BRL Flashbacks: The Valleys’ Diehards best side 1970-2021
BRL footy flashbacks part 2: Celebrating the rugby league season, we name Valleys’ Diehards best team, 1970-2021. Tomorrow, the Wests Panthers.
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They are a club steeped in history with more BRL premierships than any other club.
It is the famous Fortitude Valleys’ Diehards, a wonderful organisation which still flourishes to this day in the BRL and throughout junior rugby league.
It is the club which first gave Wally Lewis his chance in senior football after the Cannon Hills’ junior had starred as a schoolboy.
Valleys claimed the first ever BRL premiership in 1909, won another as a combined Valley-Toombul side two years later and then claimed premierships again in 1914, 1915, 1917, 1918, 1919, 1924, 1931, 1933, 1937, 1941, 1944, 1946, 1955, 1957 before being the team of the 1970s. During the ‘70s Valleys secured premierships in 1970, 1971, 1973, 1974 and 1979.
The club was then the post-Broncos era pacesetters of the BRL, claiming titles in 1988 (Valley-Tweed Diehards), 1989 and 1990, before winning again in 2017.
Naming Valleys’ best since 1970 is no easy task.
Given the rich array of talent to come through the ranks of the boys in royal blue, it was decided to give selection priority to players who played three seasons or more in Valleys’ colours.
RELATED LINKS
BRL FOOTY FLASHBACKS: Brothers best, 1970-2021
This means Grant Rix (84-85), Gavin Allan, Queensland halfback Mark Murray, John McLeod and State of Origin champion Chris Close (1979) miss out, despite Close being a 1979 premiership winner.
Champions post the Brisbane Broncos’ entry into the NRL like Queensland Residents players Mark Shipway, David Bourke, Shane Buckley, Nick Butler, Tony Catton, Peter Coyne, Brett Daunt, Kelly Egan, Bill Holmes, Eric Kennedy, Gerard Kerr, Steele Retchless, Frank Rolls, Shaun Rubesaame, Trevor Schodel, Craig Marshall and Greg Walker were also discussed.
THE TEAM
NORM CLARKE
It was a toss-up between Clarke and Alan Mills, but in the end we opted for Mills on the bench and the three-time premiership winner, goalkicking Clarke at the back.
WINGERS
MICK NEILL
Neill was last man chosen in the starting 13, emphasising the competitive nature of the squad. A representative player and goal-kicker, he beat speed demons Peter Falvey, Doug Muir, premiership winners Paul Gayler and Darryl Abraham and blockbusting Russell Klein into the side.
VIC WEILAND
Weiland was a centre, but a place for him in the side simply had to be found. A Brisbane representative, he learned his trade watching Retchless and playing late in the career alongside Fitzpatrick.
CENTRES
MICK RETCHLESS
Retchless is another legend from the early to mid-1970s. He was a great player for Valleys and a foundation of their success during the glory days of the 1970s.
GERRY FITZPATRICK
Fitzpatrick was a hard working centre with a high work rate who never let the boys in royal blue down. Like Scanlan, his place in this side was never in doubt and he imparted great knowledge on teammates as late as 1979.
FIVE-EIGHT
MARTY SCANLAN
Scanlan is a Valleys’ legend, one of the first players picked in this team. So good was he, that we opted to name Wally Lewis at lock to enable Scanlan to be chosen as the team No.6. He played in seven grand finals, winning four and was the Rothman’s Medal winner in 1972.
HALFBACK
ROSS STRUDWICK
The Rat was a scheming No.7, a wonderful ballplayer and superb tactician who comfortably transferred from player to coach. While Strudwick was always going to be selected, mention should be made of former premiership winning halfback Ross Threlfo who would tackle anything that moved.
LOCK
WALLY LEWIS
Lewis is best known as being an immortal five-eight, but of course his first four seasons with Valleys were as a lock – from 1978 to 1981. Lewis stamped himself as a flair player with a rare ability to read a match.
SECOND ROWERS
MARK HOHN
The perfect tight forward who squeezed everything he had out of his body every weekend – then turned up the next Saturday or Sunday and did it all again. Hohn was a coaches dream.
BRYAN NEIBLING
Neibling was recruited to the club from the Murgon district and under the coaching of Ross Strudwick he went from being a tough tackling tight forward to being a tough tackling tight forward with attacking skills and great hands.
PROPS
JOHN MCCABE
The lanky McCabe was one of the best forwards in the competition who was both a premiership winner and Queensland representative.
JOHN CRILLY
Hard working, goal kicking prop who was a splendid stalwart to the Diehards in the early to mid-1970s. He was renowned for playing his heart out.
HOOKER
HUGH O’DOHERTY
O’Doherty won BRL premierships with Valleys in 1970, ’71, ’73 and ’74, and also played in the 1972 grand final, which Easts won 16-15. O’Doherty was known as ‘The Ferret’ because of his ability to win scrum ball.
RESERVES
ALAN MILLS
The sidestepping Mills was a wonderful attacking player for the Diehards, sparking many attacking raids from the back.
PETER COYNE
Coyne was arguably more skilful than his more famous brother Mark. Coyne was a wonderfully creative No.6 with an excellent short and long kicking game.
PETER MCWHIRTER
McWhirter was a tremendous player for Valleys’ in their march to the 1979 grand final. Together with lock Wally Lewis and halfback Ross Strudwick, the tough tackling McWhirter was the perfect foil to the flair of Lewis and Strudwick.
RUSSELL HUGHES
Magnificent warhorse for Valleys during the early to mid-1970s who loved the rough and tumble.
AL MCINNESS
Raw-boned Al McInness was a menace to the defensive line with many a defender rebounding off his hips.
TOM DUGGAN
Duggan was the ideal tight forward, tough as teak who never strayed from his work around the ruck. He was the type of forward premiership campaigns were constructed around.
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