Graham Eadie

Graham"Wombat"Eadie(born 25 November 1953), is an Australian formerrugby leaguefootballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s. He has been named amongst Australia's finest of the 20th century.A New South WalesState of Originand Australian international representativefullback,he played in Australia duringManly-Warringah's dominance of the NSWRFL competition during the 1970s. He won four premierships with them and his 1,917 points in first grade and 2,070 points in all grades were both records at the time of his retirement. Eadie also played in England forHalifax,winning theChallenge CupFinal of 1987 with them. He also wonWorld Cupswith Australia and collected awards such as theRothmans MedalandLance Todd Trophy.

Graham Eadie

Personal information
Born	(1953-11-25)25 November 1953 Woy Woy, New South Wales
Playing information
Height	179 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	95 kg (14 st 13 lb)
Position	Fullback
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 1971–83 Manly-Warringah 211 71 838 3 1899 1986–89 Halifax 74 29 24 0 164 Total 285 100 862 3 2063 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 1974–80 New South Wales 14 3 13 0 35 1974–79 Australia 20 2 5 0 16 1974–83 NSW City 6 9 11 0 49
Source:

Playing career

• Manly 1971–1983: 237 games, 1,917 points (71 tries, 847 goals, 3 field goals)
• Australia 1973–1979: 20 Tests, 16 points (2 tries, 5 goals)
• New South Wales 1974-1980: 14 games, 35 points (3 tries, 13 goals)

Eadie was graded by Manly-Warringah in1971and showed immediate promise in the lower grades that season. The following year with the retirement of long serving Manly fullbackBob 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 180 cm (5'10 "), Eadie's solid build of around 95 kg (15stone) 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 goal kicker in some games in1972,it was only in1973that Eadie became Manly's major point scorer. That year, he kicked 14 goals in a match againstPenrith,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) in1975,a club record that would not be broken until New Zealanddual internationalfullbackMatthew Ridgescored 257 points (11 tries, 106 goals and 1 field goal) in1995.

Eadie was selected to theAustralian teamfor the1973 Kangaroo tourand, after an injury to Kangaroos Captain-coachGraeme Langlands,took over as Test fullback for the final twoAshestests againstGreat Britain,marking his début atHeadingleyinLeedsby kicking 5 goals in windy conditions. Though Langlands regained the test fullback spot in 1974, Eadie went on to be Australia's regular fullback from 1975 until he retired from representative rugby league following the experimental1980 State of Origin match.Despite being a record point scorer for Manly, Eadie was never a prolific point scorer at Test or State representative level asCountry Firstsand laterParramattaCentreMichael Croninwas generally the first choice kicker in representative sides.

In1974,Eadie won theRothmans Medalas Sydney rugby league's best-and-fairest player, and at the end of the controversial1978 finals serieshe produced one of the finest performances ever by a fullback in the Grand Final replay, "where he single-handedly destroyedCronulla-Sutherlandby scoring a try, setting up two others forRussell Gartnerand kicking three goals and a field goal ".Two years earlier, his accurate goal kicking under pressure won Manly the1976 Grand Finalwhere they scored only one try to Parramatta's two. Eadie's dominance in the '76 and '78 Grand Finals was recognised thirty years later with the awarding of retrospectiveClive Churchill Medalsfor Man of the Match in those games.

In 1977, Eadie was Australia's first choice fullback for the1977 World Cupand played in Australia's 13–12 win over Great Britain in theWorld Cup finalat theSydney Cricket Ground.

Following the 1978 Grand Final, Eadie was selected to his secondKangaroo Tour.The coach of the1978 Kangarooswas Eadie's Manly coachFrank Stanton,while the captain was his former long time Sea Eagles teammateBob Fulton,who was at the time playing forEastern Suburbs.Eadie played fullback in all 5 test matches on the tour with Australia defeating Great Britain 2–1 to winThe Ashes,but surprisingly lost the test series toFrance2–0. He also played in the non-test international againstWalesat theSt. Helen's Rugby GroundinSwanseawith Australia winning 8–3.

Despite Manly declining in surprising fashion to miss the semi-finals for the first time in twelve years in1979,Eadie's form remained excellent and he played in all 3 Ashes tests against a very lackluster touring Great Britain side. He then went on to play in theinauguralState of Origingame at fullback forNew South Walesin 1980,though he would miss the mid-season tour to New Zealand with the Australian team that year.

A major injury that forced him to miss half of the1981 seasonand saw him lose his test fullback spot failed to dim his brilliance: at the end of1982,commentatorswere noticing how he was "more involved in the game than at any stage since 1973." On his retirement from Sydney rugby league after Manly's loss to Parramatta in the1983 Grand Finalfans were left with the feeling he may still have a lot to offer the game.With fellow AustralianChris Andersonas Coach, Eadie later made a comeback for English clubHalifax,when he scored sixteen tries (a record for a fullback) and helped Halifax to the 1986 Club Championship. Eadie playedfullback,scored atry,and wasman of the matchwinning theLance Todd TrophyinHalifax's 19–18 victory overSt. Helensin the1987 Challenge CupFinal during the1986–87 seasonatWembley Stadium,Londonon Saturday 2 May 1987, in front of 94,273 people.

In 1983 he overtookEric Simms' record for the most points scored in anNSWRFLcareer (1,841); Eadie's total of 1,917 stood as the new career record until it was bettered byMick Croninin 1985.

Coaching career

After retirement Eadie occasionally wrote articles for such magazines asRugby League Weekand 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 theGold Coastreserve grade side.

Eadie coached theMullumbimby Giantsin theNorthern Rivers Regional Rugby Leaguecompetition for the 2012 season.

Accolades

In 1990, Eadie was selected at fullback when the club recognised its greatest ever players until that time. Later in 2006 he was again the first choice fullback when the club selected its "Dream Team".

In February 2008, Eadie was named at #25 in the list of Australia's100 Greatest Players(1908–2007) which was commissioned by theNRLandARLto celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia.

TheOpen Rugbyinaugural World XIII was revealed in June 1978, it was; Graham Eadie,John Atkinson,Steve Rogers,Jean-Marc Bourret[1],Green Vigo,Roger Millward,Steve Nash,Jim Mills,Keith Elwell,Steve Pitchford,Terry Randall,George NichollsandGreg Pierce.

Family

His son,Brook Eadie,won a President's Cup premiership with theSouth Queensland Crushersin 1996, but plans for a top grade career were thwarted by the demise of that club due to theSuper League war.Eadie still lives on theGold Coasttoday, where he works as a sales representative for a local brewery.

Sources

• 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.

External links

• Graham Eadie at stateoforigin.com.au
• Graham Eadie at eraofthebiff.com
• Graham Eadie at silvertails.net
• Kangaroos beat Lions at Wilderspool