Joe Lydon: Cherrypicker Turned Rooster

Sean Fagan of RL1908.com

The credible Great Britain rugby league teams from 1988 to 1994 owed much of their success to the "guesting" of many English players with Winfield Cup clubs in the late 1980's, including Joe Lydon.

In 1987 Australia saw Lee Crooks and Garry Schofield at Balmain, Kevin Ward with the premiership winning Sea Eagles and many others sprinkled through the Winfield Cup teams. At Easts that had the classy Wigan back Joe Lydon.

The Roosters were buoyed in late April 1987 with the news that the Great Britain test fullback Joe Lydon had signed an agreement to play for the remainder of the year at Easts once his commitments with Wigan were over. Lydon had made other attempts to join Winfield Cup clubs including Cronulla, Illawarra and Manly in previous years but last minute injuries kept him at home.

Initially Lydon looked likely to miss out again as Wigan had no intention of releasing him to play in Australia. They had already permitted Shaun Edwards to turn out for Manly and they weren't prepared to further expose their players to injury or too much football. Fortunately for Lydon, Easts and the fans he was granted the all clear to leave when Edwards suffered an injury and the deal with the Sea Eagles (who won the title that season) fell through.

Since leaving Widnes, Lydon had only missed two games for Wigan in 1986/87 and felt confident he was joining the right Winfield Cup club at the right time (eight weeks into the season and the Roosters were running in second place). "After those false starts, I'm really determined to do well with Easts" Lydon said from Wigan. "They are going very well at the moment, and I know quite a few of the players, like Gary Prohm, for instance. They seem to have a good blend." Easts fans were more than hopeful that blend would be added to by the 23 year old Lydon.

The Sydney press were certainly excited by his signing and reminded fans of Lydon's "truly magnificent try" in the 1986 Old Trafford Ashes Test and that he was certain to be a crowd pleaser with his penchant for long range tries and his much improved defence (many fans remembered the kid on the 1984 Lions tour who had a huge reputation and become a major flop). His goal kicking attributes were also noted as an advantage for the Roosters who hadn't won a premiership since 1975.

With his Wigan commitments over Lydon arrived in Sydney on May 23 to find that Easts had slipped to third place and were two wins behind the top of the table Balmain. Unfortunately for Lydon the next day Easts had their most distant away game for the year and he was off on another plane journey - this time to Canberra. To his credit he stepped out for the Roosters reserve grade side (in the centres for 35 minutes) who were in the process of being beaten 23-2 by Canberra with Ivan Henjak leading the way for the Raiders and Terry Matterson (soon to join the Brisbane Broncos) kicking two goals for Easts.

Lydon then sat (or maybe got over his jet-lag!) on the bench as Easts took an early 12-0 lead. Just as Canberra centre Peter Jackson was putting over a penalty goal in the 25th minute, Easts David French succumbed to a knee injury and Lydon had his chance.

The run of play didn't go Lydon's way and he had little opportunities as the Roosters went on to beat the Raiders (who included Gary Belcher, Jackson, Chris O'Sullivan, Kevin and Steve Walters, Sam Backo and Kiwi international, Brent Todd) by 21 to 6. The win took Easts to one win from the top as second placed Manly thrashed front-runners Balmain 48-14.

Due to the split rounds caused by State of Origin, Easts' next game was a Panasonic Cup game on June 3 against the night competition specialists, Balmain. Led by an inspired Scott Gale the Tigers edged out Easts 14-12 although Lydon managed to score the Roosters' only try. In the next premiership round the Roosters had a bye and didn't get back onto the field until June 13 at Wollongong against the Illawarra Steelers coached by Brian Smith.

In a mistake riddled game Illawarra (who included Cavill Heugh and Graeme Bradley) took an early 6-0 lead. Brendan Hall and David Smith then combined to give Lydon an opportunity out wide on his wing and he scored in the corner. The Steelers then attacked Lydon's wing through Bradley but the Englishman was up to it and put "The Penguin" to ground. On the back of Hugh McGahan and John Tobin, Easts then took control and went on to win 20-6 and move to one point behind Manly on the ladder.

The goal kicking of Joe Lydon came in handy as Easts beat Norths 14-13 on June 21. Lydon's three goals were much needed for the Roosters to overcome the luckless Bears (inspired by John Dorahy and Mark Graham) in a thrilling game. With only ten minutes left Norths were up 13-8 and looking at a major upset win until Prohm and Hall conjured a try to bring the scores to Norths 13-12. Lydon calmly made the conversion and the Roosters hung on to win.

The Roosters faltered though the next week losing to the lowly ranked St George 14-7 with the only bright note being the performance of Lydon. The Englishman set the crowd on their feet with each touch of the ball and made several huge inroads into Dragons' territory. His combination with fullback Gary Wurth in the 27th minute produced one of the tries of the season. Wurth fielded a Steve Linanne clearing kick on his own quarter and threw a long pass to the unmarked Lydon. He sprinted 50 metres downfield before finding Wurth on his outside for a clear passage to the line and score a breathtaking try. The loss meant Easts were caught up in a dog-fight for a top three spot for the rest of the year.

On July 5 Easts met Balmain on a very boggy SCG and the Roosters raced to an 11-0 lead early in the second half. The Tigers clawed their way back after Lee Crooks increased his involvement and Garry Schofield and Wayne Pearce scored tries for Balmain to lead 12-11 with less than five minutes to go. In yet another close escape for the 1987 Roosters, Tony Melrose was able to snatch a draw with a calmly posted field goal. Lydon missed the next game against Penrith through injury as the Roosters won another close encounter 15-14 with Melrose saving them again with a last minute field goal.

Easts then played Wests (led by Brett Clark) at Newtown's former home ground Henson Park. The Roosters scored an uninspiring win over the Magpies 15-6. Again for Easts the brightest moments were provided by Lydon. In the dressing room after the game Lydon said playing for Easts had helped his game tenfold. "I came over here to improve my game and so far I've learned a lot. The intensity of Sydney will stand me in good stead when I return home", the Wigan flyer claimed. The good news for Easts was that Lydon had been granted approval from Wigan to stay until the Grand Final if necessary (unlike Kevin Ward who had to return home and then fly back for the decider).

On Saturday, July 25, Easts took on the out of contention 1986 champions Parramatta with Peter Sterling their only remaining kingpin playing that day. The Roosters and Lydon were shocked by a stunning performance by Sterling that left Easts behind 32-2 at fulltime. 'Sterlo' won every major award that day on offer and those that gave scores out of ten began with at least "ten out of ten". There was little that Lydon or Easts could have done.

An injured Lydon watched on as Easts returned to form and clinched a top three semi final berth by defeating the front running Manly 26-16 (who appeared to have their seven State of Origin players thinking about the trip to Los Angeles the next day) after leading 26-0 at one stage. The Englishman returned for the game against Canterbury who were still in a position to make the semi finals. Led by Terry Lamb and Colin Whitfield the Bulldogs took an early 6-2 lead and the game became an absorbing tussle. With fifteen minutes to go it was 20 all after a try to Lamb. Lamb had scored after an Andrew Farrar kick and chase down the blind side when Lydon was caught napping. Easts escaped yet again though as David Smith kicked a penalty goal in the final ten minutes.

The bruising hitout against the Bulldogs pack appeared to soften Easts as they let a 16-6 lead over Souths the next weekend slip into a 32-18 thrashing at the hands of the famous Rabbitohs. Lydon scored two top winger's tries to create the Roosters lead but their forwards appeared tired and Ian Roberts and Craig Coleman ran riot for the Rabbitohs to score six tries.

Easts came back from the dead yet again the next Saturday to grab a win in the last five minutes over Cronulla 18-14. The Sharks (who included Mark McGaw, Andrew Ettingshausen and Mike Gregory) looked home at 14-4 with twenty minutes left on the clock. Craig Salvatori scored for the Roosters to make it 14-10 and then Joe Lydon set the 1987 premiership alive with a spectacular solo try.

Lydon scampered from dummy-half feinting to run the open side, then swerved back towards touch, wrong footing the defence and finding himself in open space. He then beat the dive of fullback Alan Wilson and looked to be try-bound as he outpaced the cover defence. Inexplicably Lydon changed direction infield and took on the Cronulla defenders, beating both pointlessly. Smith missed the simple conversion that Lydon had positioned for him but a final try to Steve Morris sealed the Rooster win and a top three semi final position. As Lydon changed direction on his try-line run he contemplated the reaction of Easts' coach Arthur Beetson if he hadn't scored. "I knew I had to get there or Arthur would have killed me", said Lydon. "But that was one of the most satisfying tries of my career. To score one like that in the best competition in the world, in such a crucial match gave me a great feeling."

For the final round game against Canberra, who Easts would meet again the next week in the first semi, coach Beetson rested seven players (including Lydon) who had niggling injuries. Canberra duly won 22-19 in an uninspiring manner that had the critics convinced their run in the play-offs would be short lived. In their first ever semi final Canberra's lack of ball control saw them outplayed by Easts 25-12. Lydon played soundly in the first half but was replaced at half time by Wayne Challis after suffering an injury.

The Roosters' win put them into the major semi final against Manly with the winner gaining a place in the Grand Final. Lydon was selected on the wing but unfortunately had not recovered from injury and his place went to David French. Ironically, it was French who scored Easts' only try as they were out muscled 10-6 by Manly in a very gruelling and physical game.

The heavy physical nature in which the game against Manly was played seemed to drain the Roosters and in the Final against Canberra (who had walloped Souths the week before) their defence at times was very poor. Easts seemed to gain an advantage at 18-14 just after half time but were eventually overrun by the fitter Raiders' players and lost 32-24. Lydon again suffered an injury and was replaced with thirty minutes left in the game which didn't help the Roosters' cause. Two days later Lydon jetted out of Sydney for home.

Before leaving he made a few remarks: "I was naturally disappointed at coming off injured against Canberra, but the finals experience was invaluable. I feel sorry for the rest of the blokes though, they've played their guts out for the whole season." As to whether he would be back: "What I would like to do is tour with the 1988 Lions and then stay for the remainder of the season. That would also mean I could spend the summer here getting ready for the 1989 season, but that would depend on negotiations with Wigan."

Lydon eventually played against the 1987 Grand Final winners Manly, when they met Wigan at Central Park in the World Club Challenge in October. In front of 36,000 fans the Cherrypickers outpointed Manly (minus Kevin Ward) in a tryless game 8-2.