Bob Fulton death: How Bozo saved struggling Sydney clubs during the Super League war

When a split in rugby league a quarter of a century ago threatened to do irreparable damage, Bob Fulton was on hand to ensure the old guard would not only survive, but thrive.

He was an Immortal on the field, but Bob Fulton’s off-field role in helping save rugby league during its darkest hour is the true legacy that will live on forever.

Bozo was rugby league’s most powerful man and no one carried more clout or more influence.

Old rugby league bosses Ken Arthurson and John Quayle credit Fulton, who died on Sunday after a battle with cancer, for saving the Super League war and in doing so the future of struggling Sydney based clubs in the 1990s.

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Bob Fulton does his homework during the 1995 World Cup.

Andrew Johns says he wouldn’t be an Immortal if it wasn’t for Bozo.

Footy legends spoke on Monday of Fulton’s extraordinary influence on the game and how he stepped in to save the ARL and traditional clubs during the most turbulent period in the game’s history.

“He did a miraculous job,” Ken Arthurson said.

“All these clubs were defecting. He was such a colossal figure. Bozo and Phil Gould were very much instrumental in holding our side up.

“Bozo was such a towering figure in the game. If he put his heart and soul into something he was hard to beat.

“He never did anything in half measures. It was the lot or nothing.

“Without him, it could have all gone downhill. No question he was our greatest asset.”

Arthurson said Fulton treated the Super League war like any game he played or coached.

“Whatever Bozo did, he had to win,” Arthurson said.

“He used to repeat that Vince Lombardi line that ‘winning isn’t everything – it’s the only thing.’

“At the time his stature in the game was so important to us.

Bob Fulton and James Packer in Super League mode back in 1995.

“Just about any player he spoke to stayed with the ARL, unless the weight of money from the other side was too great.

“He was really passionate about not only saving Manly but all the Sydney clubs and the entire game.”

For months Fulton shared the boardroom on the fifth floor of NSW Leagues Club in Phillip Street with Gould and other prominent officials.

He’d be there for breakfast every morning and leave late at night.

One by one players and their managers would walk in.

“His work ethic was just incredible,” recalls John Quayle.

“We couldn’t keep all the clubs so we had to go individually after the players.

“Bozo and Phil had the right to sign any player within a certain budget, which they used to break quite regularly.”

As the war went on, the ARL sent Fulton to England

“Our opponents had taken over the international game,” Quayle recalls, “So he went over and signed up the Poms’ best player, Ellery Hanley, to play in ARL.

Andrew Johns was one of the ARL’s most prized possessions during the Super League war.

“We sent Bozo because of his stature. Ken or I could have gone but Bozo was always going to be the one to convince him to come.”

“He was there from breakfast until late at night every day.

Andrew Johns spoke about the role Fulton played to keep him in the ARL and later using his influence to ensure he became the game’s eighth immortal.

“Bozo was on the phone to me all the time about the importance of us staying with the ARL,” Johns said.

“When Bozo spoke, you listened. Because of who he was and how great he’d been, you had so much respect for him. He gave me my first shot in the Australian team in ’95 and I’ll never forget that.”

It was when there was a debate raging about Johns being included as an Immortal that Fulton really stepped up.

There were current Immortals who didn’t want him included because of previous misbehaviour.

“When my name was getting tossed around there was certainly some push back from certain areas,” Johns said.

“But Bozo stood up strong for me. It’s something I’ll never forget. He challenged all those who argued against it.

“We had many private conversations over the years. He’d always ring and check how I was doing.

“I’ll be forever grateful for having Bozo as part of my career.”