When Manly came to Lidcombe

Manly knew they were in for a tough game when they came to Lidcombe Oval to take on the Western Suburbs Magpies in 1978. I am not sure they expected it to be this tough however.

[@308V8HZ]

Funny to see a bloke take one last drag of a cigarette before running on to the field . Priceless .

[@charleyhansen4866]

Wasn't a cigarette 💚

[@bpmuppet72]

Tommy..what an absolute legend!

[@jovanhjuson9232]

Listen to John Gray (0.30) “we weren’t the style of people who went around doing that type of thing”. Exactly why people from the west hate Manly! Go the Magpies!!

[@chuckselvage3157]

Dallas not taking his Gary's and having a bellyful of beer lol

[@McOzman479]

John Gray spent more time in front of the judiciary than any West's player. His elbows were legendary.

[@joecorr1853]

Proud to say I was at that game. League isn't the same anymore.

[@bigfogman1]

me too joe what a great time to be alive watching footy at Lidcombe then straight down the canals to get home

[@MisterPolitical1]

AFL is better for me than the NRL post 1997

[@MisterPolitical1]

I'd hate rugby league from 1999 due to mergers + salary cap sagas

[@kenwatson5562]

What are you talking about. It's better than ever. Go ask the commercial ask the sponsors trying to get on the

[@Fuzcapp]

What would've happened if management had suggested this West team wear the rainbow jersey ...?

[@beaucrocker]

RIP Tommy

[@someonesomewhere1600]

I've followed the Tigers since way back in the Balmain days. But I'm a dead set Westie who grew up about five miles west of Lidcombe and I couldn't wait for these games. Wayne Smith went to our school. I missed playing first grade league with him at school by about a year. Growing up I knew that we were looked down on and the news pumped up any crime news and made us look worse. But on the footy field, there was a bit of the get square. If Balmain had to amalgamate with another club, I'm glad it was Wests. Two honest teams that some players took the short money to play for. Two clubs that deserved a bit more luck in the Finals when the "glamour" clubs knocked us out. Maybe I'm getting old, but the game ain't what it used to be. Seems bloody sterile now. Roach and Donnelly would have had their measure. Cheers to all you Westies. (Anyone ever go to Lidcombe Dancers Club back in the day? I went a number of times and one night about six of the Magpies showed up half shot and they were up for a scrap, was the impression I got. Wild boys.) Years after Wests left Lidcombe I was in a sports comp at Lidcombe Oval and we used the Wests changing room. You could feel the old aggro in the air. And I just remembered: I think the first First Grade game I ever saw was Balmain vs. Wests at Lidcombe with my Dad. We stood on the hill at what I think was the western end, but my directions have faded with my memory. Keith Barnes was still playing. Great memories of the game, and of going to the footy with my Dad.

[@RodneyMcMinge]

I played cricket with him as a kid. Hr was a bloody good cricketer. I got a surprise to see him in league. I used to play " Touch " against Dallas. Touch ?...yeah right !

[@RodneyMcMinge]

@JG-bw6lu At least get the bloody name right. It's football and i've been associated with it as a player and a coach for over 60 years.

[@markcurran6766]

Thanks 😊 for your story enjoyable

[@icenewzealand6774]

​@JG-bw6lu Go put your shin-pads on oi,, Men like John Donnelly and Olsen fillipaina were far too alpha to play a beta sport like soccer . Just saying...

[@gregorywall2479]

Wests had Les Boyd, John 'Dallas' Donelly and Tommy Raudonikis all on the same team. Three of the toughest players ever to lace a boot.

[@bigfogman1]

well said

[@Fuzcapp]

Les Boyd was a cheat, a thug and an idiot. I was embarrassed that Manly bought him from Wests. I would take Randall over Donnelly for toughness any day. Tommy was great as a 7th forward. A true legend. Would have him in my team any day.

[@stevenguegens9516]

Don't forget big bad Bob Cooper for western suburbs He was mad as a cut snake

[@McOzman479]

And they still couldn't win a comp.

[@McOzman479]

3 of the dirtiest too. Still remember Boyd playing for Manly when Dallas ripped his knee into Boyd's head and got sent off. Turns out Boyd bit him first.

[@matcole9896]

RIP TOMMY. LEGEND.

[@joek724]

one tough hombre

[@ryan1385]

Ahhhhhhh the good old days. Gotta love it

[@manxmark]

Am I the only person who misses these days ?

[@RodneyMcMinge]

Not on your life. As soon as they destroyed the scrum, i left the game. They were great days.

[@michaelhogan2071]

No. I do as well. The country was free a Holden or falcon on every drive proper scrums and the players still worked for a living which made them more like us. Working class. I was only a kid but if they're is a heaven it would be 1970s Australia complete with the old school NSW Rugby League

[@causticwit302]

Great clip. Thank you for uploading this.

[@Connellyboii]

Always good to see manly get belted

[@croweater75]

It's a victimless crime

[@fantomghost6213]

This was the wests team I went for as a kid. Loved 'em. RIP Tommy and crew!

[@poitor5915]

face slapping warm up was all the prep west needed☝🏻

[@roostersbays95]

traditional and cultural Australia i miss them

[@Satchmo34586]

Great to see Bruce Gibbs......good bloke tuff player

[@joshrees1985]

Rip Tommy Raudonikis a Rugby league legend

[@jaytee198]

Aaah the good old days Lidcombe Oval a bit of biffo perfect Sunday afternoon

[@jaytee198]

@Barry Beeth Hahaha you're absolutely right mate, the good old days

[@jaytee198]

@MANCHESTER UNITED F.C You're absolutely right about that but still love league

[@jaytee198]

@Barry Beeth Efharisto

[@sneakyam]

@M If you understood how the RL and the ARL have stuffed up their marketing over the last 120 or so years you be in a state of absolute wonderment that the code still survives at all.

[@alamuddin2378]

@M Soccer hasn’t been no 1 in Australia’s 120 year existence. Can’t see it happening ever now. Stop targeting League videos to put your unwanted comments. Rugby League is Australia’s sporting landscape. League is also called football here. Such is its influence it’s wiped the name Soccer from its radar. Suck it.

[@leanneblake4248]

My Uncle & Godfather is Shane Day. He was Slapping Tommy in the Face. haha Brilliant , cheers thanks for sharing

[@absoluteb22]

Hooker with tape around his head.

[@bigfogman1]

he was a legend at lidcombe tough as nails

[@shanewilson398]

This is from the video fibros and silver tails, a real good watch.

[@jaypercy5974]

Ah great teams love the lineup of both

[@roybennett9284]

I remember the Steelers vs Wests game in 1982 what a ed ward of a game that was

[@stevenguegens7047]

YES Bob Cooper ran about 70 Or 80 metres down field to belt a couple of THEM from Illawarra and I think he got a record suspension at the time Of about 15 months

[@mong4567]

Great stuff from the maggies. I bet they were slapping and hitting each other wounding themselves before the game.

[@justinlanger7109]

@MANCHESTER UNITED much higher percentage of homosexuals than I thought. Thanks for stats.

[@absoluteb22]

@MAN UTD Man Utd is a corporate brand followed by mostly shallow bandwagoners.

[@MisterPolitical1]

Better than today's league.

[@shanekilpatrick3378]

Footy for a different era. They’re pros today. Back then two weeks suspension, you’re going fishing, now you’ve lost thousands in salary and match fees.

[@mick8146]

rest in peace Tommy😔

[@craigslattery934]

Good old days

[@brendanayres7920]

80 minutes of fights occasionally interrupted by a bit of footy! Sensational!

[@ripme6616]

Nothing better then smelling Manly blood through a broken nose ' Dallas Donnelly'

[@McOzman479]

Ah you belted , you scratched, you eye gouged, you yelled and screamed, headbutted lockers called us nasty names.....but we still won the comp.😝

[@solidostso]

those were the days

[@MisterPolitical1]

But from the mid 90s it's all about cash

[@martinwilson2660]

Unadulterated violence. Brilliant. Just glad not to have been good enough/tough enough/old enough to have been a league player from that era.

[@matcole9896]

Manly won the competition that year but it was there for the taking for Wests and Roy Masters knew that for a fact.Such a shame because I believe Wests had a better team that year.

[@glenchapman3899]

Well Manly got some bloody help. I will go to my grave knowing that disallowed try should have been given

[@stephenlancaster7038]

Steve Knight played for Wests before he went to Manly. Fibro and Silvertail

[@bigfogman1]

manly in the 1970's were a side that dominated and bashed most teams in the comp-except wests who belted them and belted them and west belted all of them and were the most feared team in the comp-these were the great days of club rivalry and will never be repeated as the game now resembles volleyball-soft as-I was there that day and could hear the insult exchange prior to kick off from the sidelines-no surprise the game went the way it did-lol

[@chrisc6358]

bro how you gonna say the game resembles volleyball i bet you these guys cant bring down 1.9m 117kg Jason Taumalolo running full speed the game now has harder players then ever however the game is more tightly reffed now which adjusted how the game is played but these players are still way more tougher and stronger then all these players if the game now was reffed how it was back in the day you wouldn't be saying that

[@youtubearchive3668]

You mean way fatter and slower right?

[@chrisc6358]

@@youtubearchive3668 na mate complete opposite the game has actually gone faster then before

[@tombow5198]

Did West win a premiership play this style?

[@cristianhill7379]

@@chrisc6358 Forwards in the era of this clip were expected to play the full 80 minutes, there was no interchange back then. Modern forwards do it easier, sometimes averaging only 55 - 60 minutes of game time. This is why the game is dominated by Polynesians, the interchange is ideal for their 'impact' style of play.

[@stevegriffiths5364]

The young Western Suburbs Magpies still play at Lidcombe Oval in 2024. You should look up their fixture list and get back there with your support....its a great day out.

[@ajax05swan]

The Mighty Maggies

[@overlook237]

That high shot on the no4 reminds me of Edwards taking Bradley Clyde's head off in GB Vs Aus test. Great stuff!!

[@theHentySkeptic]

Used to go to lidcombe to watch manly because brookvale had no trains. Might have been there that day...

[@holyhunterlola8850]

Manly won the Comp that year

[@colinoverton8897]

He's forgotten to take his tablets. That says it all!

[@73prd]

Manly Forever ❤

[@googlefashists4986]

No point winning the fight if you dont win. The magpies won no premieships in those days

[@shanemoore8055]

when all games started at 3 pm on a Sunday afternoon.

[@spslap5771]

I Miss grand finals on Sunday .BBQ and beers

[@MisterPolitical1]

It's mostly on Saturdays & Sundays to a small degree till the mid 90s

[@AussieOnYouTube]

C'MON WESTS

[@cloudattack3279]

I would go to Lidcombe all the time with my relatives, we were mad maggies supporters. I remember some Manly dude yell out to my Auntie “Why don’t you just go back to your westie homes?” To which Auntie replied “At least we own ours!” 🤣🤣

[@Midnight-kn7mg]

And now we have teams like melbourne storm just being tactical and refs blamed, makes me laugh knowing what a joke the game is now😂

[@Bigjezza2257]

Rip Tommy

[@BlakeWard]

Great footy back then

[@kidmillion2552]

Halcyon days indeed👌

[@geoffaldwinckle1096]

crikey id heard about this, but its worse than i imagined.

[@davidparris7167]

Westies was my team.....sadly now only history. Could never warm to that Balmain dominated bastard team that replaced my beloved Maggies.

[@Gav671]

Have a go at Bruce Gibbs. Meat pie mate? Couldn't run out of sight now.

[@kalea72ify]

Bring back the Magpies

[@TheBronsonfan]

what the Fuck happened to footy I miss the Winfield Cup

[@dennisfdrinkwater7232]

Hensley Rugby League 1988

[@AnthonyKiyola]

Great to see two sets of tough forwards rip into each other. Very entertaining but who had the last laugh that year? Btw, I don't support Manly.

[@stillages1]

I had Brendon Tuutas Wests shirt....the baby faced assassin

[@glenchapman3899]

Yeah when he hit people they stayed hit

[@3_too_won]

So what do you want a medal or a chest to pin it on.

[@oztuber2]

when footy was footy.. not like now.. souths fan but love watching the tough guys of old bash each other.. what happened to our great game... soft soft soft

[@3_too_won]

To many women involved that,s what happened

[@TomLaios]

Drive past Lidcombe Oval daily.The kids today have no idea what went on.

[@harryhatter2962]

NOT ONE of the wests players would be any where else except in Gaol in these days with those tactics!

[@mickeymouse1697]

They should make a movie about wests

[@ihopetowin]

Back in the days when Australians sounded like Australians.

[@triffidgrower]

Typical Manly grub defence........."everybody else was doing it".

[@7s29]

That was a hate from old times. Back then everyone loved to hate manly.

[@manxmark]

When did Rugby become so PC and sterile ?. Not the game I knew !!!

[@bpmuppet72]

When all the woke arsed sooky la la’s became in charge!

[@MisterPolitical1]

I'd get killed before seeing today's nrl

[@ashtarroth1594]

Teams so frightened of Wests? Hehehehe, that makes me laugh, no premierships for them in the 70's feared by no one obviously.

[@bigfogman1]

what rubbish written by someone who doesnt know anything abut footy in the seventies

[@billyboy7449]

🦅🦅🦅

[@daveo2882]

Wayne Smith was a teacher at my primary school. He was an arrogant prick. When he got knocked out by Steve Knight it was awesome. And on Monday we let him know. We all ended up on detention, but it was well worth it.

[@joshlock4627]

As a graded coach - Gibbs so fat and slow , horrific hands He scored turning around in a confused state at dummy half . He just lunged and opportunistic try Rex Mossop has stated on air about Gibbs terrible hands . Easily can can be side stepped in defence . Wests reserves at the time were last . Masters once said he lacked forward depth . Forcing Gibbs into firsts He wouldn’t make park football today Being slow overweight isn’t intimidating

[@jimpikoulis6726]

Classic Aussie biffo

[@Timst3R]

"Style of people" Oh man.

[@BlakeWard]

Tough footy

[@martinwilliamdavies7977]

Dallas Hit Them. Aye, Oh Aye Man.

[@halkerable]

Best not about this is the ridiculous sound effects 😂. Like watching looney tunes!

[@ahjoostdedahbehigpu6749]

And then Les Boyd ended up at Manly. The best player we ever stole from the westies.

[@canwelook]

And from memory, Ray Brown and John Dorahy joined him at Manly. Masters had drilled into them his Silvertails legend, about how Manly players had all the luxuries and lifestyle that anyone could possibly want. Seems he convinced them so they joined Manly.

[@3_too_won]

And Les Boyd was a useless cunt and did Sweet F A for his money .

[@andrewsmith8729]

@@canwelook John Dorahy never got much of a go on when he was at Manly. Boyd was a rampaging bull when in form. I remember Manly came up with this idea of letting Boyd and Terry Randall run through the centres. Then later it was Boyd and Cleal. They just carved through the defensive lines back then... it must have been in the early / mid 1980s.

[@MisterPolitical1]

I like Lidcombe oval & I hate anz stadium

[@jontydenton1898]

Ludicrous sound effects

[@GWLAD]

Wests Tigers

[@amr3603]

Who is the English guy with the 'tache?

[@peteratkins950]

Johnny Gray he was a hooker.Good player even though he played with Manly.

[@steveerrol5802]

Played with North Sydney too. Good goal kicker as well !

[@peterpiper831]

He more or less started the "round the corner" style of goalkicking in the comp.

[@demi.is.a.cutiee8764]

Manly still won the comp that year.

[@absoluteb22]

Thanks to the officials in their pocket.

[@limcako41]

@@absoluteb22 Having Greg Hartley helped

[@06588275]

strange that randall got in ni trouble for the payback well done arko u cheat

[@Mmmm2217]

Win Lose or Draw

[@petermaxwell2965]

Roy masters smart cookie, or an evil bastard ?

[@buzzcrushtrendkill]

when blokes were allowed to be blokes

[@MisterPolitical1]

From the mid 80s there's less fibros wests vs silvertails manly

[@robertwhite9668]

Wests were the most feared team in Sydney because they were the dirtiest.

[@rushbeat14]

Commentary sounds wrong, TV was rex mossop and this guy wasn't calling on the radio either so who is it?

[@coasttweed]

+rushbeat14 you don't know what you are talking about

[@rushbeat14]

The who is the commentator?

[@chrisburke6775]

rushbeat14

[@str8brawling133]

The "commentator" is the actor Chris Haywood. This video is an excerpt from a longer documentary about the Wests vs Manly (Fibros vs Silvertails) rivalry in the 1978 season. For some reason they dubbed Chris Haywood's commentary over Rex Mossop's call of the match, telecast by Channel 7.

[@johnfisher747]

No one called it better than the Moose

[@madrock1970]

Must be 12 Manly fans who watched this

[@sneakyam]

Back in the day they used to have a sign up at Lidcombe Oval advertising the next home game. Before a match against the Silvertails they'd have: Wests v Manly - War And it was.

[@MisterPolitical1]

Today's NRL has electric screens

[@ryantosatto607]

Back then west were so dog

[@dicessdontbenosey438]

Good old days in sydney when boys hit like girls 😁

[@intellectualgladiata]

Wayne Smith kind of ruined their legacy as tough guys when he admitted that he stayed down to milk it so that Steve Knight could get sent off. Sorry Mugpies, tough guys don't do that.

[@croweater75]

When tommy says stay down you stay down

[@peterpiper831]

The ref waved Knight off immediately after the tackle, I think Tommy remembered wrong.

[@intellectualgladiata]

Lost just a little bit of respect for Tommy after seeing this. Telling Wayne Smith to stay down wasn't in the spirit of the game. :-)

[@FalseFlagAmerican]

Gamesmanship.

[@TombstoneHeart]

The video of the Wayne Smith incident shows that initially, Tommy wasn't even close enough to Smith to whisper anything in his ear. Two Wests players, number eight and another player, get to Smith first and are bending over him, but it takes Tommy a while to stop gloating over the penalty and the send off, to get to Smith. The funniest thing in the whole video is how bad Manly's defence was that day. Let's face it, on his best day, Bruce Gibbs couldn't run out of sight on a dark night, yet from dummy half and a standing start, he split the Manly defence like cheap kindling and scored. I bet the big bugger is still bludging free beers for that effort. lol

[@patpearce8221]

Yeah it was if they were going to send them off, always has been

[@peterpiper831]

The ref sent Knight off immediately, way before Tommy got anywhere near Smith.

[@benjaminparkinson5255]

Now look at them they are pathetic a club in turmoil like south's in 2023

[@paulrichards647]

embarrassing for every one of these academics

[@jillo9731]

every side should have put the bif on manly. the eagles would have taken out spoon after spoon as they always went limp after a belting. look what happened in 1981. broadhurst gets belted, manly played like pussies and lost the game

[@wasp4eva1]

You're an idiot. How many spoons have Manly had you dumbshit?!! Answer, 0.

[@Golden93]

+Jill O you have the IQ of a thong

[@stevensmith3147]

Jill O You are entitled to your opinion as well .Just because you don't agree with what others are saying it doesn't make you a idiot

[@absoluteb22]

Yeh 'rockdood 'cause they constantly stacked their 1st & reserve grade with quality players from other teams you fraud.

[@daveo2882]

@@absoluteb22 a fuckstick opinion from a fuckstick Wests......oh hang, they’re long gone.

[@phillnavin1212]

No one was frightened, they all knew u were grubs and only way u had a chance was to cheap shot opponents

[@davo63004]

What did that achieve ? Took wests until 2005 to win gf. Muppets

[@robmiljus]

You still hurt about this ay? And it was the tigers who won in 2005. Face it, the magpies smashed the shit out of the Silver tails. And not just once either.

[@tboutros1]

David Maloney who are the muppets! Manly bought half the west team in 1980. At last when the west Tigers won in 2005 they did it with their Juniors.

[@Golden93]

+Rob Miljus Manly had a better head to head record against the magpies....even at Lidcombe

[@robmiljus]

Dan Lamb​ but was that because they bought most of the magpies's best players of years past?!! Les boyd, John dorahy, Ray Brown, John Ribot, Terry Hill, just to name a few. Yes, I agree Manly had a better head to head record. But that was mostly because of Manly getting all of those players and being a team with more money to spend. I think we can both agree that the Eagles vs Magpies rivalry was great and there will never be anything like it ever again. Especially the shit rugby league we see these days. Man, how much better was league. Better and more exciting than it is nowadays. For me, rugby league is slowly dieing and it's a shame because I loved watching it in the past. NRL is a good cure for my insomnia now. 

[@robmiljus]

Bring back the biff!!

[@nathanbellamy7870]

What a bunch of dirty coward cheap shots. The good old days lol.

[@grahamlowe7388]

thugby league from the convicts.