George Rose reflects on the Battle of Brookvale, and what he got wrong about Billy Slater

George Rose was pawing the sideline when the infamous Battle of Brookvale broke out, now the big man explains why he didn’t throw hands – and what happened when he finally caught up with Billy Slater.

He’s preparing to promote Tim Tszyu’s must-win showdown on Sunday, but George Rose’s first taste of a proper stink was almost 15 years ago.

Rose was standing on the sidelines of the Battle of Brookvale, about to replace Darcy Lussick when the infamous on field brawl broke out.

He was about to join in too, he reckons, but was stopped at the last second.

“It broke out right in front of me, but Gavin Badger grabbed hold of me, saying, ‘George, don’t get in there’,” Rose told this masthead ahead of Tszyu’s Sunday afternoon fight, and another Manly-Melbourne showdown later the same day.

“The whole Storm bench just ran in, and Badger hasn’t even looked at them, but he’s grabbing me.

“I had a front-row seat to it all.”

Rose didn’t have many more chances to throw hands during his career, but says he would’ve gone that day – even if it was going to be a teammate.

George Rose (R) has opened up on the Manly vs. Melbourne Storm rivalry. Picture: Brett Crockford

The ‘Battle of Brookvale’ quickly became a brawl.

Glenn Stewart and Adam Blair threw plenty of punches – few connected.

“If anything, I was gonna punch Darcy Lussick,” he says.

“I was filthy, because I was about to come on, but he got binned.

“So instead of playing my 50 or 60 minutes, I only got about 20 minutes that game because I had to sit back down when Darcy went to the bin.

“I was disappointed, so if there was anyone I was going to fight, it was gonna be Darcy.”

George Rose watches from the sideline of the Battle of Brookie.

Back at the height of the Manly-Melbourne rivalry, Rose says the first 10 minutes of every game was “open slather.”

“You got away with anything you could get away with until the first penalty, then you’d ease off,” he said.

“So whoever you could get your hands on, you’d try and bash.”

Back then, public enemy number one for anyone not wearing a Storm or Queensland jersey was Billy Slater.

And Rose didn’t miss his chance to get stuck in.

“He was very hard to get to, very elusive, so when I finally got him, I just absolutely threw every single kilogram into him,” Rose laughs.

“I remember getting up, and there’s a video I saw of it the other day, and you can read my lips and I’m saying, ‘You’re a weak c**t’ or something like that.

“I’d never say that to him now, he’s a good bloke.

“But at that time, that was the type of hatred that we had for them. It was a hatred built on how competitive we were.

“We were both very successful, but very different teams.

“I loved those games, and in the Battle of Brookie, it finally boiled over.

“I think if we had the Compubox stats, I reckon there were 220 punches thrown, and zero shots landed between Glenn Stewart and Adam Blair.”

It was a strange vibe for Rose when, after eight seasons and a premiership on the Northern Beaches, he signed for the Storm in 2014.

“It was genuine hatred, and I honestly thought that if I ever bumped into any of them, I’d punch on with them,” he says.

“I thought they were pricks.

“But then you get down there and they’re the nicest blokes, and welcomed me to the club.

“And Billy Slater was one of those guys. He had great energy and was a really good teammate. Definitely not a weak c**t or whatever I’d called him.”

Ironically, his first game for Melbourne was back at Brookvale.

The Sea Eagles faithful treated him similarly to how the welcomed Daly Cherry-Evans against Parramatta last weekend.

“They knew leaving Manly wasn’t my choice – I would’ve stayed there for life if I could,” he says. “We beat ‘em in a close game that day too.

“We got ‘em by a field goal, but it was weird – my first game back at Brookie and I’m on the other team.

“I still have a good relationship with them, and there’s a lot of the same faces there.

“With DCE, I think if you’re still playing good footy at the age of 36, you do what you want, don’t you?

“You’ve given enough to the game, you’ve given enough to the club, so whatever choice he’s making, he’s making it for the right reason.”

Originally published as George Rose reflects on the Battle of Brookvale, and what he got wrong about Billy Slater