The Sixties

The Lockie Factor & The Connell Factor

The great oak has a sharp growth surge and B.S.H.S. Rugby is here to stay.

The year 1961 saw the end of the first 40 years, the arrival of Paul Morgan and Perry Leitch and the return of George Lockie and Denis Donnelly. Perry was the GO-TO MAN if one needed to know how to do the hard problems in Maths, before facing the likes of school dux, Arthur Chaseling, Spencer Jamieson and John Sandy Morgan in S.S. 3. However, Perry was much more than that. His unassuming manner concealed a towering intellect, a prodigious memory, a sharp tongue and a careless disregard for convention. Perry left his mark on many students and teachers of State High. His contribution to Swimming, Cricket and Athletics and the Maths Department has never really been appreciated. Of course, Perry was, like all of us, an expert selector of Rugby teams and was always ready to tickle the funnybones of the members of the staff room with an ironic bon mot.

The two teams pictured here, the 1961 15As and 15Bs contain eight of the nine boys who repeated Senior in 1964 - the other was the Destroyer, Jeff Aitken - to give us an old tough team who terrified most opposition teams.

With three draws and no wins in 1960, we were the smallest oak tree in the forest; but with two wins in 1961 and two premiership winning sides, the 15As and 15Bs, three wins in 1962 and then four really outstanding teams (with the '64 Firsts a standout and the teams of 1963, 1965 and 1966 all placed in the first three and most unlucky losers, leading on to the second premiership of the decade in 1969), it was evident that State High was about to become a real giant of the forest.

The forest ranger was George Lockie. The fertiliser came in the form of the influx of excellent coaches such as Jim Lucey, Harold Ferguson, Greg Dux, Bob Brennan, Gordon Curry, Martyn Sullivan, Denis Donnelly, Alan Evans and Bill Simpson. George, as head forest ranger, seemed to have access to a good brand of fertiliser.

Two of the characters who helped distribute the fertiliser were "Biddy" and George the Janitor. Miss Elizabeth Russell didn't do much around the place; just the timetable, all the correspondence, accounts and gained about 6 minutes of school time each day simply by ringing the bell at 8.53 am instead of 8.55 am; at 10.47am instead of 10.45 a.m.; at 12. 32 p.m. instead of 12.30 p.m. and 1.34 p.m. instead of 1.35p.m.. But she always rang the going-home bell on time and often a bit early on Fridays. As well, she was the ultimate disciplinarian. She merely had to walk down the verandah past noisy boys' classes and as she passed silence descended room by room. I calculate that her discipline plus the thirty minutes she cribbed each week would be worth at least one Open Scholarship and ten Commonwealth Scholarships every year. As well, she probably added a few years to the life of teachers like Tom Hamilton, who was to be seen outside the door of his classroom rolling his first cigarette for two hours.

There is one other Character of this time who wielded some influence: George, the Janitor, otherwise known as Mark Young, who, like Biddy, had been at the school since 1924. He was a man who had a most colourful tongue. Could that man swear! He was also the Boxing coach. Yes, Boxing was a G.P.S. sport in the 40's and 50's. Any disputes between boys were settled in the basement with gloves on and George as referee.

There was also another factor, which was neither a fertiliser nor a raindrop. This special factor was a wise young trainee forest ranger, called Cyril Connell, who worked among the branches of the growing oak tree encouraging growth, trying novel ideas, arranging the whole show and disseminating knowledge about Rugby. It was a special knowledge as Cyril re-invented the game he had played as a boy at B.G.S., making it a running and passing game and featuring contracts between the ball carrier and other members of his team. He also taught them to tackle like Rugby League players. Most teams of the 60's used to have all the forwards with their heads down and their bums up getting the ball out to the 5/8 who then kicked it downfield.

Like the then head forest ranger, George Lockie, Cyril was inspirational. His influence was such that it is hard to believe that he was only at B.S.H.S. for three years. Cyril had an aura about him and an uncanny judgement of the strengths and weaknesses of players, together with a vast knowledge of the game of Rugby League, so that he exploited many of its skills and techniques in Rugby Union. The running game arrived at B.S.H.S. with Cyril in 1963.

But the oak tree needed good heavy rain. This came in the form of the students who flocked to the school to be part of the great forest of oaks - the academic, athletic, swimming, netball, softball, tennis and even the rowing oak which, to this day, has not yet poked its topmost leaves over the other oak trees.

In the early Sixties it was customary to have an enrolment day for entry to the school for students living outside the local area. I cannot remember if it was the year after the record eleven Open Scholarships or in 1964, the year after we won the Rugby and got first, second, third and fifth in the state in Senior. It matters not, but by 9 p.m. the night before people were lined up outside the hall and by 6 a.m. on enrolment day the queue extended for one and a half blocks.

The team of 1960 was a mixture of giant forwards, some of them gentle, and very small backs, none of them gentle. State High's largest front row ever consisting of Barney Rutherford, Dennis Watt and Peter Pappas, were all well over 100 kgs. John Pippos, the reserve front row, was a massive 120 kgs.

• front row (over 300kg)
• second row

The second row of Rose, at 185 cms and 106 kgs, and Robertson, almost as big, were locked together by that magnificent physical specimen Richard Big Dick Linning, a combination of Arnold Schwartzenegger and Superman to look at. I used to visualise him at out-centre running off Graham Mc Nee. What a tragedy that the talented Victor Syrimis was injured very early. The team lost five matches and had three draws. Tragedy struck again in 1961 when Dick Linning missed most of the season after he had his collarbone broken at training in a collision with Ray Jakins, later to become Deputy Principal and a real driving force in all sport, but especially in Swimming, Athletics and Football.

However, though the gods of football were cruel to us, they also showed their other side as more and more boys began to play and develop skills and believe in themselves. Boys like Russell Bird, John McLean, Everard Bartholomeusz and Juris Muiznieks arrived in 1960. They were soon followed by Paul Morgan, Ron Tanton, Phil Roberts, Eddie Rutledge and the mercurial, flawed genius of Wayne Head. Wayne, like Bob Wood and Rowan Brennan, achieved plenty, but such was their talent that they should all have played for Australia. Wayne, I suppose, at least has the unique honour of being, at 19 years, the first winner of the Rothmans Medal in Rugby League. Any of us lucky enough to see him tear the other G.P.S. cricket teams apart in 1966, know he should have worn the baggy green cap.

This is not a cricket history but I feel I must repeat the story of Wayne being dinged all over the field by a couple of B.B.C. batsmen. Phil Roberts was cricket captain and wicket keeper as well as footy captain and he could handle Wayne as well as anyone. At this stage in the match wickets weren't important but runs were. So Phil put everyone on the boundary.

"What are you doing, Phil? Where are my slips?"

"Just bowl, Headdy! Just bowl," said Phil.

Wayne lengthened his run up by 10 metres and screamed in and delivered the ultimate chuck - straight at Phil's head.

As well, the school benefited from the closure of Industrial High School as the cream of its scholars and sportsmen crossed the river and became State High boys. The scholars included Arthur Chaseling, who was school dux in 1963 and, together with Spence Jamison and Alan Kuskopf, gained three of the six Open Scholarships the school won that year.

The sportsmen included Barry Tanton, a very strong centre in the Firsts of 1962 and 1963. There was also a certain Doug McLeod, who played 5/8 in the 1962 team. Only small but as tough as teak, he was knocked absolutely senseless in a game against G.T..

Down rushed George, lifted him up, shook him and said, "What's your name, Doug?"

"Douugg," mumbled the bewildered lad, shaking his head.

"You will be all right, boy. Get back on the field."

I will digress even further at this stage to point out the emergence of the school as a sporting institution and its absolute dominance as an academic institution during the Sixties. This was a time of growth, excitement, industry, opportunity and achievement. It was reflected in the total performance. In the Halls of Academia, the school averaged about four Open Scholarships each year. One year there was a total of eleven B.S.H.S. students in the first twenty-five places in the State. In 1963 Peter Anderson was second in Queensland, while 1964 was a rather special year because the dux, Michael Baron, came second, behind one of his classmates, Andrew Elek, who as well as topping Queensland, became our first Rhodes Scholar. Third was Bruce Neill while fifth - and the first girl in Queensland - was Yvonne Bourke. First in Queensland in '65 was Martin Greene, who as Professor of Engineering at the University of N.S.W., has achieved international fame and acclaim with his work and discoveries in the field of Super Conductors.

The playing fields and swimming pool saw us rise from one point scored in swimming in 1960 to be, within seven or eight years, the dominant force in G.P.S. swimming and ready to begin an era where, after our first win for 35 years in '68, we won nine G.P.S. titles in a row from 1976 to 1986. During this time, three B.S.H.S. swimmers, namely Brad Cooper, Jon Sieben and Duncan Armstrong, won gold at three consecutive Olympics.

The special players of the Sixties extend from Graeme McNee in 1960, Ken Michel in 1961, Mervyn McNee in 1962 to Peter Trahearn, Nick Lagos, Kim McCasker and Robbie Mackay in 1969.

B.S.H.S. were led by one of our greatest Golden Greek players in 1963. Perry Pappas fell as the gentle rain from Heaven. He was twice blessed. He could attack but, above all, he could tackle. Perry was one of the most instinctive footballers I have seen at B.S.H.S..

That is a big call I know because you start to think of Slats, Brian Smith, Mark Bartholomeusz, the older Wally Lewis, Chris Roche, David Wilson, as well as King Wally himself. Can we compare him to these greats of the game? Yes! As a player at school, Perry was superb. Captain of the undefeated 15A of 1961 (or was it Gutzer Gayton?) and captain of the Firsts in the dreadfully unlucky team of 1963, Perry was picked in the G.P.S. Firsts Representative team of 1963 and was the recipient of fulsome praise from one of the all time great coaches of Rugby Football, Brother Machenniery, whose coaching skills and techniques were passed down from Brother Henry, a Marist Brother and long time coach of the most dominant team in Sydney G.P.S. Rugby, St Josephs.

There is some doubt as to whether the 1964 First XV was our best team ever; but they were certainly our oldest and toughest, with nine players from the unlucky Perry Pappas side of '63 and four from the Premiership-winning seconds of the same year. Then throw in one of the best ball players ever to grace the playing fields of State High, Phil Roberts, and finally the Beanpole, Ron Bomber Linton. Only the great referee in the sky and Cyril himself, know where he got Bomber from, but he was tall and Cyril needed tall for the lineout. Bob Nilsson was the extra forward, but he hardly ever got on the field. This team of forwards was so tough that the only time one of them came off the field during a game was when they were sent off.

Against T.S.S. both Peter Brandon and Bobby Wood were sent off in the first ten minutes. Dismayed this not, our noble First XV? Not bloody likely!

They blew them out of the water. The tremendous stamina of Porky Morgan, and a feeling of outrage which consumed Peter Cook, Jack Sponza and Christy Anthony, turned them into fierce warriors, joining them up with the born fierce, Rob Morgan and the Quiet Assassin, Nick Pavlichuk.

The backs featured the three quiet men, of both inner and outer strength, Ron Big Red Tanton, half-back Loren Willis and the usually inscrutable Peter Matrosow, who played inspired games, while Bob Butch Bona, Phil Roberts, Everard Bartholomeusz and Juris The Muzza Muiznieks were all built with short fuses if they thought they were being harshly treated. Jeff Aitken was a smiling assassin who loved tackling and I can hear him whispering to himself, This one is for you, Pedro. The next one will be for Navvy, as he slammed Southport's crack centre Spooner to the rock hard surface of the hallowed ground of the State High Oval. It was a memorable 14-0 victory.

The 1965 First XV saw the emergence of that fierce warrior Rob Morgan from the shadows of his legendary brother, Paul, to become the dominant forward in the G.P.S. competition. This was a very good team but they were young. A huge gap had been left by the departure of 13 players from the team of 1964. The other veteran was Phil Roberts, one of the best ball players ever to grace the playing fields of B.S.H.S..

This was the year of TED'S TRY. Terrace, under the clever hands of my three favourite Men of Harlech, coaches Br.Charley Dillon, Norbert Berne and Captain Jim Creagh, had played very well and looked certainties to win their first game for the year. But they were blitzed in the last minute by a flash of lightning called Eddie Rutledge.

Edward Rutledge first came to my notice when Trevor Niebling, the giant Q.R.L. Front row forward and 14A coach, who was a very hard man to impress, as he entered the staff room announced in animated tones, "S***! You B***** should see this little B**** Rutledge run."

Trev's colourful language was second only to that of the famed George, the Janitor (1924-1962).

Cyril Connell, who tended to be laconic in most situations and as a great Australian player had seen the best of the best, refereed Eddie in his first game. Four tries against a very strong B.G.S. side. Was Cyril impressed? Answer! Cyril put Ted in the Firsts when he was barely 15 and weighed 45 kilos.

Ted was - and still is - a very modest champion but his running style had a certain arrogance about it. The length of his stride was utterly amazing as was the speed of his leg movement. The story of the three milkshakes adds to the Rutledge Legend.

In his time at Camp Hill State School Ted had played Soccer, but when he was in Year 6, he was persuaded by the R.L. coach to play for the Under 4 stone 7 lbs.(almost 30 kgs.) League team. He was enticed by the promise of the teacher that for every 100 points he scored, Ted would receive a milkshake. Playing at 5/8, Ted got to drink three milkshakes. It would not have been much fun for the other kids, though they could perhaps bask in the glory of being undefeated premiers. Ted, under persistent interrogation, told me he used to just receive the ball and run straight around the whole team and place the ball under the posts. Then he would kick the goal, barefooted of course.

At the age of 14 when most boys are able to run about 14 seconds for 100 metres, Ted could run 11 seconds, bare-footed and on rough grass tracks. Against good sprinters, he used to win most of his races by about 10 metres. Daylight used to run second and third.

This was also the first year of the brief but brilliant career of Wayne Head. Trevor Neibling didn't realise that Heady was lurking in the depths of the 14B team where his talent was swiftly recognised by 14B coach, Joseph Kelly, who had a good eye for such things. From the first sighting of Heady, Joe trained at different times to the As and rearranged games so that Trevor never saw Wayne play. Leon Perry or was it that other staffroom prankster, Perry Leitch, used to say that Joe made Wayne train in a mask, wig and raincoat.

When I look at the photograph of the '66 First XV, I am amazed at how small they were. The forwards would have had only three boys over six feet - Ken Dicker, Peter Nash and Con Toonan - and nobody of any real weight, though Peter Wilson, Joe Goulavitch and Stephen Jeffery played as if they were 16 stone.

I can still picture Joe Goulavitch attacking the gigantic T.S.S. forward Macdonald and driving him into the ground. Macdonald was not just big; he was very big, about 120kgs., the same size as the great B.G.S forward of the 70s, John Lewis and only about 35 kilograms lighter than the massive Vensil Asti, also of B.G.S.. The amazing thing about these three giants was that they were all beautifully coordinated and two of them ran for their school. Not so amazingly, all of them were champion shot putters and Vensil holds the G.P.S. record for javelin.

What a player Con Toonan was! Fast, ferocious, fearless and frightening. The next year, my half-back, Greg Holben, came off at half time against T.G.S. and the then small wide-eyed 15-year-old who played both League and Union for Queensland and became known as a hard man, a real hard man, who feared nobody, whispered to me, "Cull, I'm frightened of Toonan. He'll kill someone."

This was the same half-time in 1967 that Duncan Thompson came over to the team huddle. Cyril had introduced me to Duncan in 1965. He came over as I dropped my pearls of wisdom into their shell-like ears. We were leading 3-0, but unable to score a try. Duncan was God to Cyril for 50 years, having only recently been displaced by Wayne Bennett, with his master-stroke of bringing back Alfie Langer to win State of Origin. So that made him fairly high up in the hierarchy of my heroes at the time. Duncan politely asked if he could have a few words with the 5/8, Robbie Mackay. He told Robbie that he should stand with his outside foot up and face more square on by about 20 degrees. B.S.H.S. scored within minutes and Robbie became one of the most penetrating 5/8's to ever play for the school and Queensland.

The inside backs of the 1966 First XV, featured 5/8 Phil Roberts (veteran of the '64 Premiers, Captain and Star Player of the very unlucky 1965 and 1966 Runners-up), another good ball player in the stocky 1/2, Gary Pearson, and two former 1/2 backs in the centres. Small, short, strong and sharp, Ian Moreton and Trevor "Mum" Vidler, were tackling fools. Then came the match winners: Kerry Mowen, former N.C. winger, and G.P.S. hurdles champion Wayne Head, an absolute handful for the opposition, with his pace and swerving runs. He took full advantage of the opposition's fear of the speed of Eddie Rutledge, who was a flash of lightning and the fastest man or boy in Australia over 60 yards. At the age of 16, Ted won the Australian Under 19 100 Yards sprint. He repeated this in the next two years.

As the Sixties drew to a close, the general condition of the oak was sound...with 24 teams and 6 premierships in 1967, 23 teams and 6 premierships in 1968 and 24 teams and 7 premierships in 1969, including our third only First XV Premiership.

But as James Lucey took over the Firsts in 1968 there was a double dose of disaster waiting for him. Jim was somehow persuaded by the old fox, Harry Ferguson, that Under 16 players should play in their own division. I spent 1968 in Europe. If I had been at B.S.H.S., Fergie wouldn't have conned Jim because I was absolutely besotted with Peter Trehearn as a footballer. I also held Len Heathcote, Kim McCasker and The Rock, Bob Menot, in high regard.

This was one of the most talented 16A teams ever at the school. What other 16A team had a Peter Trehearn?. His strength was legendary. This strength was demonstrated by his ability to rip the ball from opposition players. Other players with this special gift were his brother Tim, Craig Yates, Chris Roche, Bihn Nguyen and Wally, of course who was renowned for his upper body strength. It may seem like sacrilege to mention the name Mighty Bihn in the same breath as Wally, Chris Roche and the Trehearns, but he was able as a 12-year-old to get the trophy as the best forward in the 13As among such illustrious company as Cameron Edds, Troy Sampson and Cameron Kenny. The following year was the real year of Mighty Bihn. As a 13-year-old he was as big and powerful as Craig Polly Mounta (of I.G.S. And Canterbury fame) and that was big for a 13-year-old, as they are both the same size today. Bihn was unbelieveable in his second year in the 13As where he so dominated the forward rucks and mauls, did most of the cover and scored most of the tries.

I have just looked at Fergie's 16A team in detail and every player was a strong boy. Most teams have a few strong boys and then a lot of ordinary mortals. In retrospect, there were at least five players in the under 16A team ready for the Firsts in 1968. Foremost was the magnificent Number 8, Peter Trehearn; then the Rock, Bob Menot, one of our greatest tackling full backs; Kim McCasker, a terrific centre; and breakaway Len Heathcote, Mr Perpetual Motion, a champion swimmer, and a real Mean, Mean machine. Just ask his great friend Frank Martin. I never saw the clash between them at training one day, but Jim Lucey saw it and couldn't believe his eyes. I do remember being referee of Jim's 14A team in '66 as Len tore the T.S.S. inside backs to pieces. He had three of them in tears and they were all much bigger than Len.

Nemesis, that cruel Greek God, otherwise known as Blind Fate, punished James Lucey for being Mr Nice Guy. And just to make sure that he had learned his lesson, they broke Robbie Mackay's collarbone in the first game. James learned his lesson very well. The very next year he had four of my seconds sitting on the sideline in the final game. They were of course my best players.

"You have already won your premiership, even if you lose today," he said to me. We lost of course, the only time for the season. Nemesis almost got him again but Robbie Mackay kicked a field goal and they won 3-0. We had finished the 60's on a high.

Nemesis is a very appropriate name to use at this time for the years from 1959 to 1979 which were characterised by not just six First XV premierships but an extraordinary number of premierships in the other divisions. a major role was played by the proud Greek members of the school community during this time.

Outstanding players like Andy Pippos, Victor Syrimis, Perry Pappas, Harry Georgiou and Nick Lagos were joined by other fierce and talented young men like a host of Bellas and Pipposes, Steve and Arthur Savis, and Arthur's "partner-in-crime", the fearless Bob Raftopoulis. The magnificent tackler, Steven Savorakis, the "fab four" of my 1961, 15B undefeated premiers - speedy winger George Cocolis, the powerful front rowers, John Demitriou, John "Tubby" Lagos and John Cominos.

Names like Caris, Kiprios, the magnificent George Mourginos, Chris Kazonis, the clever half back who was unfortunate enough to be in the shadow of Greg Holben, those powerful props, Charlie Vorkis and Eggie, brother of the famous Katie Eglesos of 12/8/1976 whom I remember with fondness as a great manager of people.

• Contents
• Foreword

• 1920
• 1930
• 1940
• 1950
• 1960
• 1970
• 1980
• 1990

• Special Features
• Epilogue
• Contacts
• Feedback

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