Fulton Memories

[eagle66]

Some clips from 1969 to 1974

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

I missed the 72 GF, but have attended every other one since.

Blessed to have seen him play.

 

[Shoe1]

Mid 70s - I remember him running 100 miles an hour from the middle of the field to the sideline, baffling everyone, then targeting the winger and scoring in the south east brookie corner. No one expected him to run across field I don't think. It looked odd, but he must have known the winger was a poor defender. May have been against Easts, possibly Balmain.

 

[eagle66]

1972

 

[eagle66]

Mid 70s - I remember him running 100 miles an hour from the middle of the field to the sideline, baffling everyone, then targeting the winger and scoring in the south east brookie corner. No one expected him to run across field I don't think. It looked odd, but he must have known the winger was a poor defender. May have been against Easts, possibly Balmain.

Similar to the last try in the 1972 clips?

 

[Shoe1]

Similar to the last try in the 1972 clips?

Yes very similar! But I couldn't have remembered that one from the SCG because I would have only been about 3 years old, and my parents wouldn't have taken me to a game there as a toddler. He must have done it again at brookie a few years later. Unorthodox.

 

[The Who]

When comparing great players from different eras you must factor in Fulton's ability to play injured. He rarely missed a match. I don't have the stats but his dedication to fitness and methods of overcoming injury must go close to being unmatched.
His explosive speed off the mark is shown countless times in the above clips. It's almost miraculous that a player of his attacking ilk was virtually bullet-proof. So, if anyone tries to compare him with another then bring up his longevity.

 

[eagle66]

1973

 

[eagle66]

1974

 

[EaglesDontTweet]

Great thread and posts, thanks @eagle66.

 

[mickqld]

I missed the 72 GF, but have attended every other one since.

Blessed to have seen him play.

'76 was my first GF and seen all but 2007 since. My best memory of Bozo was at Henson Park in about 75 or 76. We smashed the jets by about 50 and it was just a Bozo masterclass.

 

[eagle66]

1975

 

[Suchislife]

My fondest memory of Bobby Fulton was a radio interview he did in the week leading to the 1976 Parra vs Manly Grand final. Parra had beaten Manly in every encounter that year. The first round, the mid week competition in the Amco cup, and the second round. So the Parra supporters were celebrating the Grand final victory that whole week thinking that the victory was an fait accompli. The interviewer asked Bob Fulton how could Manly defeat a team that had the wood on them, Manly had failed to defeat them all year, yadda yadda, yadda. Out of the whole interview I fondly remember Bob saying "the Grand final is a whole new ball game" as they say the rest is history. All I can tell you is that that particular Grand Final was the sweetest Grand final that I have had experienced. What made it even more sweeter was in the final stages of the game Parra pulled out a NFL tactic called the flying "wedge" which consisted of a phalanx of Parra players trying to push Ron Hilditch at the apex of the phalanx over the try line the move was of dubious legality. somehow Graham Eadie stopped them 1 foot from the try line. that my feathered friends is why as a young boy there would be no other team for me to support. That is why all the Manly haters can go and Fcuk themselves. when their team can accomplish a fraction of what Manly has accomplished than they can try to do a comparison and still not come close to us. Never were truer words spoken by Bozo and even after he joined the rooters to me he was and would always be a Manly player. RIP Bobby I am sure you will be a captain and a winner in the team you play in heaven.

 

[eagle66]

I have always recalled the match at Redfern in 1976. Bozo's 200th. I was on my own, 15 years old to the south side of the old grandstand. The crowd were rabid. Fulton was knocked down about 10 metres out and crawled to the tryline to score. The rabbit supporters were falling out of the trees. I had to zip up my jacket as was suggested by a few oldies around me.
Exhilarating to say the least and a hard fought game.

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

Thanks @eagle66 for being our league historian, and I hope the club and NRL afford you and your records the appropriate recognition.
For those youngsters (relatively speaking, lol) who didn't get to see Bozo play, I was lucky to attend a number of games at Brookie in the early '70s, and his 2 tries in the '73 grand final give a pretty good idea of his qualities. Anticipation, stepping, toughness, and blinding acceleration.
Several times I saw him at Brookie take a regulation backline pass and simply burn the opposition to score in the north-east corner, much as he did in that 2nd try in '73. That was not a one-off. That was what he did!

 

[bob dylan]

I met him in Junee in 2012 and had about 10 minutes to chat with him with no one around. We talked about kids footy, Hawaii (we had both returned recently from holidays there). He told me about the process of getting approval of use of his image on the modern version of footy cards ( i had one he hadnt seen before, he liked it but didnt remember approving it).

He signed a few things including my jersey and some footy cards. He had driven down from Sydney by himself for the unveiling of Ray Warrens statue.

A childhood hero, who along withe Terry Randall left me with no option other than to cheer for the Sea Eagles.

 

[BH72]

1972

1:09 - no marker/not square - play the ball forward - try

 

[EagleFromMay1967]

Yes very similar! But I couldn't have remembered that one from the SCG because I would have only been about 3 years old, and my parents wouldn't have taken me to a game there as a toddler. He must have done it again at brookie a few years later. Unorthodox.

I was at the SCG the day he did that lateral run, in the video. It was sort of towards me - would have been about 13. I think it was a semi final against the Roosters. No one could work out what he was doing or why. There may have been some "Run Straight !" type jeers from the MWSE fans nearby. Then low and behold, he embarrasses everyone and scores as if he'd planned it. I didn't think on the day that he planned it, that it was 'ad lib' football.
But now, i am not so sure.

 

[Terry Zarsoff]

One of his greatest, in terms of quickness between the ears, was the time they played the Squeels at Brookvale, c.1973. At one point Manly received a penalty and Eadie trotted up to kick the goal. Parramatta were waiting in the in-goal area.

Fulton, with a huge grin, just picked up the ball and strode over for a try. Parra protested, but the ref advised them it was perfectly legal - he hadn’t pointed to the posts for a penalty conversion, because Fulton hadn’t advised him of such.

 

[BOZO]

One of his greatest, in terms of quickness between the ears, was the time they played the Squeels at Brookvale, c.1973. At one point Manly received a penalty and Eadie trotted up to kick the goal. Parramatta were waiting in the in-goal area.

Fulton, with a huge grin, just picked up the ball and strode over for a try. Parra protested, but the ref advised them it was perfectly legal - he hadn’t pointed to the posts for a penalty conversion, because Fulton hadn’t advised him of such.

Thanks for those Great memories Tezz
I would have loved to have seen that by the Great Man . He was a step above the rest indeed !