Graham Eadie

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Graham Eadie, affectionately known as "Wombat" to his fans, (born November 25, 1953, Woy Woy, New South Wales) was one of the greatest players in rugby league during the 1970s and probably the best fullback to emerge under the six-tackle rule. His 1,917 points in first grade and 2,070 points in all grades were both records at the time of his retirement, and he was a key factor behind Manly-Warringah's dominance of the competition during the 1970s.

Eadie was graded by Manly in 1971 and showed immdiate promise in the lower grades that season. The following year with the retirement of 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 180cm, Eadie's solid, almost tank-like 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 goalkicker 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 in 1980 after the first ever State of Origin match, he was never a prolific pointscorer at Test level because Mick Cronin was always given the goalkicking 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 defence. Two years earlier, his accurate goalkicking under pressure won Manly a grand final where they scored only one try to Parramatta's two.

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 1986-1987 Club Championship and 1987 Challenge Cup.

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 how 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 wars. Eadie still lives on the Gold Coast today, where he works as a sales representative for a local brewery.

[edit] Career

Manly 1971-1983: 233 games, 1,917 points (71 tries, 847 goals, 3 field goals)
Australia 1973-1979: 12 Tests, 16 points (2 tries, 5 goals)

[edit] References

• 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.