Graham Eadie
Encyclopedia
Graham "Wombat" Eadie is an Australian former rugby league
footballer of the 1970s and 80s who has been named amongst the nation's finest of the 20th century. A New South Wales State of Origin
and Australian international representative fullback, he played in Australia during Manly-Warringah
's dominance of the NSWRFL competition during the 1970s. He won four premierships with them and his 1,917 points in first grade and 2,070 points in all grades were both records at the time of his retirement. Eadie also played in England for Halifax
, winning the Challenge Cup
final of 1987 with them. He also won World Cup
s with Australia and collected awards such as the Rothmans Medal
and Lance Todd Trophy
.
Australia 1973-1979: 20 Tests, 16 points (2 tries, 5 goals)
Eadie was graded by Manly-Warringah in 1971 and showed immediate promise in the lower grades that season. The following year with the retirement of long serving Manly fullback Bob Batty, he established himself as the team's first grade fullback and his powerful running style was already a serious danger to all Manly's opponents. Though not excessively tall at just under 180 cm, Eadie's solid build of around 97kg (15 stone
) gave him abundant pace and so much strength that once he was on the move, few opposing defenders were ever able to stop him when he ran into the backline. At the same time, Eadie was an accurate line kicker and extremely safe under the high ball in an era when the "bomb" was coming into prominence.
Although he had been used as a goal kicker in some games in 1972, it was only in 1973 that Eadie became Manly's major point scorer. That year, he kicked 14 goals in a match against Penrith, and for the following three years he was the leading point scorer in the competition, reaching a high of 242 points (14 tries and 100 goals) in 1975. He toured with the Kangaroos in 1973 and, after an injury to the veteran Graeme Langlands
, took over as Test fullback for the last two Tests. Though Eadie was to remain Australia's regular fullback until he retired from representative rugby league following the experimental 1980 State of Origin match, he was never a prolific point scorer at Test level because NSW Country and later Parramatta Eels
centre Mick Cronin
was always given the goal kicking duties.
In 1974 Eadie won the prestigious Rothmans Medal
as Sydney rugby league's best-and-fairest player, and at the end of the controversial 1978 finals series he produced one of the finest performances ever by a fullback in the grand final replay, scoring a try, nearly scoring another, and charging consistently through an extremely strong Cronulla-Sutherland defence. Two years earlier, his accurate goalkicking under pressure won Manly a grand final where they scored only one try to Parramatta
's two. Eadie's dominance in the '76 and '78 Grand Finals was recognised thirty years later with the awarding of retrospective Clive Churchill Medals for Man of the Match in those games.
Despite Manly declining in surprising fashion to miss the semi-finals for the first time in twelve years in 1979, Eadie's form remained excellent, and even a major injury that forced him to miss half of the 1981 season failed to dim his brilliance: at the end of 1982 commentators were noticing how he was "more involved in the game than at any stage since 1973." Thus his retirement from Sydney rugby league after Manly's loss in the 1983 grand final was regretted by most lovers of the game - a fact born out by his remarkable comeback for English club Halifax
three years later, when he scored sixteen tries (a record for a fullback) and helped Halifax to the 1986 Club Championship and 1987 Rugby League Challenge Cup
, winning the Lance Todd Trophy
for his man-of-the-match performance in the final.
After this Eadie occasionally wrote articles for such magazines as Rugby League Week
and attempted to carve a career as a coach. His first attempt with Halifax was short-lived, and in 1991 he returned to Australia as coach of the Gold Coast reserve grade side. Given that he took them to fourth position, it seems surprising that Eadie was never given an offer by any Winfield Cup
club to coach first grade.
His son, Brook Eadie, won a President's Cup premiership with the South Queensland Crushers
in 1996, but plans for a top grade career were thwarted by the demise of that club due to the Super League war
. Eadie still lives on the Gold Coast
today, where he works as a sales representative for a local brewery.
in halifax
's 19-18 victory over St. Helens in the 1987 Challenge Cup
final at Wembley Stadium on 2 May 1987.
and ARL
to celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia.
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
footballer of the 1970s and 80s who has been named amongst the nation's finest of the 20th century. A New South Wales State of Origin
Rugby League State of Origin
State of Origin is an annual best of three series of rugby league football matches contested by the Maroons and the Blues, who represent the Australian states of Queensland and New South Wales respectively...
and Australian international representative fullback, he played in Australia during Manly-Warringah
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
The Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based on the Northern Beaches of Sydney. They compete in the National Rugby League's Telstra Premiership, the premier rugby league competition of Australasia...
's dominance of the NSWRFL competition during the 1970s. He won four premierships with them and his 1,917 points in first grade and 2,070 points in all grades were both records at the time of his retirement. Eadie also played in England for Halifax
Halifax RLFC
Halifax RLFC is one of the most historic rugby league clubs in the game, formed over a century ago, in 1873 in the Yorkshire town of Halifax. Known as 'Fax', the official club colours are blue and white hoops, blue shorts and blue socks . They share The Shay stadium with football club FC Halifax Town...
, winning the Challenge Cup
Challenge Cup
The Challenge Cup is a knockout cup competition for rugby league clubs organised by the Rugby Football League. Originally it was contested only by British teams but in recent years has been expanded to allow teams from France and Russia to take part....
final of 1987 with them. He also won World Cup
Rugby League World Cup
The Rugby League World Cup is an international rugby league competition contested by members of the Rugby League International Federation . It has been held nearly once every 4 years on average since its inaugural tournament in France in 1954...
s with Australia and collected awards such as the Rothmans Medal
Rothmans Medal
The Rothmans Medal was the premier individual award in both the New South Wales Rugby League and Brisbane Rugby League competitions, and later in the Australian Rugby League, which was given to the player voted by referees as the best and fairest in those competitions for that year.The award was...
and Lance Todd Trophy
Lance Todd Trophy
The Lance Todd Trophy is awarded to the Man-of-the-Match in rugby league football's Challenge Cup Final.The trophy was introduced in 1946, in memory of Lance Todd, the New Zealand-born player and administrator, who was killed in a road accident during the Second World War...
.
Career
Manly 1971-1983: 237 games, 1,917 points (71 tries, 847 goals, 3 field goals)Australia 1973-1979: 20 Tests, 16 points (2 tries, 5 goals)
Eadie was graded by Manly-Warringah in 1971 and showed immediate promise in the lower grades that season. The following year with the retirement of long serving Manly fullback Bob Batty, he established himself as the team's first grade fullback and his powerful running style was already a serious danger to all Manly's opponents. Though not excessively tall at just under 180 cm, Eadie's solid build of around 97kg (15 stone
Stone (weight)
The stone is a units of measurement that was used in many North European countries until the advent of metrication. It value, which ranged from 3 kg to 12 kg, varied from city to city and also often from commodity to commodity...
) gave him abundant pace and so much strength that once he was on the move, few opposing defenders were ever able to stop him when he ran into the backline. At the same time, Eadie was an accurate line kicker and extremely safe under the high ball in an era when the "bomb" was coming into prominence.
Although he had been used as a goal kicker in some games in 1972, it was only in 1973 that Eadie became Manly's major point scorer. That year, he kicked 14 goals in a match against Penrith, and for the following three years he was the leading point scorer in the competition, reaching a high of 242 points (14 tries and 100 goals) in 1975. He toured with the Kangaroos in 1973 and, after an injury to the veteran Graeme Langlands
Graeme Langlands
Graeme 'Changa' Langlands, MBE, is an Australian former rugby league footballer and coach of the 1960s and 70s. He retired as the most-capped player for the Australian national team with 45 from 1963 to 1975, and captained his country in 15 Test matches and World Cup games. Langlands was the...
, took over as Test fullback for the last two Tests. Though Eadie was to remain Australia's regular fullback until he retired from representative rugby league following the experimental 1980 State of Origin match, he was never a prolific point scorer at Test level because NSW Country and later Parramatta Eels
Parramatta Eels
The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta. The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, with their First Grade side playing their first season in the New South Wales Rugby Football League...
centre Mick Cronin
Mick Cronin (rugby league)
Michael William "Mick" Cronin OAM is an Australian former rugby league footballer and coach. He was a goal-kicking centre for the Australian national team and a stalwart for the Parramatta Eels club. He played in 22 Tests and 11 World Cup matches between 1973 and 1982...
was always given the goal kicking duties.
In 1974 Eadie won the prestigious Rothmans Medal
Rothmans Medal
The Rothmans Medal was the premier individual award in both the New South Wales Rugby League and Brisbane Rugby League competitions, and later in the Australian Rugby League, which was given to the player voted by referees as the best and fairest in those competitions for that year.The award was...
as Sydney rugby league's best-and-fairest player, and at the end of the controversial 1978 finals series he produced one of the finest performances ever by a fullback in the grand final replay, scoring a try, nearly scoring another, and charging consistently through an extremely strong Cronulla-Sutherland defence. Two years earlier, his accurate goalkicking under pressure won Manly a grand final where they scored only one try to Parramatta
Parramatta Eels
The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta. The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, with their First Grade side playing their first season in the New South Wales Rugby Football League...
's two. Eadie's dominance in the '76 and '78 Grand Finals was recognised thirty years later with the awarding of retrospective Clive Churchill Medals for Man of the Match in those games.
Despite Manly declining in surprising fashion to miss the semi-finals for the first time in twelve years in 1979, Eadie's form remained excellent, and even a major injury that forced him to miss half of the 1981 season failed to dim his brilliance: at the end of 1982 commentators were noticing how he was "more involved in the game than at any stage since 1973." Thus his retirement from Sydney rugby league after Manly's loss in the 1983 grand final was regretted by most lovers of the game - a fact born out by his remarkable comeback for English club Halifax
Halifax RLFC
Halifax RLFC is one of the most historic rugby league clubs in the game, formed over a century ago, in 1873 in the Yorkshire town of Halifax. Known as 'Fax', the official club colours are blue and white hoops, blue shorts and blue socks . They share The Shay stadium with football club FC Halifax Town...
three years later, when he scored sixteen tries (a record for a fullback) and helped Halifax to the 1986 Club Championship and 1987 Rugby League Challenge Cup
Challenge Cup
The Challenge Cup is a knockout cup competition for rugby league clubs organised by the Rugby Football League. Originally it was contested only by British teams but in recent years has been expanded to allow teams from France and Russia to take part....
, winning the Lance Todd Trophy
Lance Todd Trophy
The Lance Todd Trophy is awarded to the Man-of-the-Match in rugby league football's Challenge Cup Final.The trophy was introduced in 1946, in memory of Lance Todd, the New Zealand-born player and administrator, who was killed in a road accident during the Second World War...
for his man-of-the-match performance in the final.
After this Eadie occasionally wrote articles for such magazines as Rugby League Week
Rugby League Week
Rugby League Week is the second highest selling Australian rugby league magazine, behind major competitor Big League...
and attempted to carve a career as a coach. His first attempt with Halifax was short-lived, and in 1991 he returned to Australia as coach of the Gold Coast reserve grade side. Given that he took them to fourth position, it seems surprising that Eadie was never given an offer by any Winfield Cup
Winfield Cup
The Winfield Cup was an Australian rugby league trophy awarded to the winner of the New South Wales Rugby League premiership's Grand Final from 1982 to 1994, and to the winner of the Australian Rugby League Grand Final in 1995...
club to coach first grade.
His son, Brook Eadie, won a President's Cup premiership with the South Queensland Crushers
South Queensland Crushers
The South Queensland Crushers were an Australian rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. In 1992 it was decided that the team would be admitted into the New South Wales Rugby League competition, along with three other teams, as part of the League's expansion plans for professional...
in 1996, but plans for a top grade career were thwarted by the demise of that club due to the Super League war
Super League war
The Super League war is the common name given to the corporate dispute that was fought in and out of court during the mid-1990s between the Rupert Murdoch and News Corporation-backed Super League and the Kerry Packer and Optus Vision-backed Australian Rugby League organisations over broadcasting...
. Eadie still lives on the Gold Coast
Gold Coast, Queensland
Gold Coast is a coastal city of Australia located in South East Queensland, 94km south of the state capital Brisbane. With a population approximately 540,000 in 2010, it is the second most populous city in the state, the sixth most populous city in the country, and also the most populous...
today, where he works as a sales representative for a local brewery.
Challenge Cup final appearances
Graham Eadie played Fullback, i.e. number 1, and won the Lance Todd TrophyLance Todd Trophy
The Lance Todd Trophy is awarded to the Man-of-the-Match in rugby league football's Challenge Cup Final.The trophy was introduced in 1946, in memory of Lance Todd, the New Zealand-born player and administrator, who was killed in a road accident during the Second World War...
in halifax
Halifax RLFC
Halifax RLFC is one of the most historic rugby league clubs in the game, formed over a century ago, in 1873 in the Yorkshire town of Halifax. Known as 'Fax', the official club colours are blue and white hoops, blue shorts and blue socks . They share The Shay stadium with football club FC Halifax Town...
's 19-18 victory over St. Helens in the 1987 Challenge Cup
Challenge Cup
The Challenge Cup is a knockout cup competition for rugby league clubs organised by the Rugby Football League. Originally it was contested only by British teams but in recent years has been expanded to allow teams from France and Russia to take part....
final at Wembley Stadium on 2 May 1987.
Accolades
In February 2008, Eadie was named in the list of Australia's 100 Greatest Players (1908–2007) which was commissioned by the NRLNational Rugby League
The National Rugby League is the top league of professional rugby league football clubs in Australasia. The NRL's main competition, called the Telstra Premiership , is contested by sixteen teams, fifteen of which are based in Australia with one based in New Zealand...
and ARL
Australian Rugby League
The Australian Rugby League is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in Australia. It is made up of state bodies, including the New South Wales Rugby League and the Queensland Rugby League...
to celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia.
Sources
- Whiticker, Alan and Hudson, Glen; The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players (3rd edition); published 1998 by Gary Allen Pty. Ltd.; 9 Cooper Street, Smithfield, New South Wales, 2164.