Round 1
Canterbury Bankstown 16 def. North Sydney Bears 14
Team Info
Canterbury
- Previous Game:
- Wills Cup 1970 - Final vs. St George
- Next Game:
- Round 2 vs. Cronulla
- In:
- Norm Thomas (bench)
North Sydney
- Previous Game:
- Wills Cup 1970 - Round 4 vs. South Sydney
- Next Game:
- Round 2 vs. Eastern Suburbs
- Out:
- Laurie Moraschi (centre), Barry Glasgow (bench), Peter Jacques (bench)
- Changes:
- Owen O'Donnell (bench to centre)
Match Notes
Merv Hicks was replaced by Dennis Beeby after failing to turn up for training on Friday he was in dispute with Canterbury and had a case before the Equity Court as he wanted to play with Norths, Norths officials told him he could not play in the match Canterbury claimed he was eligible to play.
For Canterbury Hornery & Raper were injured in the 1st half and replaced by Norm Thomas & John Darby.
Just before halftime John McDonell & Ken Irvine were sent off following an all-in brawl McDonell was sent off for kicking & Irvine for abusive language. This upset the Norths players as it was a Canterbury player that has instigated the brawl. It appeared that the rest of the Norths team were going to walk off in support of their captain until Norths officials turned them back.
Canterbury lost hooker Marty Driscoll early in the 2nd half but were unable to replace him as the 2 replacements had already been used.
Norths later claimed the players had thought it was halftime however inquiries by the NSWRL resulted in Ken Irvine & Denis Cubis being charged with misconduct and cited to appear before the NSWRL General Committee. Irvine was subsequently found guilty of misconduct and suspended for 2 matches he had already been suspended for 1 match for the abusive language charge, Denis Cubis was exonerated. John McDonell was suspended for 2 weeks.
Note: Forward packs are listed in reverse order.
This match is a part of the following:
Contributions:
Rugby League Tables, Andrew Ferguson, Greg Fiveash