Tommy Bishop
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| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Thomas Bishop | |
| Date of birth | October 15, 1940 | |
| Place of birth | St Helens, England | |
| Height | 5 ft 2 in (157 cm) | |
| Nickname | Bish | |
| Position | Half-back | |
| Professional clubs* | ||
| 1966 - 1973 | St.Helens/Cronulla | 158 (68) |
| National team | ||
| 1966 - 1969 | Great Britain | 15 |
|
* Professional club appearances and (tries) |
||
Tommy Bishop (born October 15, 1940 in St Helens, England) was a rugby league player for the St. Helens rugby football club in the English Rugby League Championship and the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the New South Wales Rugby League competition in Australia. He also represented Great Britain on several occasions during his career, captaining them on two occasions, his position of choice was at half-back. Now long retired from competitive rugby league Bishop now resides at Robina on the Gold Coast, Australia.
Contents |
[edit] Playing career
Bishop has often been described as the ultimate halfback. It is said his ball skills were without peer anywhere in the rugby world while he was still playing, he had an amazing ability to pick and carve out running angles for his team mates, passing with such precision and accuracy that even some knowledge of his creativity was usually of little or no value for opposing teams. Bishop somewhat carved out what would become the stereotypical half for many years after he had laced his boots for the final time; he was scheming, niggling and at times mad and dirty often being sent from the field on several occasions.
[edit] St. Helens
He originally played for St. Helens club in the 1968 and '69 seasons before being bought in by the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks for the next few years (1969-1974) which was somewhat the norm for Australian clubs to bring in British Internationals. Upon Cronulla coach Ken Kearney leaving in the 1970 season, Bishop was offered and accepted the role of player/coach for his remaining time (four years) at the Sharks.
[edit] Cronulla Sharks
Bishop's first match as coach in 1970 provided a 23-13 win over the Newtown Jets at Endeavour, but the club lost their next seven consecutive matches. Then out of the blue, came one of the greatest wins in the club's history. The Sharks thrashed the premiership bound South Sydney Rabbitohs by 25-6 with a style of open football that was soon to become the club's famous trademark.
In 1971 Bishop helped the Cronulla Sharks secure Great Britain power front rower Cliff Watson, and the club had their best season in of their history, winning a total of ten matches. Cronulla finished the season one win from the play-offs and that result most likely would have been even better, had it not been for Bishop succumbing to injury snapping his achilles tendon. This meant Bishop would not return to playing for the Sharks until the first match of the 1973 season. For the remaider of the 1972 Cronulla lapsed to end up well and truly outside of the Top 5 which just shows how much of a key Bishop was to their side.
The year 1973 saw Bishops Cronulla Sharks make the end of season play-offs for the first time in the clubs history and they did it in style. The Sharks lost only five games in the whole year and finished just one point behind eventual Minor Premiers the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles and ahead of local rivals, the St George Illawarra Dragons.
Cronulla being drawn against the Dragons defeated them surprisingly comfortably 18-0 in their first ever semi-final with the help of Bishop, Watson and Rogers. Bishops Sharks lost to Manly leaving them having to achieve a win over the Newtown Jets to achieve the clubs first Grand Final appearance. Cronulla established a crushing 18-4 half time lead over the Jets, before eventually winning by 20-11. The Sharks were into the Grand Final in their first visit to the play-offs.
Coach Bishop though knew that the Cronulla side's only real hope of beating the defending Premiers Manly was for his team of youthful players to niggle and unsettle the glamour Sea Eagles. Utilising the skills of Cliff Watson to lead the way, the 1973 Grand Final was the most brutal ever seen as the Sharks threw everything at Manly. In the end, it was a champion performance by Bobby Fulton that saw the Sea Eagles home 10-7, the result was disappointing for Bishop but his name had been etched into Cronulla Sharks history from the day.
[edit] Representative games
- International: represented Great Britain on several occasions during his career, captaining them twice
[edit] Career playing statistics
[edit] Point scoring summary
| Games | Tries | Goals | F/G | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 158 | 68 | 17 | 2 | 308 |
[edit] Matches played
| Team | Matches | Years |
|---|---|---|
| St Helens | 135 | 1966 - 1969 |
| Cronulla Sharks | 23 | 1969 - 1971, 1973 |
[edit] Quotations
"Tommy kicked the club off. He turned the club around... daylight was second." (Monty Porter, on Tommy Bishop & his influence on the Cronulla club.)
"You could tell straightaway... the style of him, the way he moved.. he was just unbelievable." (Tommy Bishop in reference to the young Steve Rogers)
"There was Cliffy leaning against the post. I went over and asked. "What's going on Cliff?" He said: "It's all right... it's all right. They're not playing yet." (Tommy Bishop elaborating on Cliff Watson & his 1973 Final warm up.)
