He may be revered for his Premiership and International success at South Sydney, but legendary forward Bob McCarthy can be regarded one of the most influential figures in Bulldogs history.
After breaking the hearts of Canterbury a decade earlier in the 1967 Grand Final, McCarthy was sought after by Club executives in the 1976 off-season.
The reason? To usher in a new era of success in Blue and White.
“I Want You to Come Play for the Bulldogs”
A veteran of 15 Tests for Australia, including one as Captain, and a four-time Premiership-winner, McCarthy was 31 years old heading into 1976.
But according to many in the Rugby League landscape, including Souths, he was at the end of his tether.
Bob McCarthy on Joining the Bulldogs
Finally ready to hang up his boots after thirteen glittering seasons, it was a conversation with legendary supremo Peter ‘Bullfrog’ Moore that brought McCarthy to Belmore.
It proved to be one of the most pivotal signings in the Club’s history.
“I was going to retire,” McCarthy stated on Fox League’s League Legends.
“Souths told me I was too old and over the hill and all that type of stuff and I was quite prepared to go home and retire...until Peter Moore came down to Giles’ [Baths] one day. I saw him walking across the pathway there at Coogee.
For people who don’t know Peter Moore, he was the bloke who wouldn’t hang around gymnasiums. He always had a scotch in one hand, a cigarette in the other. He wasn’t coming for a workout!
Enter the master negotiator:
“What are you doing Bullfrog?” McCarthy queried.
“I’ve come to see you,” Moore replied.
"What for?”
“I want you to come play for the Bulldogs.”
“Mate, turn it up!”
“No, I’m fair dinkum.”
“I couldn’t play against Souths.”
“Yes you can. We’ve got all these young kids coming through.
"There’s this little red-headed kid from Wagga called [Steve] Mortimer, we’ve got this other tall kid called [Greg] Brentnall.
“We’ve got the Hughes’; these two blokes coming from England, Michael Adams and Eric - another Hughes!”
"I’ve Got Faith in McCarthy”
While it was Moore who sealed the deal, it was Head Coach Malcolm Clift who orchestrated the move, citing the need for someone with McCarthy’s status and experience as the perfect mentor for his fledgling side.
Afterall, the likes of George Peponis, Steve Mortimer, Mark Hughes and Greg Brentnall needed someone to show them what success looked like if they were to win the Club's first Premiership since World War II.
“I didn’t think he was past it and in October I told the Canterbury management committee that I wanted to buy him,” Clift recalled in ‘The Bulldogs Story’.
“When I contacted Bob, he said he wanted to see what Souths wanted to do first – he was a loyal man, and I respected that.
“But I knew he would be better off at Belmore, and I told him he could have two great years with us. Thankfully, he came.”
During discussions, Clift urged the Canterbury management committee: “Have faith in me – I've got faith in McCarthy.”
With International half Tim Pickup nursing a severe knee injury, Clift appointed McCarthy as the side's skipper for the 1976 season.
He would go on to score a try in their thrilling 25-24 opening round victory over Balmain, leading the side to the finals with 25 appearances and 12 tries in total in a vintage showing.
"We’re Staying Here Until One O'Clock”
Canterbury had been in contention for a drought-breaking title but just couldn’t quite put the nail in the coffin, despite qualifying for the 1967 and 1974 NSWRFL Grand Finals.
Ironically, it was McCarthy’s legendary intercept try that saw a Premiership elude the likes of Bulldogs Hall of Famers Les Johns and Johnny Greaves, with Souths winning a close contest, 12-10.
Upon arriving at Belmore in the off-season of 1976, according to the barrel-chested second rower, it was quite obvious what needed to happen if Canterbury were to go all the way – some good old-fashioned team bonding.
“The first training session there we trained pretty hard, and I had gone back to the pub, and no one was there. Well, we got them all together,” McCarthy explained.
“A lot of those guys at Canterbury sold insurance. They could only see their clients at night because they were at work during the day.
“I said ‘We’ve got to change all that. They’ve got to come to training and then they’ve got to come to the pub and mix and mingle. Then they can go to their job afterward’.
'If they finish at one or two o’clock in the morning, that’s bad luck. They’ve got to stay here’.
“The first training session we’ve gone back there, and I was about 34 or 35 then so I was pretty tired after training. I remember soaking myself up in the bath and I’d take longer than the other blokes. They’d just dive in and dive out.
“When I walked out to where the barbeque was, I could see the bloke pulling the stems out and packing up.
“Bullfrog had come up and said ‘Oh Macca, everyone’s had a good steak and a couple of beers’. He said they’re all good mates and that type of stuff.
McCarthy's Triple: Minor Semi vs St George, 1976
“And I said ‘No, hang on. I haven’t met anyone yet. I don’t know half of these kids. Go back to the pub and get some more kegs and get some more steaks.
‘We’re staying here until one o’clock’. That happened, and we always went to the pub then and we mixed and mingled.
“The Mortimer’s and the Hughes boys just loved throwing the footy around. The signs were good for Canterbury, they had the talent, they just needed to nurture them through.
“Then they started making all those Grand Finals. One thing led to another, and they started getting some better players and up came all the Premierships in the ‘80s.”
"Everyone Thought the World of Him”
They couldn’t have been more polar opposite in age, stature and positions, but another significant addition to the 1976 season was teenage halfback Steve Mortimer, who debuted in the first of a magnificent thirteen seasons at the Club.
And while a fifth-place finish may have been seen as a downgrade from previous seasons, Clift’s side now had more experience and enthusiasm to call upon.
1980 Grand Final Highlights: Bulldogs vs Roosters
McCarthy’s mob had upset the back-to-back Premiers in Eastern Suburbs 22-13 in the first week, before making another significant stamp by disposing of 1975 Grand Finalists St George, 25-9.
And while their magic run eventually ended at the hands of a championship Manly outfit by just three points, Mortimer, who also thrived on a flamboyant style of play, was a big beneficiary of the veteran’s arrival.
Being twelve years his junior, the legendary no.7 credited McCarthy as the perfect mentor for the youthful side.
“Well, the wonderful thing about Bob McCarthy is that he was a mentor, not just to myself, but to a lot of the forwards as well,” Mortimer explained on League Legends.
Everyone thought the world of him. I am very blessed to have played with the great Bob McCarthy, and for him to have a big effect on my style of play.
While McCarthy eventually would return for a swansong season at South Sydney, his influence at Belmore had already begun to bear fruit.
Two seasons after he called time on his career, his influence was realised as ‘The Entertainers’ kick-started an unprecedented era of success at the Club in the 1980s, headlined by the same youngsters he nurtured.
Mortimer was at the forefront of the Bulldogs’ four Premierships across the decade, notably as Captain in the back-to-back victories in 1984-85.
But in a prophetic, full-circle moment, his final career appearance in the 1988 Grand Final would be alongside Bob’s son, Darren.
