The Roosters and Dolphins collide at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night with a grand final on the line in a clash with an incredible amount of history, pride and passion.
In the middle of it all is one of the game’s most immense figures, Arthur Beetson.
Artie is synonymous with the Roosters.
He led the club to back-to-back premierships in 1974-75, became the first Indigenous athlete to captain Australia in any code – while wearing the red, white and blue – coached Easts during the 1980s and was a near permanent fixture during my playing days, too.
Younger generations might not be as familiar with his connections to Redcliffe and the Dolphins. Artie arrived at the club as a wide-eyed, 16-year-old centre (apparently he wasn’t quite so big back then) from Roma in Queensland.
He starred in the Dolphins’ first premiership win in 1965 before leaving Brisbane for Balmain and the big smoke of Sydney.
More than 15 years later, he returned to Queensland as the hero of that fancy new thing called State of Origin and was appointed captain-coach of Redcliffe at the age of 36.
A last-minute try to Souths winger Mick Reardon (with a young Mal Meninga throwing the last pass) denied Beetson a fairytale 1981 BRL premiership in his final game.
But he will always be regarded as a legend of the Roosters and Dolphins, even if he is occasionally misquoted from his autobiography, Big Artie.
Beetson didn’t just say he’d like to see the Dolphins and Roosters play in the NRL one day – which was the line repeated when the Queensland side entered the competition in 2023.
What Artie actually wrote was: “Maybe one day in my lifetime there can be a Roosters-Redcliffe grand final. I’d enjoy that!”
Sadly, the big fella is no longer with us. But he’s got the next best thing to that grand final, and I’ve got no doubt he’d enjoy the way these two sides play – all power and skill.
For me, and so many people in rugby league, Artie was larger than life, but just such a cheerful, warm person with such lovely manners. I think this especially surprised people when they met him.
He was in charge of the Roosters’ recruitment when we were enjoying a golden run, and he discovered a lot of talented guys who left enduring legacies at the club – everyone from Anthony Minichiello to Michael Crocker, Chris Flannery, Jake Friend, Mitchell Aubusson and too many others to mention.
Then, when I was coaching late in 2009, things went pear-shaped – which is a polite way of putting it – quite quickly. We decided to get someone in to help, and that someone was Artie.
Honestly, I don’t know how he did it, because it was a pretty miserable time – we won two games in four months – but Artie lightened the mood. He made training fun. He wasn’t too mobile at that point, but I remember him packing down and scrummaging against the front-rowers, giving them shit, lightening the mood.
The Roosters and Dolphins play for the Artie Legacy Medal whenever they clash, and it’s a wonderful little slice of history that they are now playing to reach the grand final he had in mind long before anyone else in rugby league.
From the game’s perspective, it’s fantastic to have another strong, thriving club in south-east Queensland. The Broncos have had a rotten year, obviously.
But the Dolphins have swept up the region and are surging with crowds and support to challenge them and keep rugby league front of mind in Brisbane this week when the Lions are gunning for a third consecutive AFL premiership.
The connection between the Dolphins and Roosters, meanwhile, runs right through to that famous Sunday afternoon in March, 2023, when the Dolphins took to the same Suncorp turf in their first NRL game and produced an upset for the ages against a star-studded Roosters outfit.
It’s funny to think Isaiya Katoa was making his debut that day ahead of star signing Anthony Milford. Now look at him.
The forward packs for both sides are tough and powerful, and love nothing more than letting you know about it. But this is where they can come undone, too. Enforcers like Spencer Leniu, Tom Flegler and Tom Gilbert can win you a game with their contact and aggression. But they can also overdo it and put their team under pressure with unnecessary penalties.
Whoever masters that discipline and control – of the ball and their aggression – might end up on top in this one.
Sam Walker adds so much variety and flair to the Roosters attack and the Dolphins boast plenty of that out wide themselves. But if I’m looking at one place this match will be decided, it’s down the Roosters’ right edge.
In their last clash at Allianz Stadium in round 26 the Dolphins racked up three tries down that channel, targeting Daly Cherry-Evans, Siua Wong, Rob Toia and Mark Nawaqanitawase.
That’s the Dolphins best attacking edge with Herbie Farnworth’s pace and power and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow’s speed when he swings around the edge. And it’s also the Roosters’ defensive Achilles heel. Both teams know it, and I think it comes down to Daly and his decision-making to hold that edge together.
And again, whatever happens on Friday night, I think it’s a contest big Artie would enjoy.
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
