Graham "Wombat" Eadie (born 25 November 1953), is an Australian former
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...
footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s. He has been named amongst Australia's finest of the 20th century. A New South Wales
State of Origin
A State of Origin competition is a type of sporting event between players representing their state or territory. State of Origin began in Australian rules football on 8 October 1977 between Western Australia (WA) and Victoria, at Subiaco Oval ...
and Australian international representative , he played in Australia during
Manly-Warringah
The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rugb ...
'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
The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...
Final of 1987 with them. He also won
World Cup
A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
s with Australia and collected awards such as the
Rothmans Medal
The Rothmans Medal was the premier individual award in 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 ...
and
Lance Todd Trophy
The Lance Todd Trophy is a trophy in rugby league, awarded to the annual Challenge Cup Final's man of the match. Introduced in 1945–46, the trophy was named in memory of Lance Todd, the New Zealand-born player and administrator, who was killed in ...
.
Playing 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)
* New South Wales 1974-1980: 14 games, 35 points (3 tries, 13 goals)
Eadie was graded by Manly-Warringah in
1971 *
The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6).
The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history.
Events
Ja ...
and showed immediate promise in the lower grades that season. The following year with the retirement of long serving Manly fullback
Bob Batty
Robert W. "Bob" Batty (18 January 1939 – 9 June 2004) was an Australian rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. A prolific goal kicking (though he started his career on the ), Batty played his entire career with the ...
, 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 (5'10"), Eadie's solid build of around 95 kg (15
stone
In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...
) 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
A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the Exothermic process, exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-t ...
" was coming into prominence.
Although he had been used as a goal kicker in some games in
1972
Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...
, it was only in
1973
Events January
* January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union.
* January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...
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
It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe.
Events
January
* January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...
, a club record that would not be broken until New Zealand
dual international fullback
Matthew Ridge
Matthew John Ridge (born 27 August 1968) is a New Zealand television presenter, and a former rugby union and rugby league footballer.
A fullback in both codes, Ridge played rugby union for Auckland and became an All Black, but never won an in ...
scored 257 points (11 tries, 106 goals and 1 field goal) in
1995
File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...
.
Eadie was selected to the
Australian team for the
1973 Kangaroo tour
The 1973 Kangaroo Tour was the thirteenth Kangaroo Tour, and saw the Australian national rugby league team travel to Europe and play nineteen matches against British and French club and representative rugby league teams, in addition to three Test ...
and, after an injury to Kangaroos Captain-coach
Graeme Langlands
Graeme Frank Langlands, MBE, (2 September 1941 – 20 January 2018), also known by the nickname of "Changa", was an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. and coached in the 1970s.
He retire ...
, took over as Test fullback for the final two
Ashes
Ashes may refer to:
*Ash, the solid remnants of fires.
Media and entertainment Art
* ''Ashes'' (Munch), an 1894 painting by Edvard Munch
Film
* ''The Ashes'' (film), a 1965 Polish film by director Andrzej Wajda
* ''Ashes'' (1922 film), a ...
tests against
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
, marking his début at
Headingley
Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingle ...
in
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
by kicking 5 goals in windy conditions. Though Langlands regained the test fullback spot in 1974, Eadie went on to be Australia's regular fullback from 1975 until he retired from representative rugby league following the experimental
1980 State of Origin match
The 1980 State of Origin game was the first game between the Queensland Maroons and the New South Wales Blues rugby league teams to be played under "state of origin" selection rules. It was the third match of 1980's annual interstate series betwee ...
. Despite being a record point scorer for Manly, Eadie was never a prolific point scorer at Test or State representative level as
Country Firsts and later
Parramatta
Parramatta () is a suburb and major Central business district, commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the ban ...
Michael Cronin was generally the first choice kicker in representative sides.
In
1974
Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...
, Eadie won the
Rothmans Medal
The Rothmans Medal was the premier individual award in 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 ...
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, "where he single-handedly destroyed
Cronulla-Sutherland by scoring a try, setting up two others for
Russell Gartner and kicking three goals and a field goal". Two years earlier, his accurate goal kicking under pressure won Manly the
1976 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 Medal
The Clive Churchill Medal is the award given to the player judged to be man-of-the-match in the National Rugby League's annual Grand Final. The award was created to honour Clive Churchill, one of the greatest rugby league players in Australian ...
s for Man of the Match in those games.
In 1977, Eadie was Australia's first choice fullback for the
1977 World Cup and played in Australia's 13–12 win over Great Britain in the
World Cup Final at the
Sydney Cricket Ground
The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is a sports stadium in Sydney, Australia. It is used for Test cricket, Test, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket, as well as, Australian rules football and occasionally for rugby league, rugby union and as ...
.
Following the 1978 Grand Final, Eadie was selected to his second
Kangaroo Tour
Kangaroo Tour is the name given to Australian national rugby league team tours of Great Britain and France, tours to New Zealand and the one-off tour to Papua New Guinea (1991). The first Kangaroo Tour was in 1908. Traditionally, Kangaroo Tours to ...
. The coach of the
1978 Kangaroos was Eadie's Manly coach
Frank Stanton, while the captain was his former long time Sea Eagles teammate
Bob Fulton
Robert Fulton (1 December 1947 – 23 May 2021), also nicknamed "Bozo", was an Australian international rugby league footballer, coach and later commentator. Fulton played, coached, selected for and has commentated on the game with great succe ...
, who was at the time playing for
Eastern Suburbs Eastern Suburbs may refer to:
Places
*Eastern Suburbs (Mumbai), India
*Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Australia
**Eastern Suburbs railway line, Sydney, Australia
Sports clubs
;Association football
*Eastern Suburbs AFC, Auckland, New Zealand
* Eastern ...
. Eadie played fullback in all 5 test matches on the tour with Australia defeating Great Britain 2–1 to win
The Ashes
The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. The term originated in a satirical obituary published in a British newspaper, ''The Sporting Times'', immediately after Australia's 1882 victory at The Oval, its first Te ...
, but surprisingly lost the test series to
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
2–0. He also played in the non-test international against
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
at the
St. Helen's Rugby Ground in
Swansea
Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe).
The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...
with Australia winning 8–3.
Despite Manly declining in surprising fashion to miss the semi-finals for the first time in twelve years in
1979
Events
January
* January 1
** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...
, Eadie's form remained excellent and he played in all 3 Ashes tests against a very lackluster touring Great Britain side. He then went on to play in the
inaugural
In government and politics, inauguration is the process of swearing a person into office and thus making that person the incumbent. Such an inauguration commonly occurs through a formal ceremony or special event, which may also include an inaugur ...
State of Origin
A State of Origin competition is a type of sporting event between players representing their state or territory. State of Origin began in Australian rules football on 8 October 1977 between Western Australia (WA) and Victoria, at Subiaco Oval ...
game at fullback for
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
in 1980, though he would miss the mid-season tour to New Zealand with the Australian team that year.
A major injury that forced him to miss half of the
1981 season and saw him lose his test fullback spot failed to dim his brilliance: at the end of
1982
Events January
* January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00).
* January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...
, commentators were noticing how he was "more involved in the game than at any stage since 1973." On his retirement from Sydney rugby league after Manly's loss to Parramatta in the
1983 Grand Final fans were left with the feeling he may still have a lot to offer the game. With fellow Australian
Chris Anderson Chris Anderson may refer to:
Sports
* Chris Anderson (baseball) (born 1992), American baseball player
* Chris Anderson (cheese roller), 22-time winner of annual cheese rolling
* Chris Anderson (footballer, born 1925) (1925–1986), Scottish footb ...
as Coach, Eadie later made a comeback for English club
Halifax, when he scored sixteen tries (a record for a fullback) and helped Halifax to the 1986 Club Championship. Eadie played , scored a
try
Try or TRY may refer to:
Music Albums
* ''Try!'', an album by the John Mayer Trio
* ''Try'' (Bebo Norman album) (2014) Songs
* "Try" (Blue Rodeo song) (1987)
* "Try" (Colbie Caillat song) (2014)
* "Try" (Nelly Furtado song) (2004)
* " Try (Ju ...
, and was
man of the match
In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...
winning the
Lance Todd Trophy
The Lance Todd Trophy is a trophy in rugby league, awarded to the annual Challenge Cup Final's man of the match. Introduced in 1945–46, the trophy was named in memory of Lance Todd, the New Zealand-born player and administrator, who was killed in ...
in
Halifax's 19–18 victory over
St. Helens in the
1987
File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...
Challenge Cup
The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...
Final during the
1986–87 season at
Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...
,
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
on Saturday 2 May 1987, in front of 94,273 people.
In 1983 he overtook
Eric Simms' record for the most points scored in an
NSWRFL career (1,841); Eadie's total of 1,917 stood as the new career record until it was bettered by
Mick Cronin in 1985.
Coaching career
After retirement Eadie occasionally wrote articles for such magazines as ''
Rugby League Week
''Rugby League Week'' (frequently abbreviated to RLW) was the highest selling Australian rugby league magazine, ahead of major competitor ''Big League''. It was published weekly (on Wednesdays) during the Australian rugby league season, which ru ...
'' 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
Gold Coast may refer to:
Places Africa
* Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana:
** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642)
** Dutch G ...
reserve grade side.
Eadie coached
The Mullumbimby Giants in the
Northern Rivers Regional Rugby League
The Northern Rivers Regional Rugby League (NRRRL) is a rugby league competition run in the far north of New South Wales, Australia. It is run under the auspices of the Country Rugby League. The league formed in 2005 as an extended Group 1 Rugby L ...
competition for the 2012 season.
Accolades
In 1990, Eadie was selected at fullback when the club recognised its greatest ever players until that time. Later in 2006 he was again the first choice fullback when the club selected its "Dream Team".
In February 2008, Eadie was named at #25 in the list of Australia's
''100 Greatest Players'' (1908–2007) which was commissioned by the
NRL
The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...
and
ARL
ARL may refer to:
Military
* US Navy hull classification symbol for repair ship
* Admiralty Research Laboratory, UK
* United States Army Research Laboratory
* ARL 44, a WWII French tank
Organizations
* Aero Research Limited, a UK adhesives compan ...
to celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia.
The ''
Open Rugby'' inaugural World XIII was revealed in June 1978, it was; Graham Eadie,
John Atkinson,
Steve Rogers,
Jean-Marc Bourret
Green Vigo
Green Vigo is a South African former rugby union and rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s. He played representative level rugby union (RU) for Proteas, and at club level for Saldanha Tigers, as a centre, and representative l ...
,
Roger Millward
Roger Millward (16 September 1947 – 2 May 2016) was an English rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s and 1970s, and coached in the 1980s and 1990s. A goal-kicking , he gained a high level of prominence in the sport in England by p ...
,
Steve Nash
Stephen John Nash (born 7 February 1974) is a Canadian professional basketball coach and former player who most recently served as head coach of the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played 18 seasons in the NBA, ...
,
Jim Mills,
Keith Elwell
Keith Elwell (12 February 1950), also known by the nicknames of "The Mole", "Chiefy", and "The Ubiquitous Elwell", is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s. He played at representative level fo ...
,
Steve Pitchford
Stephen Pitchford (born 6 February 1952) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s. He played at representative level for Great Britain, and at club level for Leeds and Bramley as a .
Backgrou ...
,
Terry Randall
Terry William "Igor" Randall (born 5 February 1951 in Sydney, New South Wales) is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played for the Manly-Warringah club in the New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership. He is regularly n ...
,
George Nicholls
George may refer to:
People
* George (given name)
* George (surname)
* George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George
* George Washington, First President of the United States
* George W. Bush, 43rd President ...
and
Greg Pierce
Gregory Stuart Pierce (4 March 1950 – 24 June 2016) was an Australian rugby league player, coach and administrator. He played as a for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the National Rugby League competition and for Australia. He captained hi ...
.
Family
His son,
Brook Eadie, won a President's Cup premiership with the
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, a ...
in 1996, but plans for a top grade career were thwarted by the demise of that club due to the
Super League war
The Super League war was a commercial competition between the Australian Rugby League (ARL) and the Australian Super League to establish pre-eminence in professional rugby league competition in Australia and New Zealand in the mid-1990s.
Super ...
. Eadie still lives on the
Gold Coast
Gold Coast may refer to:
Places Africa
* Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana:
** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642)
** Dutch G ...
today, where he works as a sales representative for a local brewery.
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.
References
External links
Graham Eadie at stateoforigin.com.auGraham Eadie at silvertails.netKangaroos beat Lions at Wilderspool
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eadie, Graham
1953 births
Australian rugby league coaches
Australian rugby league players
Halifax R.L.F.C. players
Manly Warringah Sea Eagles players
Manly Warringah Sea Eagles captains
Australia national rugby league team players
New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin players
City New South Wales rugby league team players
Clive Churchill Medal winners
Living people
Rugby league fullbacks
Lance Todd Trophy winners
Rugby league players from Sydney