1968 GF Eagles v Rabbits

[Ian Martin tragic]

Just noticed the NRL TV site has all the GFs from 66 on for viewing. Watching the 68 one which I remember listening to vaguely on the radio but have never seen in its entirety.

The first 5 mins of action include:

Coote leading with an elbow to Billy Bradstreet hitting the ball up. Bradstreet tackles him and belts him on the ground. Coote gets up, plays the ball and decks Bradstreet with a straight right. Referee Col Pearse gives Manly a penalty. Bob Batty misses the shot for goal.

A minute or so later Coote is running the ball again and is tackled. Pogo Morgan comes in to mark Coote and kicks him in the head on the ground first (square up). Pearse gives Rabbits a penalty.

Different game back then...

 

[Ian Martin tragic]

It goes on from there for a while with more punches and elbows, and Herman Hamilton getting dropped on his head.

Starts to settle down after that to a recognisable game of football. So many errors in the game pre the Gibson era where a more NFL approach to training drills, defensive structures and possession management etc came into it.

 

[globaleagle]

Greenburg's daughter wont watch that replay.

 

[Ian Martin tragic]

?

 

[globaleagle]

?

It was a reference to the time he said that his daughter and her friends are being turned off by the unruly play of today's players. So there's no way they'd watch a tough game like the 68 GF

A few times on here people have posted 'what would todd's daughter do?"

dat's all.

 

[Ian Martin tragic]

Ok thanks. sorry not up with all the threads. I'm a child of this 60s-70s era but I have to say it is shocking to see the brutality from today's perspective. Maybe I'm just getting older. I think it takes just as much courage to play today but you also had to deal with pub fight threats in those days.

I think a bit more drill and precision has improved the quality of the game, but today it is too 'scientific' and regimented. When they went to 6 tackles, and after some improvement in ball security/defence/basic skills I think the game was about at its best to watch later in the 70s (before Wazzaball came along as a negative exploitation of more disciplined training/strategies).

 

[Ian Martin tragic]

If Bob Batty had kicked a couple of goals we might have one that 68 GF...

 

[Ian Martin tragic]

Watch the last few minutes! Simms has a shot at goal which hits the post. Manly have to go 100 yards to win. Alec Tennant brings it out and starts an attack. Fulton gets it and draws and passes. Bob Moses flies in with a brutal headshot that poleaxes Bozo. Tennant smashes Moses, Fulton bounces up and takes a swing, then Fred Jones king hits him. Manly get the penalty. Each action today would merit 10 week min. suspensions....

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

Watch the last few minutes! Simms has a shot at goal which hits the post. Manly have to go 100 yards to win. Alec Tennant brings it out and starts an attack. Fulton gets it and draws and passes. Bob Moses flies in with a brutal headshot that poleaxes Bozo. Tennant smashes Moses, Fulton bounces up and takes a swing, then Fred Jones king hits him. Manly get the penalty. Each action today would merit 10 week min. suspensions....

It’s incredible how the game has been sanitised , mind you it was way too brutal backing those days.

It’s why I admire the older players far more than these young ones , you had to be more than tough to play in the 60’s and 70’s.

 

[Ian Martin tragic]

It’s incredible how the game has been sanitised , mind you it was way too brutal backing those days.

It’s why I admire the older players far more than these young ones , you had to be more than tough to play in the 60’s and 70’s.

Yes I think by the late 70s players had had to step up in fitness and defensive discipline, no interchange, and still had to deal with the brutality. No doubt the intensity and speed needed today is greater overall by a long way.

 

[Ian Martin tragic]

Final thoughts on the 68 GF:
Souths won because they scrambled incredibly well. They also looked a bit more organised and strategic overall. Manly did have the better of the 2nd half after dropping the ball all the way through the first half.

Manly's best was Pogo Morgan. He was a constant threat in attack (and got our only try when probably no other player would have withstood the cover defence trying to crash him into touch in goal in the corner).

Bozo was dangerous spasmodically and tried a few of his kick and chases. One of them got what I call the Fulton bounce (he seemed to be able to get it regularly) which bamboozled 3 covering Rabbits. He regained about 5 yards out but they managed to jump him before he got away to score.

 

[Class of 96]

Nice post mate. Shows both the brutality and purity of footy back then, contrasted against the modern game.

 

[40 nil]

Final thoughts on the 68 GF:

If you would like to compare notes, I posted a little review of the same game on 6 September

https://silvertails.net/threads/brad-parker-is-a-ginja-ninja-machine.55511/page-33#post-1182626

I also rewatched the 1970 GF - concluding that it was difficult to implement more than simple game plans in the four tackle game

 

[Ian Martin tragic]

Thanks 40 for pointing me at your review of the game. We saw it very similarly from our modern eyes. Yes I think 4 tackle football + the contestable nature of scrums led to this open, reactive kind of play. Souths seemed a bit more structured at times but not by much, kicking for field position more and having a bit more of a plan in attack. The scrums were pretty much a lottery often: penalty, win or lose being equally possible. Freddy got us a string of possession at one stage which got us some momentum.

I was at the 1970 game and haven't seen it since. When I'm feeling strong enough I'll watch it, but there was not much to cheer about that day for us.

 

[eagle66]

It certainly looks like the Major Semi was Manly's GF that year. I have got the game, your comments of the GF has urged me to watch it again. I remember Manly dominating Souths that day and Bob Batty was kicking goals to consolidate a good lead before Souths tried to comeback.

 

[nightster]

I was there ... got pizzed as a newt ... woke up in a pool of vomit ... missed the whole thing .... my old man gave me a good kick up the date .... I haven't been paralytic since

 

[40 nil]

I was at the 1970 game and haven't seen it since.

I was at both the 68 & 70 GFs. The 68 GF was more memorable as it was a much closer game - Souths only won as a result of Manly errors - esp. Batty's poor pass to Hanigan - that was the turning point in the game. Despite Souths' stellar line up, they could be beaten as Balmain proved the following year.

 

[Ian Martin tragic]

My parents went to the 68 GF without me (mum a rabbitoh and dad a sea eagle)... The '70 one was a bit of a shutout. I vaguely remember a kick and chase into the in-goal area by us and Simms or someone kicking it dead. Bobby Grant darting through for his 'game over' try. That and alot of field goals. At the end when Souths did their lap of honour I remember seeing Sattler's face with a big red maw where his mouth was.