1950 - 1959 /

As the world continued to rebuild following the end of World War II, so did the Eastern Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club. 

Over 130 players made their first-grade debut for the Club from 1950-1959, highlighting the inconsistencies the side dealt with throughout the decade - which ultimately became the first in Club history bereft of any silverware, with the only finals appearance being in 1953. 

While highlights were few and far between, the ones that were apparent proved to be significant; including the changing of the Club's famous strip, the debuts of Ferris Ashton and Jack Gibson and the grand opening of Easts League's Club. 

 

1950 - The Year It Rained Forever

What distinguished season 1950 from the rest was the torrential rainfall that turned Sydney's football fields into quagmires. The rainfall for the year was 86 inches, almost twice the long-term average, with nearly half of it coming in June and July. 

Club Legend Ernie Norman took up the mantle as Head Coach for season 1950, turning a 3-14-1 record into a respectable 7-11, a vast improvement from the wooden spoon year of 1949.

Ferris Ashton, Darcy Russell and Ken McCaffrey all had standout seasons, although a number of stars would depart after just a few seasons - including McCaffrey - as the Club searched for consistency in their line ups.

The first-grade side flew to Temora to play a match against a combined Barmedman-Temora side, an experience Ashton described as 'An unbelievable weekend'.

 

Debutants: Bob Banks, Gene Barakat, Bruce Edwards, Wally McDonald, Ken Sawyer, Vince Soorley, Jack McPherson, Ferris Ashton, Vince Gilligan, Alan Cook, Dave Hodgson, Laurie Hand, Don Dengate

1951 - Debutants Galore

An incredible nineteen players made their first-grade debut in 1951, with 28 of the 50 players involved in the Club experiencing their first season in Red, White and Blue.

But despite the high turnover and influx of youth and inexperience, the Tricolours had a respectable season, winning as many games as they lost with a 9-9 record. 

The biggest achievement of 1951 came in the form of a 22-19 win over defending and eventual Premiers Souths, in a match at Redfern Oval that saw lightweight five-eighth Darcy Henry score a brace of tries to sink the Rabbitohs in enemy territory. 

Easts finished the year just two points shy of a top-four berth, with a number of players winning representative honours in a season described as entertaining and full of innovation. 

 

Debutants: Ray Armstrong, Charlie Banks, Darcy Henry, Brian Horne, Jack Perrin, Bill Reinhold, Kevin Wallace, Don White, Jim Campbell, Vic Murphy, John Bell, George Brewis, Rae Lewis, Ray Thomas, Frank Reardon, Alf O'Brien, Danny Byrnes, Brian Watts, Bill Dowsley

1952 - Modest Achievement

Season 1952 had plenty of promise but ultimately failed to deliver - after winning their opening three matches (30-20 against Parramatta, 18-16 against Norths and 24-19 against Canterbury), Easts finished in eighth position after a lengthy mid-season slump. 

Col Donohoe and Ferris Ashton were rewarded with Test selection, while Ron Booth - who would go on to play 72 games in the top grade for Easts - made his debut. 

The following season would prove to be a highlight of the 1950s, with many of the debutants propelling the side to an unexpected finals appearance.  

 

Debutants: Ron Booth, Len Haskins, Edward Hancock, Paul Carroll, Ray Hyde, Bill Hackett, Alec Johnston, Billy Beaven, Barry Blundell, John Perry, Morrie Kermond, Keith Aitken

1953 - Return to Semis

With the departure of Ernie Norman, Col Donohoe was appointed Captain-Coach for 1953, and it seemed to be just what the Tricolours needed as they qualified for the finals for the first time since the 1945 Premiership triumph.

While a number of talented players had moved on, coupled with only three wins in the opening few rounds, 1953 seemed like it would be another forgettable season, but Easts surged in the second round of the year, winning seven of their remaining nine matches to claim a spot in the semis. 

Winger Danny Byrnes scored a brilliant try, which reduced St George's lead to 10-7...getting the ball 30 yards from the line and beating tackle after tackle in a weaving run to score in the corner. Because East is reputedly a strong finisher its fans waited anxiously for the 'kill'

George Crawford Sunday Telegraph

Taking on eventual Finalists St George, Easts were in touch with their opponents in a tough contest, trailing 7-10 until the last fifteen minutes, which saw fifteen unanswered points laid on. While the season was over, there was plenty to celebrate. 

In another positive, a young front rower by the name of Jack Gibson made his first-grade debut, and would later on establish himself as one of the great coaches in Rugby League just a few decades later. 

 

Debutants: Geoff Brown, Kevin Byrne, Dick Rowe, Ron Taylor, Jack Troy, Ken Van Heekeren, Kevin McDonald, Kevin Doyle, Jack Gibson, Malcolm Spencer

 

1954 - Eastern Suburbs' New Clothes

Season 1954 saw the NSWRFL introduce mandatory Grand Finals, but unfortunately for Easts, they wouldn't have come within a cooee of appearing in one.

Winning three of their opening six matches, Easts' season fell away from Round 7, finishing in ninth place and going the last twelve rounds without a win. 

But the biggest talking point of 1954 that would leave a legacy was a major design change to the Club's famous jersey. 

For the first 46 seasons of existence, Eastern Suburbs wore hooped Tricolours - whether predominately Red or Blue, not including the Wartime Jersey from 1944-46 - but it was decided that the primary jersey would take a radical new look.

Donohoe's own departure from the Club just a season after taking the side to the Semi Finals saw Australian representative Ferris Ashton take over as Captain-Coach.

The side conceded an average of 27 points per game for a total of 493, a record which would not be broken until 1990. To make matters worse, a player exodus happened throughout, which included Captain-Coach Col Donohoe, Barry Blundell, Jack Gibson and Ron Taylor. 

 

Debutants: Paul Pyers, Alan Wilson, Kevin Clarke, Ray Maloney, Charles Cooksley, Ron Sudlow, Frank Lawrence, Fred Smith, Frank Murphy, Terry Fearnley, Ray Christopher, Barry Russell, Hyman Lewis, Ray Chadwick, K. Small

 

1955 - Class, Experience and a Sense of Style

Changes were quickly made to avoid another repeat of the results from the year prior, with goal-kicking winger Noel Pidding joining the Club and appointed captain by new incoming Head Coach Frank O'Connor, while young five-eighth Brian Allsop arrived, scoring two tries in the opening round win against Parramatta. 

The President's Cup side claimed the title, while Gibson, Blundell and Maurie Kermond returned from the bush, while the form of pair Tony Paskins and Rupert Mudge was entertaining and gave some promise in the side's seventh-placed finish. 

Former Premiership winning captain Ray Stehr was appointed as Club President, famously printing the words 'Let us all say - Easts to Win!' in the annual report. 

 

Debutants: Brian Allsop, Reg Curran, George Kempshall, Noel Pidding, Kevin Wilson, Ellis Bridge, Nev Hayes, Maurie O'Brien, Neville Gosson, Ron Kelk, Col Longhurst, Johnny Bosler, Rupert Mudge, Tony Paskins, Don Spence, Tom Clinch

 

1956 - Ferris Reaches His Century 

While Australia celebrated the introduction of the television set in November as well as the Olympics being held in Melbourne, there was little to celebrate in 1956 for Eastern Suburbs.

The side won just five matches from eighteen games, finishing in eighth position with just a solitary victory in the final eight weeks.  

The NSWRFL's plans to play matches on Sundays was a big boost for the Club, with Easts proving to be popular at the Sydney Show Ground, allowing them to pay the second-highest first-grade bonus on record, 200 pounds. 

Ferris Ashton achieved the milestone of 100 first-grade games in Red, White and Blue in what would be his penultimate year in the top flight. 

 

Debutants: Bob Dinnerville, Brian Grant, Kevin Hansen, Ian McCarthy, Keith Power, Alan Ridley, Bill Horder, Graham Jones, Bruce Sullivan, Fred Graber, Geoff Bratt, Dick See, Ron Weigold, Les Thomas, Barry O'Donnell, Bill Lewis, Ken Dawson, Bob Thomas, Jim Collins

 

1957 - Brown Begins Coaching Career

Not even the brilliant Dave Brown could lift the side to the Semi-Finals in 1957 in his second stint with the clipboard since 1943, as Easts finished seventh, winning as many as they would lose.

The Club had the best financial season in history, (8710 pounds and 4 shillings), while Captain Tony Paskins led from the front, playing in fifteen of the eighteen games and topping the points scoring list with 104 to his name. 

A last-minute loss to Souths in Round 12 was the only blemish in a streak from late June to mid-August which garnered six wins in seven weeks, including a 22-13 win over defending Premiers St George. 

At the end of the year, the Eastern Suburbs League's Club (then known as 'Eastern Suburbs Rugby Club' at North Bondi, with Ray Stehr appointed president, Arthur Callaway as secretary-treasurer, Viv Thicknesse as assistant secretary, and vice-presidents Jack Lynch, Dick Dunn and Bob Stuart. 

 

Debutants: Terry Bourke, Bob Brenning, Ken McMorrow, Col Purcell, Paul Aquilina, Bob McDonagh, Ken Ashcroft, Bill Martin, Billy McNamara, Bob Heffernan, Ray Millington

 

1958 - Close But No Cigar

The Tricolours bounced back from four consecutive losses to open their account in 1958 with three wins on the trot, but their early prowess proved to be a false dawn.

Captain and fullback Tony Paskins again led the side with aplomb, but it would prove to be another season of so close yet so far, with a number of close results going against Easts. 

Season 1958 finished on a high with a 38-7 shellacking of Parramatta in the final match as Brian Allsop scored four tries, with the red-headed flyer topping the competition's try-scoring list with sixteen four-pointers in seventeen appearances.

Ray Stehr was honoured with Life Membership of the Club, while former player and administrator Johnny Quinlan was remembered by the Rugby League community at age 85. 

 

Debutants: Doug Cameron, Bill McCall, John Vesper, Johnny Ferguson, Ray Beaven, Don Burge, Darcy Tosh

1959 - Difficult and Disappointing

With Dave Brown progressing his career as a Schools Liaison Officer for the NSWRL, his tenure as Head Coach of Easts would come to an end but not without a final season in 1959.

But Brown wouldn't get the swansong he had hoped for, as a difficult and disappointing season saw Tony Paskins and Rupert Mudge move on, leaving a gap in the side that would need time to fill for the Club.

Eight losses from their first nine games set up a forgettable season, although it was redeemed with five wins in the final round, with enough competition points to beat out Canterbury and Parramatta.  

While it was also the final season of the City Cup, the saddest news in 1959 came from news of the passing of Club Legend and the code's original superstar, Dally Messenger, with NSWRFL President and former teammate Jersey Flegg paying tribute: 'He has never been forgotten and he never will be'.

Although negatives outweighed positives in 1959 and the decade that was, better days lay ahead with the re-appointment of Dick Dunn as Head Coach, with 1960 set to be the best year in over a decade. 

 

Debutants: Ken Hardy, Alan Lynch, Cec Maloney, Ron Potter, Bob Sait, Bruce Ranier, Bob Landers, Bill Roney, Ron Stewart, Don Davies, Ted Willis, Ross Quirk, Barry Fletcher