Jack Gibson (rugby league)
Encyclopedia
Jack Arthur Gibson OAM
(27 February 1929 – 9 May 2008) was an Australian rugby league
identity – a player, commentator and most notably a coach. He played and coached in Sydney's top grade competition, the New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership, and earned the tag 'Supercoach' after guiding Eastern Suburbs
to premierships in 1974 and 1975 and later the Parramatta Eels
to three successive premierships from 1981 to 1983.
Gibson was highly regarded not only for his coaching record but also for his thirst for innovation. He introduced new coaching and training methods into the sport in the 1970s and 1980s, when first-grade rugby league was then still played and coached on a semi-professional basis.
Gibson's family relocated to Sydney in his youth. He played third-grade rugby league at St. George
in 1950 before joining a social side in the Eastern Suburbs A-grade competition called Taylor's Celebrity Club. Gibson worked as a bouncer for Joe Taylor at the sly drinking and gambling outlet Thommo's Two-Up School as well as other Sydney nightclubs that Taylor owned. Jack also fought as an amateur for N.S.W boxing title.
in 1953. He debuted in first grade and represented for New South Wales
that same year. In 1954 he also represented for Sydney but spent the second-half of the season in the country at Grenfell, New South Wales
following some work troubles.
Returning to Easts in 1955 Gibson went on to play 152 first grade games for the club primarily at prop or second-row. He made a further Sydney representative appearance in 1958 and captained the Roosters in the 1960 Grand final loss to St. George. He left Easts at the end of 1961.
and was set for retirement until the club put him on open contract at the end of 1962. He was snapped up by Wests
;
playing out his career in the 1963 and 1964 seasons, including their 1963 Grand final loss.
coaching career at Eastern Suburbs
in 1967. In 1966 the club had not won a match, but Gibson took them to the semi-finals that first year. Gibson's tactics of having a mobile, hard-working forward pack combined with a fast-moving defensive line that stifled their opposition saw Easts build the best defensive record in the competition. In 1968
the team finished with a defensive record second only to eventual premiers South Sydney
and again made the semi-finals, then were knocked out in week one by St. George.
Gibson then left Easts to join St George
, taking all three grades at the club to the 1971 Grand Final. On leaving the Dragons he linked up with Newtown
where he enjoyed immediate success, taking out the Wills Cup pre-season tournament, helping the foundation club to its only club championship and a berth in the preliminary final where they were knocked out by Cronulla. Tellingly the following year after Gibson had left, the Jets slipped back and finished the season in 7th place.
announced a phenomenal $600,000 profit. The club set about to regain premiership honours that they hadn't seen since 1945 and bought Souths
Test hooker Elwyn Walters
to add to their experienced forwards in Arthur Beetson
and Ron Coote
and made a headline-grabbing buy in rugby union
international Russell Fairfax
to add to their already strong and fast backline. Securing former club-captain and coach Gibson put all the pieces in place.
winning 19 of 22 matches to finish eight points ahead of their nearest rivals. When they were surprisingly beaten by Canterbury
in the major semi-final, Gibson launched a scathing attack on referee Keith Page claiming "if Page has the final I may as well not send a team out." Over the next ten years, Gibson would turn the highly popular coaching technique of blaming the referee for his side's losses into an art form.
On Grand final
day Eastern Suburbs were simply too good for a courageous Canterbury outfit in spite of suffering 12–3 penalty count after 59 minutes. Gibson had won his first premiership and the Roosters their first in 29 years.
and to a rightful claim as the best club team in the world in defeating English champions, St Helens RLFC in the inaugural World Club Challenge
.
By 1976 a number of other clubs, notably Parramatta
and Manly had caught up with the high standards that Gibson had fostered at Easts; the club's dominance ended and he moved onto greener (and red) pastures. There at South Sydney
Gibson endured the leanest spell of his career failing to get as far as the semi-finals in his two seasons with the club of 1978 and 1979.
leading them to the most successful era in their history taking out three consecutive premierships from 1981
to 1983.
Gibson found an ally in his remorseless approach to sledging referees and applying pressure via the media. On 5 April 1981, Gibson dared the Referees Appointments Board to give Greg Hartley another Eels match after they lost 12–8 to Canterbury. The following week Gibson sent a personal letter to Kevin Roberts complimenting him for his handling of the Parramatta-Souths match which the Eels won 39–5. Come finals time, Gibson continued to apply pressure when he publicly criticised the appointment of Hartley to control the Eels major semi-final clash with Eastern Suburbs. The tactic may have proved effective – Parramatta beat Easts 12–8 when Hartley awarded Parramatta two vital penalties in extra time which Mick Cronin
converted. But nonetheless the better team still won on the day
On Grand final day 1981 Parramatta found themselves up against rank outsiders Newtown
playing in their first premiership decider in 26 years. Parramatta were still looking for their first title ever and their old hands in Edge
, Price, Hilditch
and O'Reilly along with the explosive young backline of Kenny
, Cronin
, Sterling
, Grothe
and Ella
all masterfully mentored by Gibson took the premiership glory. Later back at the packed Parramatta Leagues Club auditorium, Gibson had just six words for the club faithful: "Ding, dong, the witch is dead," he said before the thunderous chants of the success-starved blue and gold army of fans who in their zeal later that night burned the old Cumberland Oval
grandstand to the ground. After the win a more gracious Parramatta management submitted an official apology to the NSWRFL over the Gibson-Hartley feud.
Manly were comfortable pre-match favourites for the 1982 Grand Final having demolished Parramatta three times that season including a 20–0 drubbing in a spiteful major semi-final. Gibson, Fitzgerald and captain Ray Price again employed the tactic of publicly criticising referees and in the week leading up the match John Gocher was the target of the pressure. When the Sea-Eagles scored first in the second minute it looked like the game was playing to expectations but things changed from there. Parramatta's forward pack began to dominate Manly's all international six and before half-time Brett Kenny
crossed for two tries and set-up another three for Sterling
, Ella
and Neil Hunt to ensure a second title for the Eels.
That Parramatta could come back from the semi-final loss and defeat Easts 33–0 in the Final was testament to the skill of Gibson and the quality of the side. That they did the same to Manly the following week in the Grand Final is further evidence of the enormous self-belief that Gibson was able to generate in the team.
The 1983 title took Gibson's personal Grand Final
win tally to five, then sharing with Ken Kearney
jointly the title of the most successful coach in Australian premiership history. It would be over twenty years before Brisbane Broncos
coach Wayne Bennett
, himself a great admirer of Gibson, beat that record with the Broncos' premiership win in National Rugby League season 2006
.
to coach in the 1989 State of Origin
series. The team had previously lost five successive games and Gibson was brought in along with a number of sweeping player changes. However the new squad did no better and Gibson had to suffer the ignominy of a 3–0 whitewash to a Maroons side coached by his friend and protege Arthur Beetson
. The following year in 1990 he had his revenge when his New South Wales side trumped Beetson's Queenslanders
2–1. Gibson quit while on top to take up a role back at the Roosters in 1991 as manager with former Test halfback Mark Murray
as coach. He did this until 1994.
teams play and train. Gibson was a fan of legendary Green Bay Packers
coach Vince Lombardi
and was influenced by Lombardi's coaching and management style.
The Cadigan reference reports that rugby league identity Terry Fearnley
first introduced Gibson to the sayings and attitudes of Vince Lombardi via a 1971 sales and motivational film called The Second Effort which contained a Lombardi segment. Gibson's charges at St George had at that stage of the 1971 season won only four of their first eight games. After embracing the film and its messages and showing it to the entire St George playing roster, all three Dragons sides were unbeaten for the next seven weeks; lost just two of the remaining 14 matches; and all three grades of the club made it to their respective Grand finals that year.
He befriended San Francisco 49ers
coach Dick Nolan at an NFL annual conference in 1972 and was invited to study and observe the operations of the 49ers
team. From these trips came a number of methodologies that changed the Australian game.
In 1988 Gibson was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia
"for service to rugby league as a coach". In 2000 he was awarded the Australian Sports Medal
for being a five-time premiership winning coach.
On 17 April 2008, Gibson was selected as Coach of Australian rugby league's Team of the Century
. Part of the code's centenary year celebrations in Australia, the elite team is the panel's majority choice for those considered to be the best of all time.
The Jack Gibson Cup has been contested each season since 2008 by the Sydney Roosters
and Parramatta Eels
clubs, whom Gibson coached to consecutive premierships in 1974–75 and 1981–83 respectively. The Roosters have won all but one of the matches played for the Jack Gibson Cup.
Gibson died at 6.32pm (AEST) on 9 May 2008, 90 minutes before rugby league's historic Centenary Test Match, after a two-year battle with Alzheimer's disease
and dementia
. His death was announced during the Centenary test by Peter Sterling
on the Nine Network
.
At all rugby league matches that weekend a minute's silence was held for him.
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
(27 February 1929 – 9 May 2008) was an Australian rugby league
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...
identity – a player, commentator and most notably a coach. He played and coached in Sydney's top grade competition, the New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership, and earned the tag 'Supercoach' after guiding Eastern Suburbs
Sydney Roosters
The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League and is one of the oldest and most successful clubs in Australian rugby league history, having won twelve New South Wales Rugby League...
to premierships in 1974 and 1975 and later the 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...
to three successive premierships from 1981 to 1983.
Gibson was highly regarded not only for his coaching record but also for his thirst for innovation. He introduced new coaching and training methods into the sport in the 1970s and 1980s, when first-grade rugby league was then still played and coached on a semi-professional basis.
Early life
Born in Kiama, New South WalesKiama, New South Wales
-Transport:The town is served by Kiama Station on the South Coast Line. It is served by road in the form of the Princes Highway and the Kiama Bypass.-Attractions:...
Gibson's family relocated to Sydney in his youth. He played third-grade rugby league at St. George
St. George Dragons
The St George Dragons was an Australian Rugby league football club in St George, Sydney, New South Wales that played in Australia's top-level Rugby league competition from New South Wales Rugby Football League in 1921 until 1998; in 1999 they formed a joint venture with the Illawarra Steelers,...
in 1950 before joining a social side in the Eastern Suburbs A-grade competition called Taylor's Celebrity Club. Gibson worked as a bouncer for Joe Taylor at the sly drinking and gambling outlet Thommo's Two-Up School as well as other Sydney nightclubs that Taylor owned. Jack also fought as an amateur for N.S.W boxing title.
Roosters
Gibson was graded with Eastern SuburbsSydney Roosters
The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League and is one of the oldest and most successful clubs in Australian rugby league history, having won twelve New South Wales Rugby League...
in 1953. He debuted in first grade and represented for New South Wales
New South Wales Rugby League team
The New South Wales rugby league team has represented the Australian state of New South Wales in rugby league football since the sport's beginnings there in 1907. Administered by the New South Wales Rugby League, the team competes in the annual State of Origin series against arch-rivals, the...
that same year. In 1954 he also represented for Sydney but spent the second-half of the season in the country at Grenfell, New South Wales
Grenfell, New South Wales
Grenfell is a country town in the Central West of New South Wales, Australia, in Weddin Shire. It is 370 kilometres west of Sydney and five hours' drive from the city. It is close to Forbes, Cowra and Young. At the 2006 census, Grenfell had a population of 1,994.-History:Prior to European...
following some work troubles.
Returning to Easts in 1955 Gibson went on to play 152 first grade games for the club primarily at prop or second-row. He made a further Sydney representative appearance in 1958 and captained the Roosters in the 1960 Grand final loss to St. George. He left Easts at the end of 1961.
Newtown & Wests
Gibson spent the 1962 season with NewtownNewtown Jets
The Newtown Jets are an Australian rugby league football club based in Newtown, a suburb of Sydney's inner west. They currently compete in the NSWRL Premier League competition, having left the top grade after the 1983 NSWRFL season...
and was set for retirement until the club put him on open contract at the end of 1962. He was snapped up by Wests
Western Suburbs Magpies
The Western Suburbs Magpies are an Australian rugby league football club based in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales. Formed in 1908, Wests, as they are commonly referred to, were one of the nine foundation clubs of the first New South Wales Rugby League competition in Australia...
;
playing out his career in the 1963 and 1964 seasons, including their 1963 Grand final loss.
Cricketer
Gibson also played first-grade cricket for the Waverley club in Sydney, taking 92 wickets as a fast bowler.Early coaching years
Jack Gibson began his first-grade NSWRLNew South Wales Rugby League
The New South Wales Rugby League is the governing body of rugby league in New South Wales and is a member of the Australian Rugby League. It was formed in Sydney on 8 August 1907 and was known as the New South Wales Rugby Football League until 1984 when forward thinking marketing managers decided...
coaching career at Eastern Suburbs
Sydney Roosters
The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League and is one of the oldest and most successful clubs in Australian rugby league history, having won twelve New South Wales Rugby League...
in 1967. In 1966 the club had not won a match, but Gibson took them to the semi-finals that first year. Gibson's tactics of having a mobile, hard-working forward pack combined with a fast-moving defensive line that stifled their opposition saw Easts build the best defensive record in the competition. In 1968
New South Wales Rugby Football League season 1968
The 1968 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the sixty-first season of professional rugby league football in Australia. Twelve teams, including six Sydney-based foundation teams and another six from around Sydney competed for the J J Giltinan Shield and the WD & HO Wills Cup...
the team finished with a defensive record second only to eventual premiers South Sydney
South Sydney Rabbitohs
The South Sydney Rabbitohs are an Australian professional rugby league football team based in Redfern, a suburb of South-central Sydney, New South Wales. They participate in the National Rugby League premiership and are one of nine existing teams from the state capital...
and again made the semi-finals, then were knocked out in week one by St. George.
Gibson then left Easts to join St George
St. George Dragons
The St George Dragons was an Australian Rugby league football club in St George, Sydney, New South Wales that played in Australia's top-level Rugby league competition from New South Wales Rugby Football League in 1921 until 1998; in 1999 they formed a joint venture with the Illawarra Steelers,...
, taking all three grades at the club to the 1971 Grand Final. On leaving the Dragons he linked up with Newtown
Newtown Jets
The Newtown Jets are an Australian rugby league football club based in Newtown, a suburb of Sydney's inner west. They currently compete in the NSWRL Premier League competition, having left the top grade after the 1983 NSWRFL season...
where he enjoyed immediate success, taking out the Wills Cup pre-season tournament, helping the foundation club to its only club championship and a berth in the preliminary final where they were knocked out by Cronulla. Tellingly the following year after Gibson had left, the Jets slipped back and finished the season in 7th place.
Roosters premierships
In the 1973 the high-rolling Eastern Suburbs Leagues Club at Bondi JunctionBondi Junction, New South Wales
Bondi Junction is an eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Bondi Junction is located 6 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the Waverley....
announced a phenomenal $600,000 profit. The club set about to regain premiership honours that they hadn't seen since 1945 and bought Souths
South Sydney Rabbitohs
The South Sydney Rabbitohs are an Australian professional rugby league football team based in Redfern, a suburb of South-central Sydney, New South Wales. They participate in the National Rugby League premiership and are one of nine existing teams from the state capital...
Test hooker Elwyn Walters
Elwyn Walters
Elwyn Walters was an Australian rugby league player for the South Sydney Rabbitohs and Eastern Suburbs clubs and for the Australian national side.Walters came to South Sydney in the mid-1960s from the Brisbane Norths club...
to add to their experienced forwards in Arthur Beetson
Arthur Beetson
Arthur Henry "Artie" Beetson, OAM , was an Australian rugby league footballer and coach. He represented Australia and Queensland from 1964 to 1981. His position was at prop. Beetson became the first Indigenous Australian to captain his country in any sport. and is frequently cited as the best...
and Ron Coote
Ron Coote
Ron Coote AM is an Australian former representative rugby league player whose club career was played with the South Sydney and Eastern Suburbs, both of whom he won premierships with. He is considered one of the nation's finest footballers of the 20th century...
and made a headline-grabbing buy in rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
international Russell Fairfax
Russell Fairfax
Russell Lance Fairfax was an Australian professional rugby league footballer and coach of the 1970s and 80s....
to add to their already strong and fast backline. Securing former club-captain and coach Gibson put all the pieces in place.
1974
Easts dominated the 1974 seasonNew South Wales Rugby Football League season 1974
The 1974 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the sixty-seventh season of Sydney's professional rugby league football competition, Australia's first. Twelve teams, including six of 1908's foundation clubs and another six from across Sydney, competed for the J. J...
winning 19 of 22 matches to finish eight points ahead of their nearest rivals. When they were surprisingly beaten by Canterbury
Canterbury Bulldogs
The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the National Rugby League premiership, as well as New South Wales Rugby League junior competitions...
in the major semi-final, Gibson launched a scathing attack on referee Keith Page claiming "if Page has the final I may as well not send a team out." Over the next ten years, Gibson would turn the highly popular coaching technique of blaming the referee for his side's losses into an art form.
On Grand final
Grand Final
Grand Final is a predominantly Australian sport term used to describe a match that decides a league champion.It originated in Victoria and South Australia and has become specifically significant Australian culture...
day Eastern Suburbs were simply too good for a courageous Canterbury outfit in spite of suffering 12–3 penalty count after 59 minutes. Gibson had won his first premiership and the Roosters their first in 29 years.
1975
In season 1975 after losing consecutive matches in rounds 2 and 3, the Roosters juggernaut rolled on and they posted 19 consecutive wins to close out the regular season; a streak than ran from round 4 to round 22 and remains the record for the most consecutive wins in premiership history. The Roosters dominated St. George on Grand Final day with a punishing 6 try haul in the second-half and an emphatic 38–0 victory. In addition to the back-to-back premiership titles, Gibson also steered the club that season to victory in the mid-week Amco CupAmco Cup
The Amco Cup was a mid-week rugby league competition held in Australia between 1974 and 1989. The format was usually a straight knock-out, but various group formats were used between 1979 and 1982...
and to a rightful claim as the best club team in the world in defeating English champions, St Helens RLFC in the inaugural World Club Challenge
World Club Challenge
The World Club Challenge is an annual rugby league football match held between the champions of the Australasian National Rugby League and the European Super League competitions to determine the world's best rugby league club...
.
By 1976 a number of other clubs, notably 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...
and Manly had caught up with the high standards that Gibson had fostered at Easts; the club's dominance ended and he moved onto greener (and red) pastures. There at South Sydney
South Sydney Rabbitohs
The South Sydney Rabbitohs are an Australian professional rugby league football team based in Redfern, a suburb of South-central Sydney, New South Wales. They participate in the National Rugby League premiership and are one of nine existing teams from the state capital...
Gibson endured the leanest spell of his career failing to get as far as the semi-finals in his two seasons with the club of 1978 and 1979.
Parramatta premierships
Gibson then linked with ParramattaParramatta 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...
leading them to the most successful era in their history taking out three consecutive premierships from 1981
New South Wales Rugby Football League season 1981
The 1981 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the seventy-fourth season of Sydney's professional rugby league football competition, Australia's first...
to 1983.
1981
In club Chief-Executive Denis FitzgeraldDenis Fitzgerald
Denis William Fitzgerald, OAM, is an Australian former rugby league footballer and former Chief Executive Officer of the Parramatta Eels....
Gibson found an ally in his remorseless approach to sledging referees and applying pressure via the media. On 5 April 1981, Gibson dared the Referees Appointments Board to give Greg Hartley another Eels match after they lost 12–8 to Canterbury. The following week Gibson sent a personal letter to Kevin Roberts complimenting him for his handling of the Parramatta-Souths match which the Eels won 39–5. Come finals time, Gibson continued to apply pressure when he publicly criticised the appointment of Hartley to control the Eels major semi-final clash with Eastern Suburbs. The tactic may have proved effective – Parramatta beat Easts 12–8 when Hartley awarded Parramatta two vital penalties in extra time which 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...
converted. But nonetheless the better team still won on the day
On Grand final day 1981 Parramatta found themselves up against rank outsiders Newtown
Newtown Jets
The Newtown Jets are an Australian rugby league football club based in Newtown, a suburb of Sydney's inner west. They currently compete in the NSWRL Premier League competition, having left the top grade after the 1983 NSWRFL season...
playing in their first premiership decider in 26 years. Parramatta were still looking for their first title ever and their old hands in Edge
Steve Edge (rugby league)
Steve Edge is an Australian former rugby league footballer of the 1970s and 80s. A New South Wales Blues representative hooker he played in the St...
, Price, Hilditch
Ron Hilditch
Ron Hilditch is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer and coach. An Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative forward, he played club football for the Parramatta Eels with whom he won the 1981 NSWRFL Premiership.-Playing career:An Australian...
and O'Reilly along with the explosive young backline of Kenny
Brett Kenny
Brett Kenny is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer of the 1980s and 90s. He was a five-eighth for the Australian national team, the New South Wales Blues representative side and the Parramatta Eels. He played in 17 Tests, made 17 State of Origin appearances and won 4...
, 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...
, Sterling
Peter Sterling
Peter Maxwell John "Sterlo" Sterling OAM is an Australian rugby league commentator and former player. He was one of the all-time great halfbacks and a major contributor to Parramatta Eels' dominance of the New South Wales Rugby League premiership in the 1980s. Sterling played nineteen Tests for...
, Grothe
Eric Grothe, Sr.
Eric "Guru" Grothe is an Australian former rugby league footballer of the 1970s and 1980s. A New South Wales and Australian representative winger, he played club football for the Parramatta Eels with whom he won four NSWRL premierships...
and Ella
Steve Ella
Steve Ella is an Australian former rugby league footballer of the 1980s. He was a utility back for the Australian national team, playing in 4 Tests between 1983 and 1985...
all masterfully mentored by Gibson took the premiership glory. Later back at the packed Parramatta Leagues Club auditorium, Gibson had just six words for the club faithful: "Ding, dong, the witch is dead," he said before the thunderous chants of the success-starved blue and gold army of fans who in their zeal later that night burned the old Cumberland Oval
Parramatta Stadium
Parramatta Stadium is a sports stadium situated in Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia.The stadium is used primarily as the home ground of Australian National Rugby League club the Parramatta Eels...
grandstand to the ground. After the win a more gracious Parramatta management submitted an official apology to the NSWRFL over the Gibson-Hartley feud.
1982
Under Gibson the nucleus of that side was kept together and the Eels went on to win the competition in the next two years – season 1982 and season 1983.Manly were comfortable pre-match favourites for the 1982 Grand Final having demolished Parramatta three times that season including a 20–0 drubbing in a spiteful major semi-final. Gibson, Fitzgerald and captain Ray Price again employed the tactic of publicly criticising referees and in the week leading up the match John Gocher was the target of the pressure. When the Sea-Eagles scored first in the second minute it looked like the game was playing to expectations but things changed from there. Parramatta's forward pack began to dominate Manly's all international six and before half-time Brett Kenny
Brett Kenny
Brett Kenny is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer of the 1980s and 90s. He was a five-eighth for the Australian national team, the New South Wales Blues representative side and the Parramatta Eels. He played in 17 Tests, made 17 State of Origin appearances and won 4...
crossed for two tries and set-up another three for Sterling
Peter Sterling
Peter Maxwell John "Sterlo" Sterling OAM is an Australian rugby league commentator and former player. He was one of the all-time great halfbacks and a major contributor to Parramatta Eels' dominance of the New South Wales Rugby League premiership in the 1980s. Sterling played nineteen Tests for...
, Ella
Steve Ella
Steve Ella is an Australian former rugby league footballer of the 1980s. He was a utility back for the Australian national team, playing in 4 Tests between 1983 and 1985...
and Neil Hunt to ensure a second title for the Eels.
That Parramatta could come back from the semi-final loss and defeat Easts 33–0 in the Final was testament to the skill of Gibson and the quality of the side. That they did the same to Manly the following week in the Grand Final is further evidence of the enormous self-belief that Gibson was able to generate in the team.
1983
Claims that the week's rest for winning the major semi-final could work against a side surfaced again when Parramatta dismissed Manly 18–6 in the 1983 Grand Final. The Sea-Eagles trailed 12–0 after 29 minutes and didn't score a point until the 45th minute. The champion Eels and their coach Gibson were indisputedly at the top of the football tree.The 1983 title took Gibson's personal Grand Final
Grand Final
Grand Final is a predominantly Australian sport term used to describe a match that decides a league champion.It originated in Victoria and South Australia and has become specifically significant Australian culture...
win tally to five, then sharing with Ken Kearney
Ken Kearney
Ken "Killer" Kearney was an Australian rugby footballer – a dual-code international player – and a rugby league coach. He represented the Wallabies in seven Tests and the Kangaroos in thirty-one Test matches and World Cup games. He captained Australia in nine rugby league Test matches in 1956 and...
jointly the title of the most successful coach in Australian premiership history. It would be over twenty years before Brisbane Broncos
Brisbane Broncos
The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the city of Brisbane, the capital of the state of Queensland. Founded in 1988, the Broncos play in Australasia's elite competition, the National Rugby League premiership. They have won six premierships and two...
coach Wayne Bennett
Wayne Bennett (rugby league coach)
Wayne James Bennett AM is an Australian professional rugby league football coach and former player. He is the current head coach for the Newcastle Knights of the NRL...
, himself a great admirer of Gibson, beat that record with the Broncos' premiership win in National Rugby League season 2006
National Rugby League season 2006
The 2006 NRL season was the 99th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the ninth run by the National Rugby League. The lineup of teams remained unchanged from the previous year, with fifteen clubs competing for the 2006 Telstra Premiership...
.
Cronulla-Sutherland
Gibson's last club coaching role was with the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks from 1985 to 1987. He had few big-name players to work with but did an admirable job in developing a pool of local junior talent and the club eventually made the semi-finals in the two immediate years following his departure.State of Origin
Gibson was given the New South Wales BluesNew South Wales Rugby League team
The New South Wales rugby league team has represented the Australian state of New South Wales in rugby league football since the sport's beginnings there in 1907. Administered by the New South Wales Rugby League, the team competes in the annual State of Origin series against arch-rivals, the...
to coach in the 1989 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...
series. The team had previously lost five successive games and Gibson was brought in along with a number of sweeping player changes. However the new squad did no better and Gibson had to suffer the ignominy of a 3–0 whitewash to a Maroons side coached by his friend and protege Arthur Beetson
Arthur Beetson
Arthur Henry "Artie" Beetson, OAM , was an Australian rugby league footballer and coach. He represented Australia and Queensland from 1964 to 1981. His position was at prop. Beetson became the first Indigenous Australian to captain his country in any sport. and is frequently cited as the best...
. The following year in 1990 he had his revenge when his New South Wales side trumped Beetson's Queenslanders
Queensland rugby league team
The Queensland rugby league team have represented the Australian state of Queensland in rugby league football since the sport's beginnings there in 1908...
2–1. Gibson quit while on top to take up a role back at the Roosters in 1991 as manager with former Test halfback Mark Murray
Mark Murray (rugby league)
Mark Murray is an Australian former rugby league footballer and coach. He represented Australia in test matches and Queensland in the State of Origin. His position of choice was halfback...
as coach. He did this until 1994.
Coaching influences
Gibson studied coaching and training methods in other sports looking for innovations which could be incorporated into his rugby league coaching. In particular, he would often travel to the USA to watch NFLNational Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
teams play and train. Gibson was a fan of legendary Green Bay Packers
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...
coach Vince Lombardi
Vince Lombardi
Vincent Thomas "Vince" Lombardi was an American football coach. He is best known as the head coach of the Green Bay Packers during the 1960s, where he led the team to three straight league championships and five in seven years, including winning the first two Super Bowls following the 1966 and...
and was influenced by Lombardi's coaching and management style.
The Cadigan reference reports that rugby league identity Terry Fearnley
Terry Fearnley
Terry Fearnley is an Australian former rugby league footballer and later coach. He was a long serving member of the NSWRFL's Eastern Suburbs team & , playing 144 matches for them at a bleak period in that club's existence. Injury kept him out of the 1960 grand final, one of the few successful...
first introduced Gibson to the sayings and attitudes of Vince Lombardi via a 1971 sales and motivational film called The Second Effort which contained a Lombardi segment. Gibson's charges at St George had at that stage of the 1971 season won only four of their first eight games. After embracing the film and its messages and showing it to the entire St George playing roster, all three Dragons sides were unbeaten for the next seven weeks; lost just two of the remaining 14 matches; and all three grades of the club made it to their respective Grand finals that year.
He befriended San Francisco 49ers
San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and...
coach Dick Nolan at an NFL annual conference in 1972 and was invited to study and observe the operations of the 49ers
San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and...
team. From these trips came a number of methodologies that changed the Australian game.
Coaching innovations
- First to use a computer to evaluate player performance including being the first club coach to track and use individual player tackle counts.
- His teams were the first to train with sides from other codes – he trained his team alongside soccer players and used Australian Football specialists as kicking coaches.
- Introduced mascara under the eyes to reduce glare for night games under lights.
- First to use weights-machines such as the NautilusNautilus, Inc.Nautilus, Inc. , located in Vancouver, Washington, United States, is the marketer, developer, and manufacturer of branded health and fitness products sold under such names as Bowflex, Nautilus, PEARL iZUMi, Schwinn Fitness, StairMaster, Trimline and Universal.Nautilus and its corporate...
exercise machineExercise machineAn exercise machine is any machine used for physical exercise. These range from simple spring-like devices to computerized electromechanical rides to recirculating-stream swimming pools...
s. - First to use video extensively as a coaching device.
- First to have players' fitness scientifically tested in pre-season with the "pinch test" (skinfold method).
- First to insist upon his own integrated coaching team including co-ordinator, fitness conditioner and injury treatment/rehabilitation.
- Made the up and under ("bomb") a potent attacking weapon used by both Easts and Parramatta under exponent John PeardJohn PeardJohn "Bomber" Peard is an Australian former rugby league footballer and later coach. An Australian international representative five-eighth, he played for the Eastern Suburbs, St. George and Parramatta NSWRFL clubs in the 1960s and 70s...
.
Laconic wit
Gibson was also known for his notable and laconic quotes. Players, coaches and journalists in Australia would hang on every word he said and many of Gibson's quotes showed his great wisdom on the sport. His sardonic one-liners were embraced by Australian press looking to colour their sports pages and many of his quotes are still referred to within rugby league circles.Accolades
Gibson's esteem in Australian rugby league remained strong throughout his life. Up until he was incapacitated, past players, coaches and journalists still telephoned him for advice or a quote, even though he hadn't been actively involved in game for some time.In 1988 Gibson was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
"for service to rugby league as a coach". In 2000 he was awarded the Australian Sports Medal
Australian Sports Medal
The Australian Sports Medal was an award given during 2000 to recognise achievements in Australian sport.Recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, office holders, and people who maintained sporting facilities and services. Over 18,000 Medals were...
for being a five-time premiership winning coach.
On 17 April 2008, Gibson was selected as Coach of Australian rugby league's Team of the Century
Australian Rugby League's Team of the Century
In late 2007, the Australian Rugby League and National Rugby League commissioned a college of 130 experts to select the 100 best rugby league players in the game's 100-year history in Australia...
. Part of the code's centenary year celebrations in Australia, the elite team is the panel's majority choice for those considered to be the best of all time.
The Jack Gibson Cup has been contested each season since 2008 by the Sydney Roosters
Sydney Roosters
The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League and is one of the oldest and most successful clubs in Australian rugby league history, having won twelve New South Wales Rugby League...
and 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...
clubs, whom Gibson coached to consecutive premierships in 1974–75 and 1981–83 respectively. The Roosters have won all but one of the matches played for the Jack Gibson Cup.
Personal tragedy
In 1988 Gibson's eldest son Luke aged 25, who had struggled with schizophrenia, died of a heroin overdose. Gibson and his wife Judy became fervent in their support of charities assisting research into schizophrenia and he donated the proceeds of four books he co-wrote with rugby league author, Ian Heads, to that cause.Illness and death
Gibson was confined to a Sydney nursing home for two years before his death and required around-the-clock care as his condition deteriorated.Gibson died at 6.32pm (AEST) on 9 May 2008, 90 minutes before rugby league's historic Centenary Test Match, after a two-year battle with Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
and dementia
Dementia
Dementia is a serious loss of cognitive ability in a previously unimpaired person, beyond what might be expected from normal aging...
. His death was announced during the Centenary test by Peter Sterling
Peter Sterling
Peter Maxwell John "Sterlo" Sterling OAM is an Australian rugby league commentator and former player. He was one of the all-time great halfbacks and a major contributor to Parramatta Eels' dominance of the New South Wales Rugby League premiership in the 1980s. Sterling played nineteen Tests for...
on the Nine Network
Nine Network
The Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...
.
At all rugby league matches that weekend a minute's silence was held for him.
Sources
- Whiticker, AlanAlan WhitickerAlan J. Whiticker is an Australian non-fiction author with currently over 30 published books.Whiticker writes primarily on matters pertaining to the history of the sport of rugby league in Australia, but has also published works on subjects as diverse as the Wanda Beach Murders and an adaptation...
& Hudson, Glen (2006) The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players, Gavin Allen Publishing, Sydney - Andrews, Malcolm (2006) The ABC of Rugby League Austn Broadcasting Corpn, Sydney
- Jack Gibson (with Ian Heads) The Last Word ABC Books, Sydney ISBN 0 7333 1236 5
- Jack Gibson (with Ian Heads) Played Strong, Done Fine : The Jack Gibson Collection Lester-Townsend Publishing. Sydney. 1988
- Jack Gibson Winning Starts on Monday: From the Jack Gibson Collection Lester-Townsend Publishing. Sydney. 1989
- Neil Cadigan, Tribute Article, Sydney Daily Telegraph 10 May 2008
- Whiticker, AlanAlan WhitickerAlan J. Whiticker is an Australian non-fiction author with currently over 30 published books.Whiticker writes primarily on matters pertaining to the history of the sport of rugby league in Australia, but has also published works on subjects as diverse as the Wanda Beach Murders and an adaptation...
& Collis, Ian (2006) The History of Rugby League Clubs, New Holland, Sydney - Haddan, Steve (2007) The Finals – 100 Years of National Rugby League Finals, Steve Haddan Publishing, Brisbane
- Jack Gibson biography at Sport Australia Hall of Fame
- Jack Gibson: 'Greatest ever' rugby league coach – Obituary by Dave Hadfield for The Independent (London) Monday, 12 May 2008