Easts in the 80’s and 90’s

[Easts to Win]

Hi Guys , I was just after the older Easts fans opinions as to why Easts were not as dominant in the 80’s and the 90’s as they are since the NRL era .

I started supporting Easts in 97 when I was 14 so I have had a pretty good run with the chooks .

Did Easts struggle because they were not wealthy back then , was it because of our lack of quality juniors , was our recruitment no good or couldn’t they attract

the big stars that they can today . Was the front office and coaching not up to the high standard it is today . It may of been a combination of certain reasons . Nick Poltis was

around so you would think money was not an issue , I really have no idea why . Just curious.

It would of been nice to win a comp at the SFS when the grand finals were played out of there .

[Bansai Pipeline]

I think we always had a bit of dough, we just had no reputation so couldn't attract talent. We had some pretty average coaches too.

It seemed harder to recruit back then for some reason. Canberra, the Broncs, Manly etc managed to keep star studded squads in tact for years. And there was nothing like the junior development and recruitment you see these days. It was all just a bit more amateurish.

Older heads would be able to fill you in more accurately though. I was just a kid then.

We got our shiit together with the existential threat of Super League. A merge, relocation or extinction were all on the cards. Hence came Gus.

[HBK]

early 80s: we pissed KP off. He took his money elsewhere, Bozo followed him and took half the team to Manly. So we had a few bad years after that

late 80s, early 90s: bad coaches. Fairfax, Mark Murray. They weren't gonna get the best out of players. Players weren't gonna achieve rep honours or a premiership if they came here.

[RoosterChick]

Don’t forget back then there was the import rule. Can’t remember exactly now how many imported players each team was allowed but it wasn’t many. Therefore teams had to develop their juniors and as we had such a poor junior base it really had a detrimental effect on our club. Things have changed a lot in 30 years. Thank God.

[The Brain]

Lucky I was a perty animal for those years and dont remember too much of that era.

[chicka]

The 80's started off all right with a Grand Final appearance against the Dogs and we had a strong competitive team over the next few years however we weren't really a match for the likes of Parra who seemed to take great delight in flogging us come finals time. (I still have nightmares of the 'guru' trampling all over the top of us)

Things took a downturn for us at the end of '82 when Bob Fulton left us to coach Manly and took some of our better players with him ('Crusher' Cleal, Boustead etc...) So we had a guy called Laurie Frier take over the reigns and it was a bit of a disaster. We started buying players for good money who were either past their peak or just didn't fit in IMO. I seem to remember Kurt Sorensen playing a game for us on the wing!

A brief glimmer of hope came in Big Artie taking over a couple of years later and the '87 season out of Henson Park was a breath of fresh air. Beating Manly at Henson was a highlight.

I don't think money was the problem in the sense that we couldn't go out and buy players. It was more like there was no real sound plan in place and a lot of things were probably done off the cuff. We were just no match for some of the more professional outfits like the Eels and Dogs and it really makes you appreciate the kind of setup we have nowadays. Long live Uncle Nick and TR because the day will come when they aren't here.

Someone else can sum up the 90's and just to say although most of the 80's were crap results wise, I still got a lot of joy watching the likes of Horrie and a few others run around for us each week. Win or lose, we are still the Roosters.

[easts4eva]

80s and early 90s were rough times to be an Easts supporter. I'd go out to some games in the mid 80s and walk away just happy to see them score let alone win.
suffice to say I have no sympathy for current sides in this predicament.

[melon....]

We signed Paul Vaughtin .... I almost gave up on the club

[Easts to Win]

80s and early 90s were rough times to be an Easts supporter. I'd go out to some games in the mid 80s and walk away just happy to see them score let alone win.
suffice to say I have no sympathy for current sides in this predicament.

Wow . It really make me so happy to be an Easts fan in this era . My father has been an Easts fan for 60 years and tells me some horror stories from the 1966 season when they did not win a game . It really makes me appreciate the Roosters of today even more . I will be here through the thick and thin though because it makes you appreciate these times even more .Thanks for the feedback fellow Tri colour fans .

[chicka]

We signed Paul Vaughtin .... I almost gave up on the club

I wonder how much money we shelled out on Olsen Filiipaina for the '85 season! We got 8 games out of him.

[Louis N]

It was largely down to the coaches who also had a good say over recruitment. We started the 80's on fire, only to bomb out in the finals. Fulton had brought the Cleal Bros down from his pig shooting trips, who were bush footy legends. Also Ken Wright from Union along with Kerry Boustead, John Harvey, John Lang, Paul McCabe and we had some decent juniors in Horrie Hastings, John Tobin, Marty Gurr to round out. Probably should have won in 1980 and played way below our best in the grand final. Gibson was coaching the Eels from 1981 and they always had our number in the finals.
Then Fulton took all of our stars to Manly when he went back home in 1984 and we really suffered from then.

We stopped shelling out big bucks after we bought half of Cronulla's side, the Sorensenss and Gavin Miller and it turned out a complete disaster as they all fell out with the coach. Beetson came back in 86 and built a decent bit part side that almost took out the title in 87. He recruited well in 1988 and we had the worst injury toll in the clubs history that year. Papworth's broken arm, Wayne Marshall's knee and we never built on 87's success.

Then we just bought badly. Paul Vautin who was well past it and too many second raters to where we became known as the transit lounge. Players who came for the money and didn't want to put in. Gibson came back to save the club and Mark Murray had some reasonable success with Gray Freeman half but it was Phil Gould's arrival that saved the Roosters. He brought Freddy in 95 and we were back in contention. Even then we had no luck with Phil Clarke's broken neck etc and both our props, Hermansson and Lowrie breaking their arms before the finals.

I think we've had a more professional board since the 2000's and that has made a huge difference. They haven't tolerated faliure and even favourite sons like Freddy had the coaching taken off as soon as he began to fail. That's the big difference. They act quickly and remedy the situation, especially after the Todd Carney debacle. Trent Robinson has been a godsend and we've had good junior talent spotting and development.Trent's brought respect back and that's the first principle. Pride in the jersey and the club and its history.

["gaz"]

Kevin Humphreys was NSWRL boss
Ron Jones was Roosters boss
Corruption on field and off
Teams not professional like today, most players also worked to supplement income
I think Poker machines paid salaries
Players smoked and drank beer in the changerooms and the night before
No salary cap
Less media
Violence part of game


Strong sides back then were Manly who bought everyone and Parra under Jack Gibson,
Later followed the Bulldogs who wore illegal shoulder pads and later again Canberra with Meninga, Stuart, etc

[Vasco]

It all changed when Phil Gould arrived in late 1994.

The pathway to 1st grade was completely overhauled. We stopped becoming a "transit lounge".

The arrival of Freddy helped also.

[eddie]

We had some success back then. After having one of the best club sides ever in the mid-seventies, we had good teams in the early 80s and were unlucky not to make the gf in 1987.
But the club was poorly run, and for that the main blame sits with Ron Jones.

[stephenj]

after having cheered and cried over those years i feel the 66 67 sides showed much more pride in the jersey than the 7-0s/80s sides similar to our current team!in 66 it hurt so much going out each week knowing we wouldnt win, we got so excited when we nearly drew with newtown! but als was not to be so no wins for us that year. 67 saw jack gibsons sno crap approach, clean jerseys at half time and a 4th place at seasons end, unsurprisingly he introduced defence as qan offencive weapon! it worked, sound familiar?nowdays im just loving the ride as i get older it gets harder to get to gamesbut i wont succumb to be a foxtel fan