Parramatta fans who were watching the 1986 grand final against the Bulldogs might still remember the iconic Ray Warren call of the final play of the match.
The Eels were out on their feet. The Bulldogs were down to 12 men, but had just been awarded a fresh set of six. They were on the attack deep inside Parramatta’s half and looked for all money like they were about to score the winning – and only – try.
The premiership-winning Parramatta Eels of 1986. NRL Photos
Paul Dunn was brought down short of the line. Now, in Warren’s bellowing voice:
“Dunn to play the ball. (Mark) Bugden is the dummy-half, he’ll go himself. He’s tackled a metre from the line. There’s the siren! Parramatta have won the grand final!”
Cut to coach John Monie in the stands. A wry smile, a shake of the hands to all and sundry around him in the members stand at the SCG.
The Eels were in the midst of a dynasty unmatched until the Panthers won a fourth-straight title 38 years later. They had won three-straight premierships between 1981-1983, lost the ’84 decider, were knocked out in the prelim in ‘85, but found glory again with that try-less 4-2 victory in ’86 – a fitting farewell for retiring legends Ray Price and Michael Cronin.
It remains the Blue and Gold’s most recent taste of premiership glory – a drought that predates the internet, the collapse of the USSR, and the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Peter Wynn came off the bench for the Eels that day. He played at least a small part in all four of the club’s premierships in ’81, ’82, ’83 and ’86. If someone had told him that day it would be the last one for at least four decades…
“It would have been unimaginable, in my mind,” he told nine.com.au.
In fact, the Eels wouldn’t so much as make it to the finals until 1995. They have made finals only 15 times since that ’86 triumph, and missed the cut 25 times.
Cronin said that would have been a far bigger surprise to him than the 40-year drought.
“They had a great nursery, they’d just moved into a new ground which was filling up every week … but you never take anything for granted in sport,” he told nine.com.au.
The Eels have no doubt had the talent in that time to get the job done, and probably should have in 2001. They also lost grand finals in 2009 (unfortunately it still counts) and 2022 (nobody was beating the Panthers that night).
Of the two main Australian ball codes, the Eels have the second-longest active premiership drought, behind only St Kilda, who haven’t won a V/AFL title since 1966.
On the day
Having joined the competition in 1947, it took the Eels 29 years to make their first grand final and another five years to win one.
One quickly brought about two, three, and four. Five is yet to come.
Cronin and Price with then-PM Gough Whitlam and NSW premier Neville Wran. NRL Images
Wynn had been injured and concussed and had missed two months of footy. The grand final was his return, and he was named to come off the bench as a fresh reserve.
Eels-Bulldogs was THE rivalry of the day, and every match between the two clubs was a brutal affair. The grand final was the fifth time the two sides had faced off across all competitions that year, and the second time in three seasons they had met in the decider.
In 1984, it was the Bulldogs who prevailed in another low-scoring match. Cronin and Bugden scored a try each, but Chris Mortimer converted the try while Cronin went 0/2 with the boot as the Dogs won 6-4.
Two years later the Eels got their revenge. Wynn said his memories of that day are crystal clear.
“When that full-time hooter went, you just can’t explain in words that feeling, you know? The culmination of all the sacrifice that you make personally, the atmosphere created by the excitement of the fans…,” he said.
“It was déjà vu again. Just a sense of achievement. The cars honking, the fans going nuts, the pats on the back, the handshakes, everything that goes with winning a grand final. Words probably just don’t describe that moment, but it’s just the greatest feeling you can have as a player.
Peter Sterling in action for the Parramatta Eels in the 1986 grand final against the Bulldogs. Action Photographics
“And to look at your teammates and see the tears in their eyes, to look at the fans and know what it means to them, it’s an amazing time in your life.
“My memories are quite clear about the day. I remember getting to the game, getting ready in the dressing sheds, sitting there waiting for my opportunity to get on the field, and then to enjoy the moment back in the dressing shed, the drinking of the champagne, arriving back at Parramatta Leagues Club to be acknowledged by the fans there, and then to be taken upstairs into the auditorium, and then the team to be introduced one by one to the amazing fans there … it’s just ingrained in your brain forever.”
Cronin hadn’t even expected to be playing that season. He suffered an eye injury in a pre-season trial game and thought that was that. He missed much of the season, but returned in round 20.
Then in round 24 against South Sydney, he broke a rib. Again, he thought that was surely that.
But a month later, he returned for the major semi – also against the Bulldogs – and kicked two from six as the Eels won 28-6 to book their spot in the grand final.
It would be the perfect farewell for ‘Crow’ and ‘Pricey’, although Cronin said the pair never spoke about it before the match.
“I knew I was finished, but people seem to think Ray and I spoke about retirement before the game. I don’t ever recall having that conversation with him,” he said.
Brett Kenny, Peter Wynn and Eric Grothe at the opening of CommBank Stadium in 2019. Getty
“I was very surprised when Ray retired, actually. I thought he could have went around another year. I couldn’t have. I’d have been no help, but he would have been.
“But he’d had enough, obviously. He played 258 games and averaged 23 games a year for 11 years. He played in seven grand finals (note: eight if the 1977 replay against the Dragons is included) and was a very big part of our success – probably bigger than a big part.”
While playing 23 games a year is more or less the norm 40 years later, the game was still amateur in those days and players had to think about work and jobs to support their families. It was perfectly normal to play on Sunday afternoon, and then roll into work the next morning stiff, sore, and potentially even concussed.
Before he played league, Price also played the 15-man game at the top level, including seven Tests for the Wallabies.
Nathan Hindmarsh (pictured in the 2001 grand final loss to the Knights) played 330 games for the Eels and never won a premiership. Getty
By day, Price was a carpenter, while Cronin – who famously never moved to the city – was a publican in his home down of Gerringong.
Where has it gone wrong?
For a club the size of Parramatta, as well-funded as it is, to have barely sniffed a premiership in 40 years beggars belief.
Exactly why the Eels haven’t been able to win a premiership is a question both men have pondered on plenty – particularly Wynn, who gets the question regularly from fans in his eponymous shop in central Parramatta.
The club’s juniors system remains one of the strongest in the game, although few make it all the way to the club’s first grade team. That’s another mystery in itself.
Its facilities are top-notch. CommBank Stadium only opened in 2019, and a massive $350 million redevelopment of the Parramatta Leagues Club next door was approved in April.
They’ve also had some of the best players in the last two decades at some point pull on the jersey – the likes of Nathan Cayless, Daniel Wagon, Nathan Hindmarsh, Luke Burt and Eric Grothe Jr. Even more recently, they’ve had Fuifui Moimoi, Jarryd Hayne, Tim Mannah and Semi Radradra.
Jarryd Hayne was one of the most gifted to ever play the game. Steve Christo/SMH Sport
Not to mention those still playing the game today – Junior Paulo, Mitchell Moses, Clint Gutherson, Dylan Brown and Reagan Campbell-Gillard.
At their peak, all were among the best in the competition. So theoretically, the Eels have had the power to contend for premierships, but clearly not the execution.
Cronin and Wynn have both come to the same conclusion as to why: depth.
Through that era of domination in the early 1980s, including the three-peat, the Eels as a whole were a behemoth from top to bottom. In 1981, the club had a team in the grand final of all three grades.
It’s something that has been missing ever since. Cronin took over as coach virtually for the 1990 season, and said depth was his biggest problem.
“The era came to an end a bit quicker than the club thought because of injuries to key players – Steve Ella and then Sterlo,” he said.
Ray Price and Mick Cronin at the Eels’ 30-year reunion in 2016. Steve Christo
“I think they always thought they were going to be able to replace them with juniors, but it’s not always that easy. Not everyone that comes through is going to be a Peter Sterling, a Brett Kenny, a Steve Ella or an Eric Grothe.”
While the Eels have struggled along barely playing September footy, clubs like the Storm, Roosters, and Panthers of late are perpetual contenders.
So what’s the difference between them? Cronin believes the answer is obvious.
“I’ve always been a great believer that coaches (cannot) decide your fate,” he said.
“You can have the best coach in the world, but if the players aren’t up to the standard … he might only improve them a little bit. They’ve just been a couple of players short.
“In 2001, it was one of those years where everything goes right all year until you come to the grand final, and all of a sudden you hit a bit of a hurdle.”
‘Parramatta comes alive’
When the Knights beat the Panthers last Sunday evening to book their spot against the Roosters in the big dance this weekend, the Hunter erupted. That 2001 victory over the Eels remains their most recent grand final appearance.
When the Eels beat the Cowboys in the 2022 prelim, Church St in the Parramatta CBD did much the same.
Mitchell Moses, Junior Paulo and Clint Gutherson during the national anthems ahead of the 2022 grand final against the Panthers. Getty
Wynn said the atmosphere in the city that week could only ever be topped when the drought is finally broken.
“I’ve seen the happiness in the fans. I’ve experienced the pats on the back and the handshakes. I’ve heard the singing, the cars honking, the pure joy Eels fans have,” he said.
“Parramatta fans are so loyal. They love their players as long as they’re giving 100 per cent on the field.
“They’ve experienced the winning and the losing. When they make the grand final, the whole town, the whole city is just next level. It’s too hard to explain in words. It’s hard to explain the feeling.
“When the Eels do well, Parramatta comes alive. Not just my business, but all the restaurants, every shop in every street comes alive. Everybody is behind the team and everybody wants to wear the colours.
“When I reflect back on those premierships as a player, getting back to Parramatta, when you could see fans from Church St, across to Marsden St, O’Connell St, into the leagues club … I really hope the current team get an opportunity to experience what we experienced because no words can describe what that feeling is like.
“I’ve been there and experienced it as a player, and I’m hanging out for the next as a supporter just as much as anybody else.”