1970:
DRAGONS DEFEATED IN 'TRY-A-THON'

JACK GIBSON CALLED IN AS COACH In St George's 50th premiership season, the club called on the services of 'super coach', Jack Gibson. A player of some note, Gibson played against Saints in the 1960 (as captain) and 1963 Grand Finals but never played in a winning grand final side himself. 'Gibbo' started his career with St George lower grades before shifting to Easts (1953-1961, 132 games, 26 tries). He then joined Newtown (1963, 11 games, 4 tries) before linking up with Wests (1934-1964, 19 games, 1 try). He also gained representative honours playing one game for New South Wales in 1954. In 1967, Gibson took over the coaching of an Easts teams that had failed to win a game in 1966 and took them to the semi-finals for consecutive years. Jack Gibson's basic philosophy was straight forward: no fighting, tough personal discipline and getting the basic things right. A commanding figure, Jack linked up with Saints in 1970 taking them to the preliminary final and then the grand final in 1971.

Sydney Cricket Ground, 14 June 1970: In perhaps the most entertaining match since the introduction of limited tackle football, Easts have defeated Saints 37-23 in front of an SCG crowd of 22,000 people. Between them, both sides scored no less than 14 tries with Easts snaring nine tries and Saints crossing five times.
Fulltime: Eastern Suburbs 37 (9 tries, 4 goals, 1 field goal) defeated
St George 23 (5 tries, 3 goals, 1 field goal). SCG Crowd: 22, 070.
Referee: D Lancashire.
SAINTS GO DOWN IN FINAL
Sydney Cricket Ground, 12 September 1970: The St George Dragons went down to Manly in the preliminary final 15-6. In a time when field goals were worth two points and becoming more commonplace, Manly booted their way to victory courtesy of no less than five field goals. Manly went on to the Grand Final which was won by Souths 23-12.
Prior to the final, Saints defeated Canterbury 12-7 in the minor semi final at the SCG on 29 August.
Fulltime: Manly 15 (1 try, 1 goal, 5 field goals) defeated
St George 6 (3 goals). SCG crowd: 43,147. Referee: D Lancashire.
ST GEORGE PROVIDE THREE AUSTRALIAN CAPTAINS
In 1970, the St George Dragons became the first football club (of any code) to provide three international captains in the same year. Graeme Langlands, Billy Smith and Phil Hawthorne had the honour of leading Australia in different games during 1970. Langlands and Hawthorne captained Australia in Tests against Great Britain while Billy Smith captained Australia in the World Cup series in England.

Apisai Toga in full flight eyeing off Bob Fulton STILL IN THE HUNT Under Jack Gibson, Saints' flourished as a team and responded well to his no nonsense coaching style. He brought out the best in a number of players including popular forward, Apisai Toga. The powerful Fijian was often found running wide of the ruck. Apisai came to St George in 1968 and was joined by brother, Inosai Toga in 1969. It was Apisai who said that when he pulled on a St George jumper, he felt 'ten feet tall'. And he wasn't alone with a number of players lifting in 1970. After 22 rounds, Saints finished third and successfully qualified for the semi-finals for the 20th consecutive year and then went onto the preliminary final. Saints biggest win of the season was against Norths in round four (18 April) when the Dragons downed the Bears 40-20.

1971:
MARK SHULMAN - 'BANTAM'
Dubbed 'Bantam' by team mate Billy Smith, halfback Mark Shulman (pic right) joined Saints in 1970 beginning his career in third grade. Perhaps the smallest man in rugby league, Shulman stood at just 5 foot 2 inches (157cm) and weighed in at just 9 stone 4 pounds (59Kg). The 18-year-old made four first grade appearances for Saints in 1971 including a sparkling second half against Souths at the SCG.
Shulman was set to replace the patient Ross Strudwick who had to battle the evergreen Billy Smith (who had broken an arm in early 1971) for the halfback spot.
CRONULLA DEFEAT SAINTS FOR FIRST TIME
Kogarah Jubilee Oval, 18 July 1971: Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks have defeated St George for the first time, 19-15. The two teams first played each other in 1967 and this is the 10th meeting between the neighbouring clubs. Cronulla's win brings the head-to-head score to Saints 9 - Cronulla 1.
JOHNNY KING RETIRES
Winger, Johnny King (pic right) played just one first grade match in 1971 before heading off to play in the country. His retirement hastened following a car accident.
Rated as one of the best finishers in the game, Johnny King originally came from Gilgandra but was brought up through the St George juniors before joining Saints in first grade in 1960.
He represented NSW eight times in 1963, 64, 65, 69 & 1970 crossing for tries nine times. He played for Australia in 13 Tests from 1966-68 & 1970 scoring six tries.
The brilliant flankman established a record which is unlikely to be broken when he scored tries in six successive grand finals, known as 'the King Hits' (1960-65).
He was the club's leading try scorer in 1961 (20 tries) and 1965 (15 tries).
King was the centre of a controversy in the 1963 grand final when he scored a match winning try against Wests on a muddy SCG surface. To this day, Wests' players maintain that King was tackled prior to scoring and the ref, Darcy Lawler had called 'held'.
King maintains that he wasn't held and he never heard the ref call; replays of the footage supports King's claims. Darcy Lawler, who passed away in 1994, was accused of betting on the match outcome.
A lawn mower accident in October, 1966 almost resulted in King losing his foot but he made a remarkable recovery to make his Test debut and go on to play five more seasons with St George.
Following his departure, King went on to coach Western Division to the inaugural mid week AMCO Cup victory in 1974. He continuing coaching and saw Country seconds to an upset win over Sydney in 1984. In his only first grade appearance of 1971, Johnny King scored a three pointer to rack up a Dragons club record of 143 tries.
Johnny King, first grade stats 1960-1971: 191 games, 143 tries*, 7 goals = 443 points. *club record.

Barry Beath making another powerful run in 1971

DRAGONS GRAND FINALISTS IN ALL THREE GRADES
In 1971, Saints won the Club Championship for the 16th time with all three grades reaching the grand final. It was a tremendous achievement but a disappointment when all three teams lost their respective matches. The third grade went down 19-5 to Canterbury, the reserves 11-5 also to Canterbury and the firsts 16-10 to Souths.


SAINTS RATED UNDERDOGS IN '71 GRAND FINAL

WAV (212 Kb) Click on the speaker to hear St George hooker, Col Rasmussen talk prior the '71 Grand Final.

Sydney Cricket Ground, 18 September 1971: In season 1971 St George qualified for the semi-finals for the 21st season in succession finishing third on the ladder and were eventual runners up.
The Dragon's march to the Grand Final came at the expense of Parramatta 19-8 (28 Aug) and Manly 15-12 (11 Sep). The semi-final victory over Parramatta was went into extra time with the fulltime score at 8-all. The 20 minutes that followed saw Billy Smith and Graeme Langlands hit top gear with Smith potting a field goal and then chipping ahead for Langlands who scored a spectacular try.
The defeat of minor premiers Manly in the final was a boost considering the Sea Eagles' record throughout the season.

1972:
CHANGA NEW CAPTAIN COACH
In 1972, coach Jack Gibson stepped aside and Graeme Langlands was installed as captain-coach. Under Langlands, it was another successful year as Saints came within one match of the grand final. After 22 rounds, Saints finished third on the ladder and were defeated in the preliminary final. It was successful year in all three grades with premiers in the the thirds and grand finalists in the reserve grade. The Dragons fell just one point short of taking out the Club Championship.

NEW SIGNINGS:
Ted Goodwin (pic right). Signed from Dapto, 'Lord Ted' represented Country before linking up with Saints in 1972. Playing at centre or fullback, Goodwin chimed into the backline perfectly.
Rod Reddy. Originally a centre, 17-year-old Reddy stood at 6 foot 3 inches and would eventually make his name as a back rower. Hailing from Rockhampton in Queensland, 'Rocket' debuted for Saints on the 21st May at Kogarah Jubilee Oval and had an immediate impact.
Lindsay Drake. NSW lock forward, Lindsay Drake signed with Saints following two seasons with Manly.
Roy Ferguson. Experienced centre from Wests, Roy Ferguson lived up to his reputation as a tough competitor.
John Peard. Five-eighth from Easts. Clever around the ruck, Peard would later re-join Easts and then Parramatta, transforming the game with a lethal 'up and under' kicking style and and bringing a new term into rugby league; 'the bomb'.

SAINTS THRASH MANLY, SOUTHS, CRONULLA
Kogarah Oval, 3 April 1972: Following an outstanding defensive display, St George have defeated Manly 18-0 in front 6,182 people at Kogarah Jubilee. Saints' points came from tries to Bob Clapham and Tony Branson with Graeme Langlands kicking six goals. Saints locked out Manly, the eventual premiers.

Kogarah Oval, 9 April 1972: Saints have swamped the Cronulla Sharks 37-0 in round three. Scoring seven tries to nil, it was one of the biggest wins of the year. Crowd: 13,484.

Sydney Cricket Ground, 6 May 1972: The Dragons have smashed Souths Sydney 24-7 in front of a huge SCG crowd of 47,298 people. Scoring four tries to one, Saints outclassed last year's premiers in one of the biggest matches of the year. Outstanding for Saints was forward Barry Beath who crossed for two tries. Ted Goodwin and Tony Branson scored a try each. Graeme Langlands, who was having a tremendous season, added six goals.

SAINTS DEFEATED IN FINAL
Sydney Cricket Ground, 9 September 1972: Eastern Suburbs Roosters have defeated the St George Dragons 8-6 in a try-less preliminary final.
A tense match, the winner was decided by a penalty goal six minutes from fulltime. With the scores locked at 6-all, referee Keith Page awarded Easts a penalty when St George lock Graeme Sams came into contact with Easts five-eighth John Ballesty who had just kicked the ball.
It was then up to former St George fullback, Allan McKean who responded to the pressure by converting the penalty into points and winning the game for Easts.
Fulltime 1972 final score:
Easts 8 (A McKean 4 goals) defeated
St George 6 (R Strudwick 2, G Langlands 1 goals).
SCG Crowd: 41,313. Referee K Page.