Big League Weekly Edition – July 25, 2019

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Round 19 BIGLEAGUE 2019 9

8.DickHuddart

A second-rowdestroyerforGreat

Britainonthe 1958 and’62Lions

tours,HuddartjoinedStGeorge

in1964,butwasruledoutthe

Dragons’1964-65GrandFinal

victoriesbyinjury.Hefinally

scoreda tryinthewinoverBalmain

in 1966 tobecomethefirstBritish

playertowina Sydneypremiership.

Anoutstandingdefenderand

renownedball-runner,Huddart

playeda totalof 78 firstgrade

gamesfortheSaintsandlater

hadstintswithDubboand

NewcastleclubMacquarieUnited.

7.ElleryHanley

‘TheBlackPearl’s’performances

inBalmain’smiraculousruntothe

1988 GrandFinalholda treasured

placeinpremiershipfolklore.

ThearistocraticWiganandGreat

Britaincaptainscoredtriesin

four-straightmatchesasthe

Tigersprogressedfroma fifth-

placeplayofftothedecider.His

groggyexitfromtheGrandFinal

courtesyofa TerryLambtackle

effectivelysealedBalmain’sfatein

a 24-12losstoCanterbury.Hanley

starredduringa 13-gamestint

withWeststhefollowingseason

beforehereturnedtotheTigers

asa 35-year-oldduring1996-97.

6.TommyBishop

Fiery15-TestveteranTommy

Bishopturnedthestruggling

Sharksintopremiership

contendersintheearly-1970s.

Hejoinedtheclubin1969,

tookoverascaptain-coachthe

followingseasonandgradually

ledCronullauptheladder,

culminatingintheirmaidenfinals

seriesin’73.Theyprogressed

totheGrandFinal,whereBishop

wasregardedasoneofthemain

instigatorsoftheviolencethat

plaguedtheinfamousmatch,won

10-7 by Manly. He was unable to

British

imports

cometoter

followingse

joinedBrisb

latercoach

5.Garet

Equallyinfl

five-eighth,

188 NRLga

andStGeor

fora British

theNo.6int

NRLpremie

linkingwith

Hehascapt

2016,score

gamesforthejointventure,and

wasa top-five a y e a

finisherin 2014 and’17– winning

Five-eighthoftheYearhonoursin

thelatter.Injuryhascurtailedhis

finalseasonbeforeheadinghome,

butheisontracktofeature in the

latterroundsof2019.

4.JamesGraham

A ManofSteelandSuperLeague

premiershipwinner,Graham’s

arrivalatCanterburyin 2012

wasa keyfactorintheclub’s

minorpremiershipanddriveto

thegrandfinal.Herestoredhis

reputationafterservinga 12-week

suspensionforbitingBillySlater

inthe 2012 decider,earningthe

DallyMPropoftheYeargongand

captainingtheBulldogstothe

GrandFinalin2014.Heskippered

theBulldogsforthenextthree

seasonsbeforejoining St George

Illawarra in 2018.

nire seasonon e

buthisfearlessplayonbothsides

ofballwerevitalingredients

totheSydneyRoosters’runof

three-straightGrandFinals,

includingtheir 2002 premiership.

Morleyplayed 113 gamesforthe

Tri-colours,buta seven-week

suspensionprematurelyendedhis

NRLtenurein2006.Incredibly,

MorleyplayedanothernineSuper

Leagueseasons,finallyending

a careerspanningmore than

20 yearsin2015.

2.MalcolmReilly

Reilly’sintimidationfactorand

ball-playingclasshelpedManly

tobreakthroughfora belated

premiership.Heplayed 89 games

acrossfiveseasonsfortheSea

Eagles,featuringintheclub’s

1972-73GrandFinalvictories.

His heavy-handed tactics made

decadeslaterascoachof

Newcastle,guidingtheclubto

itsmaidenpremiershipin1997.

1.SamBurgess

BurgessarrivedatSouthSydney

in 2010 andranksamongthe

mostinfluentialNRLplayers

ofthedecade.Hisinitialstint

includedonecampaignwrecked

byinjuryandsuspension,but

culminatedwith 2014 DallyMLock

oftheYearhonoursanda heroic

ChurchillMedalperformance

afterfracturinghischeekbone

andeyesocketinthegrandfinal.

Aftera briefrugbyunionforay,

BurgesscamebacktoSouthsin

2016 andimmediatelyreturned

tothetopechelonofthegame’s

forwards.TheRabbitohscaptainis

ontracktobecomethefirstBritish

playerevertoplay200 games NRL

games next year.

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PHOTOS:

Geoff Henderson (Reilly), Newspix (Bishop)