Top 10 Most Memorable Grand Finals - Number 10
February 19th 2011 03:41
Top 10 Most Memorable Grand Finals
With the 2011 NRL season fast approaching, each of the sixteen teams would be preparing for the long and arduous year ahead. Indeed, playing in the NRL involves a lot of commitment, training and hard work by all players in a hope that their team can progress all the way to that often magical day in early October.
Since the first official Grand Final in 1930 which saw the Western Suburbs Magpies claim their first Premiership over St. George, it has been a theatre where dreams have been made and broken. The Grand Final is the culmination of sometimes even years of hard work and determination and in 2011 it will again be the ultimate prize in the NRL.
One thing for sure is that everyone has a ‘Grand Final memory’ and each one is memorable in one way or another. Others though, for whatever reason, live on in infamy. Here is a collection of the Top 10 Most Memorable Grand Finals.
Number 10
1970: South Sydney Rabbitohs vs Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
Fire and brimstone are words that have been used to describe the 1970 Grand Final between a legendary Souths team and the up and coming Manly-Warringah. And indeed Souths captain John Sattler had to walk through fire and brimstone after having his jaw shattered in only the fourth minute of the game.
Back in the days when almost anything went unnoticed by the referees, Manly’s John Bucknall marched up to Sattler in back-play and delivered a devastating uppercut. The blow left Sattler with a double fracture and knocked out teeth, leaving the Souths captain understandably dazed.
With the interchange rules of 1970 only allowing one replacement, Sattler refused to leave the field, or for that matter show any pain. Bleeding out of his mouth, he is quoted as saying to fellow team-mate Mike Cleary; ‘Hold me up so they don’t know I’m hurt’.
Playing through the pain by clutching his jaw together, Sattler battled on and it was not until halftime that his fellow team-mates learnt of his injury. Despite refusing to allow his fellow players to protect him, the stellar forward pack of McCarthy, Coote, Stevens and O’Neill rallied around their captain and completely dominated Manly in the second half.
Ultimately Souths won three tries to nil with a 23-12 victory. Their gifted fullback Eric Simms kicked four field goals, which at the time were worth two points, a record in any Grand Final.
Ironically, Bucknall was replaced in the 35th minute after sustaining a shoulder injury.
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