colours of Royal Blue. Easts won three Premierships in the 1970s with Wests claiming the other two titles – in 1975-76 – and both clubs were also strongly represented at the Pullman.

The idea for a ‘Seventies’ function grew from members of Wests’ Old Boys approaching Family of League’s Queensland office with a plan to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Wests’ classic 26-24 win over Redcliffe in the 1975 Grand Final which drew 41,000 people to Lang Park, and saw a field invasion on fulltime as Redcliffe five eighth, Steve Williams put up a bomb in an attempt to snatch a last gasp win.

Ultimately it was decided to celebrate the decade, given it marked the zenith of the code in Brisbane, following a rapid period of growth in the 1960s when Norths, under the coaching of Bob Bax, won six premierships, and Brothers two. In the 1980s there was a gradual slide in standards and attendances as a flood of players headed for Sydney and England.

The 1970s began with an extra time win by Valleys over Norths at Lang Park (now Suncorp Stadium), with Norm Clarke kicking the match winning conversion, a kick likened to Reece Walsh’s sideline shot in the Broncos’ preliminary final win over Penrith at Suncorp in September this year.

“That was a great kick (by Walsh), but it was blowing a gale the day I had to take my shot,” Clarke said. 

When future Test halfback, Mark Murray joined Norths in 1978 from Millmerran on the Darling Downs, Bob Bax was the coach.

“Bob had returned to coaching after the club had had a couple of lean seasons,” Murray said. “But things got worse and we finished with the wooden spoon. I thought I might have been a jinx, given all the success Bob had in the 1960s”. In 1979 New Zealander, Graham Lowe was appointed coach and in 1980 Norths won the Grand Final with Murray the skipper.

Easts’ pair, Des Morris and John lang were the standout forwards of the 1970s, with Morris captain-coach when Easts won back-to-back titles in 1977-78. Easts had been beaten 16-1 by Wests in the 1976 Grand Final with Easts’ forward, John Payne kicking a field goal early in the match.

“I still don’t know why ‘Paynee’ did that,” Morris told the lunch.

Lang, who played nine Tests for Australia in the 1970s and toured overseas with the Kangaroos in 1973 and 1975, said he didn’t feel the need to move to Sydney to further his representative claims. When he finally made the move in 1980, he represented Australia again; played for New South Wales and then was named hooker in the first ever Queensland State of Origin side.

Bob Jones, now Chairman of the Dolphins NRL franchise, moved to the Brisbane competition from Gunnedah in 1975, and was in awe of the toughness of the forwards in the Redcliffe pack, men like Bevan Bleakley, Forrester Grayson, John Barber and Ian Thinee.

“I knew nothing about the Brisbane competition until I got here, and the standard was a real eye opener,” he said.

Brothers’ stalwart David Wright played for Australia from the Brisbane competition in 1975, and while he concedes Origin football was inevitable, he says people should not forget how close Queensland came to toppling the Blues in the mid-1970s under the coaching of Barry Muir.

“The series went to a decider at the SCG in 1975, and we should have won, but New South Wales hung on for a 9-8 win,” Wright said.

Former Wests’ five eighth, Geoff Richardson, a dual international, also paid tribute to Muir, who took Redcliffe to two Grand Finals in the 1970s and gave the Queensland players self belief.

Richardson rated Wests’ backlines of 1975 and ’76 as the equal to any in Australia at the time with the likes of Internationals Wayne Stewart, Greg Oliphant and Steve Crear, along with Ribot at lock, who had the pace of a winger.

“Our fullback, Greg ‘Slippery’ McCarthy was the Reece Walsh of his time,” Richardson said. “I loved the style of football we played, with the ball doing the work. I know the game is fast and physical now, but there is too much one-out stuff.”

The ‘Immortal’ Wally Lewis, resplendent in the Royal Blue, said his time at Valleys in the 1970s was the making of him, first under the coaching of former Test winger, Johnny Rhodes, and then under former Test halfback, Ross Strudwick.

In Lewis’s first season in the BRL he helped Valleys to the Grand Final against Easts, and with Valleys leading 10-9 in the second half Lewis did a chip kick and chase and appeared to have scored a sensational try. But referee, Eddie Ward ruled he had not properly grounded the ball, a decision hotly disputed by Lewis. Ward was in the audience at the Pullman function, and Lewis was asked what he felt now about the call, after all these years. “Eddie got it right,” Lewis said.

Ward became quite emotional when a number of former players went out of their way to say how much they respected him as a referee, even though things might have got testy at times ‘back in the day’.

All eight Brisbane clubs were represented at the lunch, and it was a who’s who of football in the 70s. Some of those on hand were Col Smith, John Alroe (Norths); Greg Veivers, Bill Argeros (Souths); Steve Stacey, Errol Slingsby (Easts); Ian Robson, Wayne Douglas (Wests); Ken Churchill, Lester Young (Wynnum-Manly); Trevor Day, Brian Winney (Redcliffe); Alan Power, Greg Thomas (Brothers); Vic Wieland, Peter McWhirter (Valleys). McWhirter, Michael Brice (Wests) and John O’Leary (Easts) went over and above to organise table sales and support for the lunch.

Former Test forward, Mick Veivers played for Souths in the 1960s, before joining Manly-Warringah, but is strongly linked with Brisbane in the 1970s through his role as a television commentator alongside former Brothers’ star, George Doniger. Mick was present at the lunch but George was an apology, as he was in Rome making a Papal visit.

Former Easts’ lock, Allan Currie – winner of the Rothmans Medal in 1977 – was accompanied by his nephew, former Test centre, Tony Currie who played for Wests and Redcliffe in the 1980s, and finished his career with a Brisbane Premiership at Wests after he was part of the Broncos’ inaugural Grand Final winning side in 1992.

The Pullman was an appropriate venue for the lunch given it hosted Rothmans Gold Medal Dinners at a time when the hotel was known as The Crest. There were some wild nights at those black tie functions, and the 2025 roll-up at the old ‘Crest’ was almost sedate, although many patrons continued to swap memories at a bar across the road in King George Square, long after the function finished.

Family of League fund raising efforts on the day exceeded expectations with guests giving tremendous support to the raffles and also to the auction, which was conducted by former Wests’ forward, Rod Bradshaw from Realty Pacific Real Estate at Capalaba.

Rugby League historian and film maker, Anthony O’Brien did a wonderful job preparing videos and footage for the lunch. Anthony is in the process of completing a documentary on the history of the BRL. You can keep updated by registering your interest at www.thebrisbanecomp.com.au Fellow historian, Paul Hayes provided a wonderful array of memorabilia from his amazing collection.

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