Southport Sharks legend Zane Taylor recounts bloody battles on the footy field.

Bloody fights and dodging men who he was told would rip his head clean off. Southport legend Zane Taylor recounts an era of brutal football that delivered multiple premierships.

ZANE Taylor comes from an era where football skills had to be matched with an ability to fight.

The 1989 Southport Sharks premiership captain has opened up about the brutal style of football played throughout the 80s and 90s as the club prepares to celebrate 30 years at Fankhauser Reserve.

“It was good, hard footy and very physical,” Taylor said of his memories of playing in a period where Southport dominated.

“One of the credentials you had to have was to be able to fight. You had to have all the skills in the world but if you could fight it was a bonus.

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“Unfortunately the umpires didn’t have a lot of control. There were a lot of thugs in opposition sides so you had to watch your back a bit.

“It was no holds barred. A lot of our grand finals were fairly brutal. I didn’t mind the physicality of it. It made you grow up pretty quick.”

Taylor said players would often be left bleeding but with no blood-rule in place they would continue playing.

Zane Taylor was the 1989 Southport Sharks premiership captain, and also played for Geelong in the VFL. Picture: Jerad Williams

He was just 17-years-old when he made his debut for the Sharks in 1975, when they were still playing at Owens Park, in the Gold Coast Australian Football League.

One memory sticks out in particular from the fixture against Labrador.

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“In my first game for Southport we played against Labrador and I was playing centre-halfback,” Taylor said.

“Their captain-coach, I forget his name now, but he was a big burly bloke. He would have been I his 30s, balding, big chunky six-foot-three or so.

Southport captain Zane Taylor (L) and bloodied Gary Dempsey with the Mini Skips-QAFL Cup after the Sharks 23 point win over Windsor-Zillmere

“I can still remember all my teammates saying ‘for Christ sake don’t let him get near you because if he gets hold of you he will tear your head off’.

“From the time the game started I was just thinking don’t go near this bloke. It worked out OK.

“I worked around him and jumped over him, around him and over the top. But I was conscious of not getting close to him.”

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