Big League Weekly Edition – August 01, 2019

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Round 20 BIGLEAGUE 20199

8.LukeLewis

Lewiswasoneofmanybreakout

youngsterstostarinPenrith’s

2003 premiershiptriumph,

subsequentlydebutingforNSWin

2004.Hemadea successfulswitch

tothehalves,butin 2009 – asthe

onlyremainingmemberofthe

Panthers’grandfinal-winning

squad– Lewismadeanevenbigger

impactintheback-row,earning

a NSWrecallanda Testdebut.

DallyMLockandPenrith’sPlayer

oftheYearin2010,Lewisstarted

10 ofhis 16 Testsinthesecond

rowandwontheCliveChurchill

MedalafterCronulla’s 2016

GrandFinalvictory.

7.JohnRibot

A Queenslandrepatlockin1977,

RibotjoinedNewtownthefollowing

seasonandscored 12 tries

• equallingtherecordformosttries
  bya forwardina debutseason.But
  WestscoachRoyMasterschanged
  thetrajectoryofRibot’scareerby
  switchinghimtothewingin1980.
  Hescored 15 triesinhisfirst 13
  games– winningtheinauguralDally
  MWingeroftheYearaward– and
  madehisTestdebutin1981.Dally
  MWingeroftheYearagainin1982,
  Ribottop-scoredon‘TheInvincibles’
  KangarooTour with 25 tries in 14
  matches.

6.SteveMorris

DebutingforAustraliaathalfback

fromDaptoin1978,Morrisjoined

StGeorgethefollowingseason

andstarredintheclub’sGrand

FinalvictoryintheNo.7.ButRoy

MastersrepeatedhisJohnRibot

masterstrokebymoving‘Slippery’

Morristothewingduring1983.

Thediminutiveflyerfinished

theyearwith 19 tries,wonthe

DallyMWingeroftheYeargong

in 1984 and’87(thelatterafter

joiningEasts)andrepresented

NSW in two Origins on the flank.

Positional

switches

S

thei

theywouldgoont m as t yWI E VA NS

5.RubenWiki

BlockbustingWikiwas

MalMeninga’scentre

partnerinCanberra’s 1994

premiership-winningteamand

virtuallyanautomaticpickin

NewZealand’sTestbackline

thereafter.ButRaiderscoach

MeningatriedWikiintheengine

roomin1998,kick-starting

a newphaseinhiscareer.

WikiwontheRaiders’Playerof

theYearawardin2002-03as

a second-rowerandclaimedthe

Warriors’correspondinghonour

in 2005 aftermovingtoprop.

TheKiwislegendstarted 28 of

his 55 Testsintheforwards.

4.DannyBuderus

BuderuspartneredTrentBarrett

inthehalvesforAustralian

Schoolboysin 1995 beforebeing

signedbyNewcastle.Originally

assignedtoa ‘Mr.Fix-it’role–

playingoffthebenchaswellas

makingstartsatfullbackand

centre– injuriessawBuderus

pitchedina hookerduringthe

1998 finals.SteveWalters’injury-

enforcedretirementin 1999 gave

Buderusanotheropportunity

intheNo.9andheneverlooked

back.‘Bedsy’playedthefirstof

24 Testsathookerin 2001 and

begana NSW-recordstreakof

21 Originsthefollowingseason.

3.BradFittler

‘Freddy’wasa shockfive-eighth

selectionforPenrithduringthe

1989 finals and earned his first

run-onappearanceforNSWin

thepositionin1991.Butthebulk

ofthefirsthalfofhis16-season

clubcareerwasspentatcentre

orlock.Theskipperfinishedhis

Testcareerin 2001 atlockto

accommodateTrentBarrett,but

heworetheNo.13justfourtimes

atclublevelfrom 1998 onwards.

Fittlerholdstheuniquedistinction

ofwinningDallyMpositional

awardsinthreepositions:

centre(1992-93),lock(1994)

andfive-eighth(1998-99,2002).

2.ArthurBeetson

Beetsonwasgradedasa centre

byRedcliffe,winninga BRL

premiershipin1965.Butit

wasn’tlongbeforehisburly

physiqueandsublimeballskills

werebeingutilisedinthepack.

In1966,BeetsonmadehisTest

debutandplayedinBalmain’s

GrandFinallosstoSouthsasa

second-rower.‘BigArtie’captained

Eaststopremiershipgloryin

1974-75 from the front-row,

whereheplayedmostofhis

representativecareer.Immortal

statuswasbestoweduponBeetson

in2003,whilehewasnamedat

propintheAustralianTeamofthe

Centuryandasa second-rowerin

Queensland’sequivalentin2008.

1.DarrenLockyer

Regardedasa five-eighthwhen

hedebutedin1995,Lockyer

becamea superstarintheNo.

jersey– andoneofthegreatest

fullbacksofalltimeduringseven

seasonsintheposition.Buthe

revertedtofive-eighthin 2004

tosparkthestagnatingBroncos.

Lockyerpromptlyassumedthe

No.6roleintheQueenslandand

Australiansides,andwouldjointhe

ranksofrugbyleague’sbest-ever

five-eighths.Hecreatedhistory

bywinningtheGoldenBootwhile

playingbothpositions,wonthe

DallyMFullbackandFive-eighth

oftheYearthreetimeseach,and

finishedhisfirstgradecareerwith

exactly 166 starts in both spots. PHOTOS:

Darren England (Lockyer), Frank Violi (Morris)

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