For those only familiar with the modern, points-a-plenty, supercharged version of rugby league, it would be difficult to grasp that perhaps the greatest backline ever assembled contested a tryless grand final.
“It was very defence-orientated in the middle of the ’80s,” says Parramatta legend Peter Sterling of his side’s 4-2 win over Canterbury in the 1986 decider.
“I challenge anyone to go back and have a look at the 80 minutes and not be excited by it. We sort of talk down the defensive side of the game [today], but that was edge-of-your-seat stuff for the whole time.”
There is one moment that resonates with Sterling four decades later. With the clock ticking down, and Canterbury peppering the Eels’ try line – “Pressure! Pressure for Parramatta!” cried the great Ray Warren in commentary – the Bulldogs hatched a short-side raid. Opposing halfback Steve Mortimer fires the ball right, prop Peter Tunks offloads to open what appears a channel just wide enough for Andrew Farrar to sneak through and steal the game.
“When I think of the ’86 grand final, I think of one tackle,” Sterling recalls. “There were seven Parramatta jerseys in that tackle late in the game.
“To me that just summed up that win; the desperation just to deny, to find the effort to get the numbers there. That to me just encompassed what that game was all about. That shows why we won the game.”
Among the blue and gold jerseys making the defensive stop was Sterling, who moments later would be crowned the game’s first Clive Churchill medallist.
“Sterlo, the first thing he grabbed was the football,” adds his halves partner Brett Kenny. “He wanted to make sure that they didn’t get the ball on the ground.”
It was one of many magical moments that were relived on Friday night when Parramatta celebrated the 40-year anniversary of that epic victory. More than 650 guests attended a lavish function at Rosehill Racecourse that featured the class of 1986, as well as the current Eels side.
Famous tales were retold. Like Michael Cronin almost missing the game due to a 30-car pile-up delaying his commute from Gerringong to the Sydney Cricket Ground.
“I had a habit of running late to a lot of things,” Cronin says of his predicament as the minutes to kick-off ticked down. “I’ve embarrassed myself a few times in my life, but missing a grand final would have been top of the list.”
There were the two disallowed tries to Kenny, who had scored a double in each of the side’s previous three grand final victories.
“[Referee] Mick Stone got it right,” Kenny concedes. “Which proves maybe we don’t need the video referee.”
And then there was the sight of captain Ray Price, who barely had the energy to regain his feet after completing the final tackle right on the hooter. It was a fitting farewell for Price and Cronin, who managed to get to the game just in time to boot the penalty goals that proved the difference.
The raucous, celebratory scenes that followed were replayed ad nauseam throughout the evening. It was evident that the bonds formed on that famous day had not diminished with the passing of time.
And while that feat was appropriately celebrated ahead of the latest clash between the great rivals – Parramatta host Canterbury at CommBank Stadium on Sunday – it wasn’t lost on those in attendance that it remained the western Sydney club’s final premiership.
For many in the room, it was literally a lifetime ago.
The contrast between that champion side and the present one is stark. Current coach Jason Ryles is overseeing the worst defensive outfit in the game, one that would be sitting at the bottom of the ladder if not for the hapless Dragons. After last week’s loss to the Titans, fans booed their team off the ground.
The season is only six weeks old and already it is a virtual write-off. For long-suffering fans, there’s no guarantee the club is any closer to grand final glory.
“It seems like yesterday, and then to find out that it’s actually been 40 years, geez it’s a long time,” Kenny says.
There are mitigating factors.
The Eels are experiencing one of the worst injury crises of any team in the modern era. There are 13 players unavailable for selection – including key men Isaiah Iongi, Jonah Pezet and J’maine Hopgood – and the club doesn’t have the depth to adequately replace them. Their replacements come up against a Canterbury outfit coming off a huge high, a victory against a white-hot Panthers team considered almost unbackable favourites for the title. Things are likely to get worse before they get better.
“That’s probably why there is a little bit of bitter,” Sterling says of the mood at the reunion. “It’s all sweet, obviously, but a little bit of bitter that this is a celebration of not just a grand final win, but also our last grand final win.
“And that’s disappointing, we’re all disappointed by that. We’d like to think that’ll be rectified sooner than later, but for our club, that’s way too long of a drought. We’ve been in a couple of grand finals, but we need to be contesting more.
“We’re putting our faith in Jason that he’s taking us that way. We don’t want the halcyon days of our club to be four decades ago.”
A club with a storied past, a rich leagues club, a thriving junior nursery and a rusted-on fan base remains in the longest premiership drought in NRL history. And there is no sign that, at least in the foreseeable future, it will end.
“Questions have been asked and should be asked about that,” Sterling says.
“I’m quietly and cautiously optimistic that we’re getting things right …
“I want to be around for the [next] celebrations. I know what it was like for us. I couldn’t begin to imagine the celebrations that would go on after our next victory.
“I’d like to think that’s going to be sooner than later because I want to be reasonably fit and healthy to be a big part, on the fringes, but a part of it.”
