There have been many Rugby League players of note who have attended Parramatta Marist. If there was a Parramatta Marist ‘All Stars’ team who would be included?
There have been many Rugby League players of note who have attended Parramatta Marist. If there was a Parramatta Marist ‘All Stars’ team who would be included?
1. nathan tannous
2. dave williams
3. louis yanz
4. jamie lion
5. john williams
6. james boustani
7. steven moses
8. jason cayless
9. daniel irvine
10. nathan cayless
11. chad robinson
12. brett sargent
13. paul gallen
14. camerson speechly
15. sene lilomava
16. steven crouch
17. david mclean
18. david bayssari
19. greg keary
Bogdan Starzinski (Parra 2nds)
Frank Olsen (Norths 1st grade)
Gabor Very Queanbeyan blues (PROFESSIONAL RUNNER IN SPARE TIME)
CHARLIE EILER-SELECTED FOR AN INTERNATIONAL RUGBY JUMPER IN WA 1969
G’day Mike,
what year did you leave MBP or PMH? Names are familiar but I may be a little young to testify to the prowess of these footballers and what year they were at PMH. Might need to check the archives here at school to find their years at PMH.
What about Steve O’Dea when he had to mark Big Mal in the “89 semi Playing for the Bunnies?
I would definately have mathew Singh starting fullback and Benjamin Hackenberg on one of the wings
I don’t think that Hackenberg would have got a run with gabor very (mbp 1958-1964) and frank olsen(mbp1958-1963). Norths had frank olsen and ken irvine on the wings for some years- it pulled them up from the bottom of the ladder in the late 1960s.
Steve Dorab would be one of the best schoolboy rugby league second rowers of the early 1960s very tall schoolboy probably about 15 stone, mobile, talented with the ball in hand he went to wests.
I nominated Charlie Eiler as i SAW HIM PLAY RUGBY UNION FIRST GRADE FOR FOUR YEARS IN CANBERRA AND ON LEAVE HE WOULD PICK ME UP TO TAKE ME TO PARRAMATTA PRE SEASON TRAINING AT AN OVAL IN THE BACK STREETS OFWESTMEAD. I SPOKE TO DEREK HALL IS WHO WAS THE PARRANATTA RUGBY league Schools Liason officer and parra had identified Charlie some years earlier and had him playing Jersey Flegg eabdsaw (sic.) Charlie progressing to Presidents Cup and then into Grade fully trained into the what PARRAMATTA PLAYS LEAGUE CHARLIE WENT FROM Duntroon to the SAS Regimemt in Perth. Charlie had demonstrated the nrcessary qualities for SAS SERVICE. HE WAS THE SAME AS HE WAS AT mbp- FIERCE BUT FAIR GIVING NO QUARTER AND EXPECTING NONE IN RETURN WHEN CHARLIE DIED IN APARACHUTE ACCIDENT IN SEP 1960 HE HAD CUT A HOLE THREW RUGBY UNION AND WAS SELECTED TO PLAY FOR WESTERN AUSTRALIA AGAINST AB International touring team this may have been his chance at Internstional selection. He needed to be a bit more mobile for an international loose forward in Rugby Union the way the game was played in the 1950s thus in true Charlie fashion he was off to extra training in his leave time dragging me a reluctant lazy trainer along with him,
Tony, I think you have definitely grabbed some of the best and brightest from the past few decades. I wonder if any ‘old’ old boys have any players from their era that they wish to add?
I will let you Daniel Irvine know that you have placed him in as the starting hooker- he’ll be pleased (My brother is married to his sister!!!).
And Brett Sargent is now teaching at PMH. I will let him know too!
What year did you finish at PMH Tony? You seem to know some of the best players from the 1980 and 90′s!
I showed this list to staff members and there was some debate and some controversy!
Craig Brennan asked:
“What about Denis Fitzgerald and how does Bayssari start from the bench!”
Brett Sargent said:
“What about Steve Witt? and “Did I get a start?”
Peter Bowd:
“Coach should be Daniel Anderson!”
Simon Breen:
“What about ‘Darcy’ Dwyer as coach?” (not an old boy but an ‘old’ staff member)
Some of your other selections were also queried!
John Muggleton
Royce Ayliffe
jason mares
Thanks Phil! I didn’t realise Muggo was an Old boy? Do you know what years? He was not teaching here when I was a student but by the time I returned to teach at PMH he was sportsmaster; this was just before he took up a defence coaching position (?) with the brumbies and then the Wallabies. His sister, Rosemary Bellamy, was also teaching here at that stage.
Phil, Peter Bowd has informed me that Muggo must have been in the late 70′s. Likely 1976-77 as he played in a cup final for the school that year.
Graeme Atkins (winger/fullback)played over 130 first grade games for Parra and about 30 for Easts (Sydney City). Also played representative football (City seconds). Scored the try which put Parra in front in the 81 Grand Final. John Muggleton played about 1977 (losing AMCO Shield Final).
Thanks Joe,
Good to see more old boys joining in the debate! Thanks for the contribution and clearing up timing of Muggo’s PMH sojourn.
The 1990 u/16′s team that won the Parra and State Knockout ( the later by a 36-0 whitewash on a waterlogged Redfern oval) would have to have some starters for sure
Bernard Boys
Tom Rando
Duncan Decelis
Michael Pozzabon
Chris Tolar
Ben Sunner
just to name a few……
I agree Darko there are a few names worth considering. I went to school with Chris Decelis and I think he could be in there too! I played touch football (early 90′s at Kellyville) with Duncan and Chris and whilst Duncan was not a slight fella or that fast, he could sell a dummy and always found himself in space. I was always in awe of how he did it! Good to see Ben Sunner’s sister is now teaching at PMH as well!
1 Darren Stewart
2 Graeme Atkins
3 Paul Younane
4 Jamie Lyon
5 David Williams
6 David Bayssari
7 Steven Witt
13 Paul Gallen
12 John Muggleton
11 Chad Robinson
10 Denis Fitzgerald
9 Ernie Garland
8 Nathan Cayless (c)
14 Jason Cayless
15 David Woods
16 Daniel Irvine
17 John Williams
coach Daniel Anderson
CEO Mick Watson
Thanks for your team Peter. A blend of age and experience- Fitzgerald would be in his 60′s! Haha. It looks like a well balanced side.
good team peter.
mr hendry sir, sorry for the late reply.
im tony chalhoub in year 12 haha.
i only thought id have a crack to name a side.
You have some good names there Tony. Not sure about some others!
I agree Muggo has to be there. What about Duncan Decelis at hooker? You mentioned about his touch days but i remember him as one of the best tacklers of his generation – he and muggo in the defensive line would be an awesome sight. Or possibly Chris Warren at hooker.
Also, is David Woods mentioned by Peter the ex Parra player? If so, must be a starter in the team.
G’day Pete,
I can’t argue with your reasoning regarding Muggo and Duncan. I am sure I saw Chris Warren presenting on FOX sports last week.
I checked online and sure enough- he is presenting!
hey Adam,
you and I were in the same year… so you should remember Scott Pethybridge!!.. he was super quick (i remember him scoring a try outrunning Brett Mullins over 60 meters!)
also Eammon Edgar wasnt half bad – he went to Perth to play for the Western Reds..
G’day Pete,
Time has certainly dulled the senses! You are right, I should have remembered Scott. I do recall he left to go to JPII(?) for year 11 and 12. He was certainly a journeyman and a little bit of an unlucky talisman- with almost every club he went to folding and usually before they had paid him! And I always remember Eamonn Edgar as a good fella and good player. Did he end up staying in Perth after his stint with the Western Reds?
I have a 1962 MBP Yearbook which has Frank Olson, Gabe Very and Bogdan Starzynski playng in the A Grade ACC Premiership winnng team in 1961 coached by the legendary Br Alman. I can only recall seeing Gabe Very playing for Parramatta on the wing in the late 60′s and he was a good player with plenty of speed. Seemed to disappear off the scene very quickly. I wouldn’t rate him as worthy of a place above the players named in Peter’s team above. I may be a bit biased towards Graeme Atkins because I played with him all the way through from U12′s right up to when we left school in 1973 and he was a very good player. Amazingly he wasn’t selected in the first 13 in 1973 because the coach (Br Colin) thought he was too small. Both the first and seconds won that year.
Great blog Adam. Some of the comments crack me up. Picking a 190th Anniversary team from such a long history of great footballers is a daunting task.
Eamonn Edgar would have to be in any side I picked – because I know I really wouldn’t want him playing against me. He was an awesome sight when he wound up. I actually found this blog googling his name after talking to a bloke at work about the Perth team (Western Reds).
The names Boys, Pozzabon, Rando, Tolar and Sunner all evoke my memories of the golden days of PMH Rugby League.
To throw a few more hats in the ring for names that haven’t already been mentioned: Johnny Wilson went on to be top try scorer for the premiership winning Tigers team, and while he never earnt his NRL stripes, Anthony Krakowski was playing first grade Commonwealth Bank Cup by year 10 and always played out of his skin in the Green and Gold for Marist. And Tony Robinson was a bit of a freak on the footy field. He used to single handedly tear teams to shreds on a good day. There are so many more, but I have to stop somewhere.
Seeing as a few of my brothers got a mention, I would like leverage off my surname to secure the position of chief orange peeler for the team
PS Eamonn did stay in Perth for many years after the Reds collapse. He started a family there but moved the family to Queensland a few years back. I’m not sure if he knows about the re-union butI was in touch with him in Facebook a while back. I’ll drop him a line when I get home if I remember.
Don’t forget Ljubo (Lew) Zivanovic, Class of ’76. Tireless forward for Penrith Panthers 1st Grade…is even listed in Wikipedia.
Another good player who went to Marist was Garry Thomas, who went on to play with Parramatta in the early 1970s.
Garry was a fullback/centre who ended up playing for City 2nds.
Garry was in the same class as Chris O’Brien at school
Thanks for the contribution Frank. Did you attend the 190th dinner last Friday?
Hi,
I am looking to find anyone who was in any of my classes from 1968 -1972.
Or contact numbers.
Thanks,
Bill
Hi Bill, I went to the brothers during this time 68-73 , remember br moose , took us to a grandfinal win , and br tommo, you can email me on markosullivan81@bigpond.com , cheers mark osullivan
John Muggleton also played First Grade for Parramatta’s Grand Final winning teams under Jack Gibson and John Monie in the 80′s. He also toured with the 1982 Invincibles Kangaroos.
Also on that 1977 Cup Final team was Peter Koen who played first grade Rugby Union for the 2 Blues. Noel Davis was the Captain.
KEN CLUFF WOULD GET A NOMINATION FROM ANY BODY WHO WAS AT MBP IN THE 1960S. HE WENT INTO PARRAMATTA GRADE BEING LOCK FOR 2ND GRADE GRAND FINAL IN 1962
Not forgetting Dennis Fitzgerald, also an MBOB ((Marist Brothers Old Boy).
And Trevor McCaffery. Australian Schoolboy and reserve grader for Norths. Played a first grade game for Newtown in their final year (1983). Plus Martin and Tim Barnes (Easts & Parra). All MBOBs.
interesting reading some of the comments above,
only one player from the 1st team for Parramatta Marist to win the Comoonwealth Bank Cup in 1988 (David Baysarri)
all the same I do agree with some later side put forward..
Adam,
I could have discussed this topic whilst we were in Denmark………..
G’day Peter! How’s things? You believe that was 12 yrs ago! You’ll have to come to the old boys dinner in October and catch up- I’ll need to get your brother John there and maybe Chris if he is not back in south America!
What about Brian Donnelly, he played in the 1986 premiership winning team for Parra Mars and the 1988 Pres Cup premiership winning team. He was one of the most talented Rugby League players ive ever seen.
Adam
he was in the 1988 Bank Cup winning side, not sure about 86
he was certainly big and talented and good in this side but went missing a lot when wanted unlike many of the other forwards I played with to include Chris MCafferry and Matt Trute, who were always solid and always there for work. They would not make an all stars team at their own admission but this would also dismiss Brian in my opinion…….
Thanks for the comment Peter. It is a little bit before my time so I will have to defer to the opinions of those who were there! Not least to say, I am sure you may start a healthy debate!
I dont mind a debate as you are aware
great blog haha! im flatterred to be named in this side, the school has such a great history of talent..
Paul Mares went to Marist got a city reserve jumper
Thanks for the comment Bob. Here is a recent comment emailed to me from an old boy from the 60′s, Peter O’Connor:
As to former wonderful football players I would like to add to your
long list Rodney Tolhurst (from my year). Rod played 3rd grade for
Parramatta and I’m reasonably sure played at least 1 1st grade game for the
now defunct Gold Coast team.
John Menkin
Played inside centre, was the state 100 metre and 200 metre champion, we played together 1969 to1973. He held every sprint record during his time at school. We also ran for Merrylands althletic club, never seen him lose a sprint race. No present or past player’s would have caught him.
Thanks for the comment Mark and your recommendation of John Menkin. There have certainly been some talented players and athletes amongst our old boys- many of whom were never in the spotlight.
Another great player back in the 70′s & 80′s was Mick Martin from Merrylands, he played rugby union for Parramatta and went on to play for the wallabies on the wing in 1980 & 81.
You forgot Liam Fulton …. he wss a PMH boy but left in year 9 in 1999
Always going to be a hot topic when it comes to selection for an “All Stars” team, especially with the rich history Parramatta Marist has in rugby league. Not sure about some names that appeared in the earlier posts, as i haven’t seen them play.
Do we look at era’s, team of the 70′s, 80′s etc? Is some thought given to the teams the played in and the success of that team?
I can only suggest guys i know of, some of those didn’t complete the HSC They weren’t around for the first 13 but played grade, players like David Woods, Steve O’Dea, Dallas Weston and Matt Hamill.
Players that played firsts and went on to district clubs, Paul Shahin, David Black, Trevor McCaffery, Russell Mooney, David Bayssari, Chris Warren, Luke Thomas, the Barnes twins, Paul Younane, John Muggleton, Tony Dennis, the Cayless’s, John Frare, David McLean, Ben Bailey, Craig Gibson, Eamon Edgar, Mark Donkin, Daniel irvine.
Some quality players that didn’t progress Graham Cuppitt, Paul Campany, John Sabat, the Howse boys, Chris McCaffery, Matt Trute, Shane Ferguson, Terry Richards, Robert Wehbe, Anthony Morchid, Matt Flint, Mark Boland, Bernard Boys, Daryl Atkins and Tony Yanz, Glenn Winley, Dominic Grayson and Craig Brennan.
The list goes on. One guy that could have made it but he focused on athletics was Robert Kropman. He was very good when he was young, but focused on other sports.
Paul Gallen would be in everyone’s team and maybe Jamie Lyon.
Marist had some very good teams that played schoolboys in 1977, 1982, 1984, 1988, 1993-1995.