Ask any codger hunched over at your local RSL nursing a schooey of Tooheyโs and theyโll tell you the exact same thing: the NRL simply isnโt what it used to be. At least not in the sense of 90s-style belligerence and on-field aggression. Not that weโre exactly promoting unnecessary violence or anything, but you knowโฆ
One such incident that perfectly encapsulates the spirit of the old guard occurred during the third game of the 1997 State of Origin. An incident that would infamously go down in history as the โcattledogโ brawl.
Back then, NSW coach Tommy Raudonikis had a certain code word. Like Soviet sleeper agents, this was intended to โactivateโ key players. And by that I mean the lads were prompted to start a fight. The first person to spring into action this time around was NSWโs enforcer, Mark โSpudโ Carroll, who drew first blood.
โThe trainer ran on yelling โcattledog, cattledogโ โ and I said to Chief [Paul Harragon], โIโve got the Cattledog.'โ
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โThe poor bloke that came on was Craig Smith from St George Illawarraโฆ heโs just come on and I just went whack. Itโs the best punch Iโve ever landed, on his chin, and that was the โcattledog.โโ
The donnybrook, however, didnโt just end there. As any NRL armchair historian will tell you, a fresh-faced Andrew Johns would soon cop the belting of a lifetime โ a wound salted by national broadcast, since immortalised within the annals of the sport and talked about to this very day.
Johns famously threw hands with Queenslandโs Jamie Goddard, only to be knocked down in spectacular fashion. To his credit, Johns didnโt just stay down and take it. But to Goddardโs credit, he teed off like there was no tomorrow, beating the shit out of Johns without any notable physical response. Twenty-seven stitches were required for that hiding shortly thereafter.
โ[Johns] got hammered by Tommy, saying, โYouโre a such and such.โ But he loved me,โ says Carroll.
โEvery State of Origin, I still ring Tommy up and down the phoneโฆ I go โCattledogโ. He always goes โI love you Spud.โโ
You can review the full brawl in the video linked below (the โcattledogโ call occurs around 2:06).
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