Tommy

Archie Mac | 9:14am GMT 10 December 2023

Published: 2022
Pages: 176
Author: Collis, Ian and Whiticker, Alan
Publisher: New Holland
Rating: 3 stars

It was 1976, Parramatta in their first New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) Grand Final appearance had lost to Manly by 13 to 10. Always loving an underdog, I announced to my father that I was now a Parramatta supporter. His reply was that I had a choice. I could either support Parramatta and leave home, or support his team. That spring day in 1976 I became a Western Suburbs Magpies (Wests) supporter.

I watched a couple of Wests early games in 1977, and the player I liked the most was the little No.7 with a shock of blond hair – Tommy Raudonikis. Tommy was a player who never took a backwards step. Whether it was bringing down a much bigger opponent with a tackle or a punch or scoring a try to lift his team, Tommy seemed omnipresent on the field.

I feel old knowing that 1977 will soon be 50 years ago, and I can’t imagine what my eleven year old self would have thought about that!  What that eleven year old boy would believe is that Tommy Raudonikis is still remembered. In fact thanks to Tommy by authors Ian Collis and Alan Whiticker his memory will be enshrined for many years to come.

Tommy is split into two parts. The first is a biography and the second a pictorial historical record. The biographical section is still profusely illustrated, and traces Tommy’s rise through the League ranks. Wests were perpetually broke and no one epitomised the ‘battlers’ spirit like Tommy; as he time and time again inspired his Magpies to victories over the richer clubs. 

Wests made the finals in 1977, but their real defining season as the ‘battlers’ made good, was in 1978 when new coach Roy Masters arrived. So broke were Wests that Masters, a school teacher, coached gratis. Masters was a master motivator for the time. His methods were to develop an ‘us versus them’ mentality based on violence. Wests were a scary opposition for any team and Tommy was involved in the majority of the confrontations. Wests finished minor premiers in 1978, but failed to make the grand final. This would be a close as Tommy came to leading his beloved Magpies to a grand final.

By 1980, Tommy, with the need to provide for a young family broke mine and countless other Wests’ supporters’ hearts by leaving the club for more money. At Newtown in 1981, Tommy finally played in a Grand Final, although his early second half try to put Newtown in front was not enough to stop Parramatta finally winning their first premiership.

After his playing days Tommy went into a successful coaching career. Apart from his coaching, Tommy became a media personality. He was the archetypical fair dinkum Aussie bloke and was much loved.

Tommy’s affable personality should not distract from either his playing or coaching proficiency. He played numerous times for both NSW and Australia, being both his state and country’s first choice half back for the best part of a decade.

The evocative pictures in Tommy, will bring back great memories for all those who recall the toughest era of League, the 1970s.