Game 1.

1977 GRAND FINAL
"St George v Parramatta, Sydney Cricket Ground, 17th September 1977"

Steve Edge and "Lord" Ted Goodwin hold the JJ GIltinan Shield after 180 minutes of battle.

Teams

ST GEORGE E Goodwin B Butler G Quinn R Finch J Chapman R McGregor M Shulman R Reddy J Jansen R Stone C Young S Edge (c) B Starkey J Bailey A Quirk

No's 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

PARRAMATTA P Mann J Porter M Cronin E Sulkowicz G Atkins M Levy J Kolc R Price G Gerard R Higgs (c) J Baker R Hilditch G Olling D Fitzgerald J Peard

Geoff Greenwood, editor of 'Australian Rugby League's Greatest Games' (Murray Publishers, Sydney, 1979) called this match 'The game of the Century'. Despite 22 years of thrilling matches since then, if we take a step away from the most recent memories that seem to dominate one's mind, it is hard to argue that his assessment of the 1977 Grand Final is wrong. The first drawn decider, the first extra time, and a bumper crowd made a great game all the more special.

The more experienced Parramatta side went in as favorites against a young, enthusiastic Dragons outfit. However, it was St George that came out firing on all guns in the first half. Led by a particularly brutal defensive display by 'Rocket' Rod Reddy, the Dragon pack dominated field position in the first half. With tiny half Mark Shulman making much ground through the bigger Eels pack, Saints were on a roll. 'Lord' Ted Goodwin had landed 2 penalty goals, looked to take a handy 4-0 lead, but right on the stroke of half-time, he put a neat chip kick in on halfway. The ball landed near Parra's lanky fullback Phil Mann, but before he could control it, Goodwin kicked again into open space, leaving Mann clutching at this air. A foot race ensued between Goodwin and the Eels backs Ed Sulkowicz and Greame Atkins, as the ball dribbled under the uprights. Goodwin launched himself at the ball, and grounded it just short of the dead ball line, knocking himself out in the process. He had just kicked the ball 50 metres and beaten everybody to it, in one of the greatest individual tries seem in a decider. Graham Chapman converted the goal, and although he took no further part in the match, Lord Ted had given saints a very handy 9-0 lead at the break.

Saints were quick to pick up where they left off after the break, and spared no energy in their continued brutal defence. Reddy in particular seemed to be targeting Eel lock Ray Price, and gave away some early penalties as a result. This played into Parramatta's hands, as their main strike weapon in his first season with the club, Mick Cronin, took the penalties, and converted them into points. His 3 pressure goals gradually brought Parra back to 9-6, and back in the game. The battered Eels pack dug in, and Saints began to tire from their whirlwind start. As the clock ticked down, however, they hung on, and hung on. Then the Eels struck.

With 3 minutes to go, Parra had grafted their way deep into Dragon Territory. They spun the ball wide to Cronin, who did what he was to become famous for on the ensuing decade. He drew 3 crucial defenders out wide and still managed to slip the ball to Price, only 5 yards away from the line. Price surged through the gap, put on a desperate sidestep, and an equally desperate pass to Sulkowicz, who crashed over in the Paddington corner. 65000 eyes then trained on Cronin, as he lined up the conversion.

Mick Cronin had been bought to do this very thing: kick the Eels to a maiden premiership. He took his time over the kick, and then moved in. With the scores locked a 9-9, and 1 minute left on the clock, the ball sailed wide. Saints tried a shallow kick off, which was taken by Parra. 2 rucks later, the hooter sounded. For the first time ever, a Grand Final had been drawn at full-time. For the first time ever, 10 minutes extra time each way would be played.

This was totally uncharted waters. From this point on, neither coach, captain, players, trainers or officials had any sort of game plan. Nowadays, the importance of a field goal in such situations is well known. But in 1977, both sides, bloodied and weary after 80 gruelling minutes could only thing of scoring tries. Saints appeared gone, and Parra started extra time with more enthusiasm. However, the pressure of winning the clubs first premiership was considerable. Prop Graham Olling made a break close to the line, but failed to pass to an unmarked Ron Hildich. Parra had the better of the first extra period, but after 10 minutes, Saints had still held them to 9-9

The Dragons took strength from this, and the pendulum started swinging their way. Players from both sides had begun to drop like flies due to leg cramps and exhaustion. Play was stopped constantly as trainers worked overtime to keep their sides on their feet. It was St George who realised the importance of the field goal, and Shulman and centre John Chapman both had unsuccessful attempts. With 3 minutes to go, Tony Quirk had an attempt, which hit the upright and bounced back into the field of play.

Parra regained possession, but with 3 minutes to travel 90 yards, the task was beyond them. A St George knock on with a minute to go saw a scrum pack 35 yards out from the Parramatta line, near the sideline. John Kolc fed the scrum, but was penalised by referee Gocher for an incorrect feed. In the days before the differential scrum penalty, Saints captain Steven Edge called Quirk over to take the kick. On the sideline, coach Harry Bath screamed to Edge to give Chapman the kick instead. So it was Chapman who lined up the kick, like Cronin 20 minutes earlier, to break the 9-9 deadlock, and snare the premiership. With 65000 pairs of eyes trained on him like hawks, he launched into the kick. The ball sailed wide. After 100 minutes of play, the longest ever game of Rugby League had ended in a draw.

The rest of this story is now history. Saints met at a team barbecue, and resolved to not let the chance slip away from them in the replay. They had no hope of knowing the drama that was unfolding at Parramatta. In the Eels dressing room, Olling showed his club doctor bite marks on his back. Ray Price's face was bloodied and bruised. It was as if Rod Reddy had used him as a punching bag, according to the Eels trough as teak skipper Ray Higgs. Higgs wanted to return fire in the replay, and with the backing of the team, he approached coach Terry Fearnley, a noted advocate of fair play. Fearnley refused to allow his players licence to retaliate, and stood his ground as the players, one by one, reluctantly agreed to abide by his wishes. The replay saw Saints again play it as tough, and it worked. Parra were never in the game, and Saints claimed their 14th premiership, their first since their run of 11 straight, with a 22-0 win. It had only taken them 180 minutes to do so!

St George 9 (Goodwin try, Goodwin 2, Chapman goals) drew with Parramatta 9 (Sulkowicz try, Cronin 3 goals)

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