They Don't Make 'em Like Artie Now
Sydney Morning Herald
Saturday January 26, 2008
RUGBY league is celebrating its centenary and the founding clubs of 1908 have begun to party. Balmain (aka the Wests Tigers) and Eastern Suburbs (aka the Sydney Roosters) kicked off their celebrations this week.
No one better to talk to, then, than the best and best-loved forward to pull on a boot, 63-year-old Arthur Beetson, OAM.Big Artie played for both Balmain and Easts, captaining the Roosters to win the 1974 grand final against Canterbury (19-4) and again in 1975, when they destroyed St George by what remains the biggest winning margin in premiership history, 38-0.Those were the days before football stars drove Porsches to nightclub incidents. Talking on 2UE on Thursday, Artie dismissed the foul rumour that he had once devoured 11 hot dogs as an hors d'oeuvre before a Kangaroo dinner. He had a better yarn, which I report in his own words."Johnny Peard likes to tell the story," he said. "One game, when we ran on to the field, I actually had a little bit of a chunder and I brought up this red stuff."And Johnny said to me, 'You'd better go back to the doctor'."I said, 'It's all right, mate. I've just eaten a few Cherry Ripes.' "Ah, The Night They Burned The Old Nostalgia Down.
© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald