1981 /

1981

HE placed the ball on the flimsy mound of sand and took his customary six or seven paces backwards, finishing close to the touchline.

The September winds were howling at the Sydney Cricket Ground, leaving the old leather Steeden wobbling as it awaited the boot of Michael Cronin.

Thirty-four years of hope and expectation nestled on the shoulders of the champion Parramatta goalkicker as he moved in, his right foot stabbing at the ball. 

Behind the goalposts, a ballboy dressed in blue and gold, punched the air in glee before the footy had even landed.

Cronin had kicked the Eels six points clear of Newtown late in the grand final of 1981, a year when tries were worth just three points.

In the words of Peter Sterling, a 21-year-old halfback that day, this was the moment a weight had been lifted.

The premiership finally belonged to the Parramatta Eels. 

The road to glory began much earlier than that famous Cronin conversion. 

In late 1980, after missing out on the finals, the Eels pulled off a major coup by hiring two-time premiership winner Jack Gibson as the new first grade coach.  

He insisted upon his own coaching team including Ron Massey (co-ordinator), Mick Souter (fitness conditioner) and Alf Richards (injury treatment/rehabilitation).

Gibson named hooker Steve Edge as Parramatta’s new captain. He produced a selection masterstroke mid-season when he made a permanent positional switch involving two of the best young talents in the game, centre Brett Kenny and five-eighth Steve Ella.

Ella went onto notch 14 tries for the season and establish himself as one of the most dangerous centres in the game.

With the number six on his back, Kenny formed arguably rugby league’s most famous scrum-base combinations with Sterling.

The Eels finished the minor rounds with a 20-all draw against Manly, in what was the final match ever played at Cumberland Oval.

A heaving crowd of 18,449 packed into the venue for one last time before construction of the new Parramatta Stadium began.

They beat the Jets and Roosters in the finals to qualify for their first grand final since 1977.

Warren Ryan’s Newtown would be their opponents.

For all the hype surrounding the Eels’ attempt at a maiden premiership, Newtown was equally hungry for success.

They had not won a grand final since 1943.

Grand final day was a typically windy September afternoon, thousands of blue, gold and white balloons sent scattering by the frequent gusts.

The desperation of both sides was evident early, when a dash from Jets captain Tommy Raudonikis ended with the fiery number seven exchanging a flurry of punches with Ray Price.

The Jets scored the opening try, but it didn’t take long for the Eels to hit back.

Price found space from a scrum win and left Newtown defenders in his dust, before linking with Kenny who held off John ‘Chicka’ Ferguson to score. Cronin’s booming sideline conversion edged the Eels ahead 5-3.

Newtown scored again, but a penalty goal to Cronin gave Parramatta a slender lead of 7-6 at halftime.

A converted try to Raudonikis early in the second half put the Jets ahead 11-7 and things took another turn for the worse when Price had to be replaced due to a leg injury.

Sterling’s pinpoint kicking game and the fearless charges of old warhorses Bob ‘The Bear’ O’Reilly, Kevin ‘Stumpy’ Stevens and Ron Hilditch gave Parramatta valuable field position.

They eventually cracked the Jets when Sterling spied an opportunity and combined with replacement forward Steve Sharp, with winger Graeme Atkins streaking away to score.

Cronin’s conversion put the Eels ahead 12-11 and the buzz of expectation around the SCG grew to near deafening levels.

Soon after, slick hands from Cronin and second-rower John Muggleton put Ella into space and there was no catching the Zip Zip Man.

It was here Cronin slotted the match-sealing goal in the most challenging of conditions.

Ahead 17-11 with time almost expired, a deflected kick by fullback Steve McKenzie ended up in the arms of Kenny who finished things off in the most mesmerising fashion.

Tip-toeing his way down the touchline, the mercurial number six sold a giant dummy to Jets fullback Phil Sigsworth before completing a 65-metre run to the line.

Cronin missed the conversion, but it mattered little as the fulltime siren sounded before play could resume. 

The class of this Parramatta team had come to the fore when it mattered most, with three tries in the final 14 minutes.

The Eels had won 20-11 and their first premiership party was just getting started.

After defending stoutly for 80 minutes, O’Reilly then tackled a huge magnum of champagne.

At 32 years of age, he had made a mockery of claims he was past his best and collected man of the match honours for his non-stop effort.

In 2008 he was retrospectively awarded the Clive Churchill Medal.

Stumpy Stevens also made the critics eat their words. As the result began to sink in, Edge told reporters: “I can’t get over it. I’m part of the Parramatta team when they won their first premiership. That’s history. That’s fantastic.’’ 

Edge remains the only player to captain two clubs to grand final victories. 

Gibson climbed down from the grandstand to join his players on the field.

One of his best performers on the day was Kenny, scorer of two stunning tries in his first grand final.

Success had arrived early for the 20-year-old and his eyes would grow wider at the team’s reception upon arriving at Parramatta Leagues Club later that night. Kenny recalled: “When we got into the club we sat down for a meal and you could see the ceiling bouncing – there were that many people jammed in there!

“So, we took the lift up to see the fans, but when the doors opened – you couldn’t get out! There were that many people there we needed bouncers to get us through the crowd and onto the stage.”

Celebrations continued at nearby Cumberland Oval, with thousands of partygoers filling the dilapidated old ground.

A bonfire, fuelled by fence palings, suddenly engulfed the old wooden grandstand which burned to the ground.

No inferno, though, could detract from the euphoria of Parramatta’s maiden premiership. A victory iced with the famous Gibson line: “Ding, dong. The witch is dead.”