Graeme Atkins

Legend
Q
&A
Graeme Atkins

Tell us how you came to be an Eel....
Neville Glover and I came up together from
the same junior team Toongabbie. One of
the club officials had just become one of the
directors at Parramatta. He asked Neville to go
and trial and said I should come as well.

I believe the move almost didn't happen?
I was just happy to play at Toongabbie. Nev
wanted to go and I remember telling him I
wasn't interested, but he kept on my back. So
I went down and trialled, got graded in '75 and
ended up playing first grade in my third game.
Neville picked up the Rookie of the year in '75
and I picked it up in '76.

Parramatta had run last in 1972 and then
second-last in '73 and '74. Was it a difficult
time to join the club?
Yeah that was tough because we were
re-building, but I was lucky to play alongside
some very experienced footballers. Norm
Provan had just come over from St George. He
was really good in that he gave me confidence.
Then people like 'The Bear' (Bob O'Reilly) -
they were great blokes to learn from.

You were part of the Eels teams that
lost consecutive grand finals in 1976-77,
that must of been tough....
That was another learning experience. I came
off the bench in the first one and started on
the wing in the second. The saddest thing I
saw was in '76. We'd had a parade before the
grand final down Church St and there were
thousands of people out there. And when we
didn't pull it off they were devastated. The
images will stick in my mind of the supporters
who were so disappointed. It was the same
in '77. For myself, Mick Cronin and Ray Price
that was heartbreaking. So when we won the
premiership in '81, we didn't just do it for
ourselves - we did it for those fans that were
still there, aching for that first win.

You only played the one game in 1980,
but virtually a full season the following
year. What changed?
Someone got injured and I went on in one of
the trials against Manly (at the start of '81). Les
Boyd put a big hit on one of our team-mates,
so I picked him up and dumped him. Then Jack
Gibson said 'In you go' and I played the full
season. Jack had come with a reputation. I
guess I was lucky that I'd already been graded
for five or six years. But since the '77 grand
final I had probably sat back and rested on my
laurels, so when Jack arrived it was exciting
because it was a new opportunity and the
spark that I probably needed to get myself
going again. I think I played my best football in
'77, but once '81 hit I got my second wind.

What are your memories of the '81
decider, which you won 20-11 over
Newtown?
I was pretty confident heading into the game. I
remember it was a very windy day and we were
down at half-time, but Jack just walked in to
the dressing rooms and hardly said anything at
first. Then he just looked at us and said, 'You'll
win this'. We looked around at each other and
it just gave us the confidence to take the game
up a gear after half-time. I managed to score a
try but it was Bear O'Reilly and Pricey who led
us to victory.

What about the post-match scenes?
There were people in the Leagues Club after
the win holding the 'open' button in the lifts,
because they couldn't get into the bar. The
police couldn't control the crowds, so they
just joined them. It's something that will
always be important in my life, because I won
that premiership with all my mates. We were
probably the favourites to win it, but it was
more the relief that the expectation had been
taken away from us. And we knew that year
that we would win another couple of years. It
was just a group of mates who enjoyed their
football and each other's company.

What was Jack Gibson's best quality
as a coach?
Jack had a lot of confidence in me. That's
something that I always respected him for - he
had more confidence in my ability than what I
had in myself. Jack was there to do his job as a
coach, but he was different off the field and he
was a mate like the rest of us. He'd buy you a
beer after training and (assistant) Ron Massey
was the same. The only thing he demanded was
that when you put on a football boot, he was in
charge and we all knew it.

You still had a year to run on your contract
in '83, but the club released you...
(Then club secretary) Denis Fitzgerald gave me
a call on the Monday before the first game and
said, 'You haven't been graded'. Luckily enough
a reporter got in touch with Easts and I ended
up spending a couple of years there. We got to
the semis in the first year which was great and
the year after we played Combined Brisbane in
the midweek grand final.

But you made the move back to
Parramatta in 1985...
As much as I enjoyed the Roosters, Parramatta
was where I felt most comfortable. So I got in
touch with (new coach) John Monie and asked
if there'd be room for me back at Parramatta.
I came back and had three really good years. It
was just like coming home.

You learnt a lot at the Roosters though?
The training was a lot harder, which was what
I needed, and I came back a lot fitter. Laurie
Freier was the coach and Mike Eden was there
and he was a great trainer. Mike and I became
good mates and then I took him back to
Parramatta with me.

You took over the goalkicking in 1986
and ended up the leading pointscorer for
the Eels in a title-winning year...
I was very happy with that because I'd never
kicked before. But 'Crow' injured his eye and I
took it on and it worked out OK. Then Crow and
Ray Price retired at the end of the year and I
was one of the older players. I still believed I
had enough to offer to the younger kids. But
at the end of '87 I knew I'd had enough. I was
31 and had been playing for 13 years. It was
becoming more of a job than a pastime.

Do you watch footy today?
My only interest is my son Grant who is a
first-grade referee and Penrith junior mentor.
I've lost a bit of interest because I played
for the passion of playing for my district. My
father played first grade for Parramatta, my
grandfather for Newtown and all I wanted to
do was play for Parramatta. Now the dollar
is more important. The most important thing
used to be getting your jersey at the end of the
season. That's all the pay we needed.

What are you up to these days?
I live in Springwood in the Blue Mountains
and I'm teaching at McCarthy Catholic College
at Emu Plains. It's the school Brad Fittler
and Andrew Ryan attended. I joined the
Cumberland Golf Club when I finished footy in
'88. I'm not one to keep score...I just enjoy
the company!

Rugby League Week
By Matt Logue