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Sorry Tatafu, I tried
Greg Growden made an interesting point on Monday about Wallabies hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau, which turned on the fact that while he is a marvellous player, he is not good at throwing the ball accurately into the lineout. In 1968, it was the coach of Eastern Suburbs, Len Martin, who first hit upon the idea of having the hooker and not the winger throw the ball. It seemed from the point of view of both attack and defence, it was better to have the winger in the field and free to run, rather than having his permed hair so close to the hot engine room where all the hard work got done. So he tried it and it was an immediate success. Other clubs followed suit, and when Easts went on an end-of-season tour of New Zealand those wretched Kiwis - as was ever their wont - picked up on our best ideas and soon had the the hooker throwing it in as well. Mr Martin turned 80 last year, and I talked to him on Thursday, he at his home on the Central Coast, in the vain hope he might give his blessing for the Wallabies to revert to the old ways. But alas …
"No," he said flatly. "If the winger throws it in, you're down one man in the back line in both defence and attack and it won't work."
I tried. Tatafu, you're just going to have throw it in better!
Do-it-yourself humour
TFF's item last week about the brilliance of AFL television commentator Dennis Cometti prompted a memory from Fitzphile Dave Hurst. Many years ago, he was listening to an ABC cricket broadcast, when someone rang up to ask about the derivation of the name "Dodemaide" as in Tony Dodemaide, the Victorian all-rounder. Without the slightest pause, Trevor Bailey explained: "That's and old West Indian name from the plantation days. The owner of the plantation says to his wife in regards to buying Christmas presents for the staff: 'You do da butler, and I'll do de maid'." As Hurst recalls it, co-commentator Norm O'Neill couldn't speak for five minutes and was still cracking up with laughter three or four overs later. As you would.
rest of the Fitz Files here
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Originally Posted by GIGS20
