League mourning death of star behind 1-0 game

1 year ago 66

Rugby league mislaid a spot of its bosom and psyche with the passing of Newtown fable Ken Wilson astatine the property of 71 this week.

A decennary ago, Moley sat down with Wilson and relived the highlights of his memorable vocation for the now-defunct mag Rugby League Week.

MOLEY: You are the antheral down 1 of the astir celebrated scorelines successful league past - the lone 1-0 triumph the crippled has seen. What are your memories of that crippled successful 1973?

WILSON: I was playing for Newtown against St George astatine the SCG. In those days you had to play a afloat reserve-grade crippled earlier you could play archetypal grade. I was conscionable sitting determination softly - I didn't adjacent cognize if I'd get connected the paddock. Then with astir 10 minutes left, (coach) Jack Gibson called maine over, looked maine successful the oculus and muttered, 'Wilson, spell and footwear maine a tract goal'. A mates of minutes aboriginal I was successful position, and bang, implicit it went. We didn't truly deliberation we'd made past astatine the clip - it was conscionable a win. But now, implicit 30 years later, radical inactive travel up to maine wanting to speech astir it.

MOLEY: And you besides played successful the lone scoreless gully successful 100 years of football, against Canterbury successful 1982. Was it arsenic dull arsenic the scoreline suggests?

WILSON: I was Newtown skipper that time and we played Canterbury astatine Henson Park. It was a section derby and neither broadside was consenting to springiness an inch. We conscionable slogged it retired for 80 minutes and we couldn't bargain a point. Unbelievable. When radical speech astir that game, they don't retrieve I missed 4 oregon 5 shots astatine goal! It's comic - I scored much than 2000 points successful my vocation successful metropolis and state footy and I inactive clasp the Newtown points-scoring record, but whenever radical sermon footy to me, it's those 2 games they privation to speech about.

MOLEY: How overmuch of a relation did your Aussie rules inheritance play successful your prodigious kicking game?

WILSON: The kicking skills I learned successful Aussie rules played a large portion successful immoderate occurrence I gained successful league. My dad, Danny, was from Melbourne, and helium was a spot of a prima successful the aged VFL for South Melbourne. But helium moved to Sydney done enactment and I played Aussie rules for Newtown arsenic a kid. Then I started going to schoolhouse astatine De La Salle successful Marrickville. You had 2 choices determination - play league oregon beryllium and ticker the different boys bash it, truthful that's however my league vocation began.

MOLEY: Andrew Johns made the banana footwear celebrated and Alfie Langer had the small grubber done the line, but the tract extremity became your trademark, didn't it?

WILSON: Yeah, erstwhile I started they were worthy 2 points and determination weren't a batch of tries scored, truthful they were valuable. I retrieve playing successful the 1971 reserve-grade expansive last for Newtown against Easts successful beforehand of a monolithic assemblage astatine the SCG. We won 6-0 - done 3 K. Wilson tract goals.

MOLEY: In the modern crippled we often perceive astir guys similar Steve Price putting unit connected kickers. How overmuch vigor did you bull successful an epoch wherever players could get distant with a batch more?

WILSON: I liken it to boxing ... you had to larn however to support yourself retired there, to support your defender up, oregon you would extremity up getting hurt. It was antithetic rules to now, for sure. And kicking tract goals made you a target. I retrieve erstwhile against Souths astatine the aged Redfern Oval I booted 1 over. I curse the shot had already landed connected the elevation and the ref had blown his whistle erstwhile George Piggins flew successful and deed maine with an elbow to the chemoreceptor ... that's conscionable however it was successful those days.

MOLEY: How was it playing nether the large Jack Gibson?

WILSON: He was a large innovator and astir apt antithetic to immoderate manager astatine that time. He taught you a batch of beingness skills arsenic good arsenic football. We won the lone nine title successful Newtown's past successful 1973 and it was mostly acknowledgment to him. But it wasn't each creaseless sailing for maine nether him. On Tuesday nighttime astatine training, I retrieve him coming up to maine and saying, 'Terry Fearnley (the reserve-grade coach) volition usage you this week'. I was shocked. I said to him, 'Jack, I deliberation I'm going each close ... and look successful the newspaper, I americium the starring points-scorer successful the comp'. He conscionable shook his caput and said, 'Don't judge what you work successful the paper, son'.

MOLEY: Having enjoyed plentifulness of occurrence astatine Newtown, what made you privation to permission and play for a twelvemonth with Port Kembla successful 1974?

WILSON: Basically due to the fact that they threw much wealth astatine maine than Newtown had. Country shot was reasonably large backmost past and they offered maine $2000 arsenic a sign-on - that was large wealth successful those days. But aft 12 months determination I came backmost to the large league with Penrith. They were a struggling broadside but I had 3 enjoyable years determination earlier going backmost to Newtown. Newtown gave maine the champion declaration I was ever connected and I reckon they knew they were going broke - it took maine 5 years to yet get the wealth retired of them!

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