1979 3 OFF then the Footy starts Ron Casey intro

[@DodgingBullets-q4q]

Ahhh, the good old days. I remember, as a little kid, sneaking into the dressing rooms after the match and having players sign my autograph book. That is absolutely unheard of these days. I also remember scores and scores of hot dog vendors outside the ground. I regularly had my hot dog with both tomato sauce AND mustard. I remember the bloke inside the ground walking through the crowd, selling peanuts. In the shell, or sugar coated. Ahh, the great memories. Thanks for the memories Eric 😊

[@notrocketscience007]

Haha, yeah. I had a stack of those autograph books. We would hunt down dozens of players on match-days and get their autographs. Very few players refused. Paul Sironen once refused my request for an autograph, telling me to "piss off kid". What a great example to set, for a policeman 😏 However, pretty much ever other player I approached was most obliging.

[@CaptainObvious-n5d]

Great memories indeed. I can't stand the game these days. I really hate it. The misinterpretation of rules, the alteration of the laws of the game. I honestly think that the game's "gone to the dogs".

[@CaptainObvious-n5d]

​@@notrocketscience007 Funny you should mention that Paul Sironen told you to piss off when you asked for his autograph. Although he didn't actually tell me to piss off, Craig Young refused my refused for an autograph. Funny coincidence, both Sironen & Young were cops. Not very friendly cops

[@DodgingBullets-q4q]

Wests lacked technical skill in the late 1970s, so they tried to overcompensate for this by basically taking everyone's head off. They had a massive pack of forwards. Dallas Donnelly, Bob Cooper at 140 kilograms. Even Wests' fullback, John Dorahy, was a grub, and he was sent off in this match. Indeed, the prospect of facing Western Suburbs in the late 1970s was a sobering experience, a terrifying experience

[@werl789]

Just the opposite. Their high profile 'thug' label blinded many to Wests' very real talent. Thuggery never compensates for lack of skill. Consider the dirty 1970s Great Britain teams. Always outdone by the far more talented Kangaroos.

[@notrocketscience007]

I tend to agree. Lidcombe Oval was a fortress. Whenever you went to Lidcombe Oval, you always knew that you were going to get bashed.

[@crashdiet1518]

The game did not descend into a farce because of the referee, it descended into a farce because of the actions of three players. The referee just did his job. And full marks to the players for leaving the field immediately without carrying on like pork chops. Today's players could learn something from that.

[@markmay184]

The referee well and truly f…ed that game up - like Won Casey said, a farce

[@fantomghost6213]

What a gyp! That forward pass cost us the game. Only about 10 metres forward...Lmao!

[@davidbrown217]

Play the Maggie's back then,make sure ya bring extra ice, dencorub and an xtra large bottle of 'smellin' salts'...when League was still worth the admission price and pink boots were a long,long way off...thank Christ. Glad it's called NRL now,not worthy to be called Rugby League.

[@notrocketscience007]

Hahaha so true, David, so true! Now we have a game where players want to sit out matches if they don't feel like playing, or if they're upset by the way their coach spoke to them, etc...bunch of drama queens 😂

[@CaptainObvious-n5d]

I totally agree mate 👍

[@jvvoid]

Great footage. I remember the Dogs got a sponsor on the eve of the finals series. They won through every finals game as underdogs to the GF that year. They played some cracking footy.

[@werl789]

4:52 Anderson's pass to Gearin was a mile forward. 5 fake points. Wests were the true winners of this game.

[@jvvoid]

Thrown backwards, floated forward. Correct decision.

[@fantomghost6213]

100% correct. Even blind Freddy could see it was forward

[@werl789]

@@jvvoid Reg Gasnier looking at the slow motion replay at 5:19 "Well and truly forward". Not that his confirmation is needed, it is soooo obvious

[@michaelquodling2767]

Have a look at the program. There's a guy on the reserve bench for the Canterbury Under 23's. Jersey number 22. I think he ended up being a pretty decent player by the end of his career.

[@jvvoid]

I was all set to put this in the comments. Beat me to it, well done.

[@BROOKS39]

Interesting as I knew Terry Lamb was a Canterbury junior but never knew he actually played lower grades for them back then? He was playing 1st grade for Wests a year later

[@CaptainObvious-n5d]

Did Lamb play for Chester Hill in the junior leagues?

[@jvvoid]

@@CaptainObvious-n5d Yep, the mighty Hornets.

[@DodgingBullets-q4q]

​@@jvvoid Thank you for replying mate 👍

[@Fuzcapp]

More referees should have done this to Wests back then. Roy Masters thinks he's a smartarse. But he was a total idiot who had a team with no talent and this was the only way they had at being competitive. Trying to maim people. Absolute morons. It's a hard enough game as it is without idiots trying to take everyone's head off.

[@werl789]

Wests "a team with no talent" ??? Dream on

[@jvvoid]

I wouldn't say they had no talent. That was a pretty good pack of forwards that didn't need the biff to win, so I agree with you on that.

[@fantomghost6213]

In ya dreams mate. You have no idea. Go back to netball ya woose!

[@laoma4131]

I felt like send offs were correct it was a different era though.

[@paulieplayspoorly]

Those were the days, my friend, we thought they'd never end...

[@stavey2]

won won

[@johnanthonycafe2993]

Not hard to see why so many NRL players get trauma related dementia but it’s kept quiet because they were the heroes.