St. George Leader
May 6th, 1999
A large part of league history will disappear when the new St. George-Illawarra consortium plays its last game at Kogarah Oval in three months, to prepare for a new home at the Sydney Football Stadium or Stadium Australia in 2000.
Time has caught up with the old ground, correctly known as Jubilee Oval, just as it caught up with St. George last year, resulting in the merger.
Where the greats of the game, like Kearney, Provan, Gasnier, Raper, Langlands, Smith, Clay and King trained and then played, along the way to setting that world record winning run of 11 straight premierships (1956-1966).
Where grown men would happily climb trees around the ground well after the old stand was full.
Where kids would be lifted over the barriers when a 20,000 crowd looked likely, when the team of the 60s wasn’t playing the weekend’s main game at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturdays.
Big crowds would even come to the ground after work to see the perennial premiership-winners just train.
In those days, well after St. George had moved from Hurstville Oval after winning the 1949 grand final, Jubilee Oval hosted cricket as well as footy.
“We had a caretaker George (Thompson) who protected the wicket from us, at all costs, even though we might be training for a semi-final or grand final,” recalled former Test great Johnny Raper, now a State and Test selector.
One Night (prop forward) Billy Wilson got sick of having to run around the wicket.
“We’ll never win the grand final training like this,” he said, before pulling out all the pegs around the cricket square.
Raper said George went “troppo” when he found out what happened. Much later, of course, the wicket was dug up and cricket wasn’t played there again.
St. George stalwart, 86-year old Glynn Price, joined the St. George social committee in the 1940s, was treasurer from 1951-65 and assistant secretary until the late 80s.
“In those days the football club committee would attend training and sometimes not leave the ground until near midnight,” said Price, who rates Langlands and Raper as the best he’s seen.
“My fondest memory was Raper and Gasnier combining to level the scores for a 19-all draw with Balmain in 1959, the year we went through the season undefeated”.