Playing Career
Vital Statistics
- Nickname(s)
- Wombat
- Born
- Wednesday, 25th November, 1953
- Current Age
- 70 years and 194 days
- Place Of Birth
- Woy Woy, New South Wales, Australia
Awards & Accolades
- Rothmans Medal
- 1974
- Clive Churchill Medal
- 1976, 1978
- Dally M Fullback Of The Year
- 1983
- Lance Todd Trophy
- 1987
- National Rugby League Hall Of Fame
- 2008
Biography
Coming to Manly as an 18-year-old from Woy Woy, Graham Eadie secured the top fullback spot following the retirement of Bob Batty in 1971 and became one of the most prolific point-scorers in the post-war game. Eadie won four premiership titles with the Sea Eagles (1972-73, 1976 and 1978) and became an institution in Australia’s Test and World Cup teams during the 1970s. A rampaging attacking player, one of his finest matches was in the 1978 grand final replay where he single-handedly destroyed Cronulla in scoring a try, setting up two others for Russel Gartner and kicking three goals and a field goal. Eadie's representative career started on the 1973 Kangaroo tour when he was called into the final two Tests against Great Britain following an injury to captain-coach Graeme Langlands. He went on to play 12 Tests in all, as well as the 1975 and 1977 World Cup competitions, but retired from Test football following a second Kangaroo tour (1978) and the three-Test whitewash of Great Britain in 1979. The winner of the Rothmans Medal as best and fairest player in 1974 Eadie was the season's leading point-scorer in three consecutive seasons. His 14 goals in the 70-7 thrashing of Penrith in 1973 remains an individual postwar record. In 1978 Eadie added a further sporting achievement to his resume when he represented Australia in a World Sporting Superstar competition in Jamaica. Eadie's final rep match was in the first State of Origin clash (1980) and he surprisingly announced his retirement after playing in successive grand final losses to P’matta (1982-83). He also holds the record for scoring the first four point try in Australia in the first game of the 1983 season. At the time he was the game's greatest point-scorer (bettered by Mick Cronin soon after) and remains the greatest point-scorer in Manly’s club history. The feeling that he still had a lot to offer the game was borne out in his remarkable comeback with English club Halifax in the mid 1980s. Under the coaching of fellow Australian Chris Anderson, Eadie scored a club record 16 tries at fullback and helped Halifax to victory in the 1986-87 Championship title and 1987 Challenge Cup. In the latter victory Eadie became the first Australian to win the Lance Todd Trophy as man-of-the-match. He then took over as coach of Halifax in 1988 but the move was short-lived, as was his time as lower grade coach of G’Coast(1991-92) and with South Queensland (1995-96). His son, Brook Eadie, won a premiership with the Crushers’ President’s Cup team in 1996.
- ALAN WHITICKER AND PAUL CARTER
Playing Career Statistics
All statistics shown in this section are based only on data available in the RLP database, and are not necessarily a complete and/or 100% accurate representation of a player's career. This information should be used as a guide only. If you see a question mark (?), it denotes that the figure is not available.
To view a list of corresponding matches, click on the List button.
Competitions | ||||||||||||||
Competition | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Preseason Cup | 39 | 8 | 95 | - | 214 | 26 | 13 | 0 | 66.67% | List | ||||
NSWRFL Premiership (NRL) | 237 | 71 | 847 | 3 | 1917 | 159 | 70 | 8 | 67.09% | List | ||||
NSWRFL Finals | 27 | 4 | 76 | 1 | 165 | 14 | 11 | 2 | 51.85% | List | ||||
Tour Matches | Australia | 24 | 8 | 32 | - | 88 | 18 | 6 | 0 | 75.00% | List | |||
Test Series | 12 | 2 | 5 | - | 3 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 66.67% | List | ||||
The Ashes | 9 | 1 | 5 | - | 26 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 77.78% | List | ||||
City vs Country Firsts | 6 | 9 | 11 | - | 49 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | ||||
Interstate Matches | 13 | 3 | 8 | - | 25 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 84.62% | List | ||||
Midweek Cup | 17 | 5 | 37 | - | 91 | 8 | 7 | 2 | 47.06% | List | ||||
World Cup | 8 | 5 | 7 | - | 29 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 87.50% | List | ||||
State of Origin | 1 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00% | List | ||||
English Championship | 51 | 19 | 13 | - | 102 | 28 | 22 | 1 | 54.90% | List | ||||
Yorkshire Cup | 4 | 1 | 4 | - | 12 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 50.00% | List | ||||
Tour Matches | Halifax Panthers | 1 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00% | List | |||
Regal Trophy | 5 | 3 | 5 | - | 22 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 60.00% | List | ||||
Challenge Cup | 11 | 5 | - | - | 20 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 81.82% | List | ||||
Premiership Trophy | 1 | 1 | - | - | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00% | List | ||||
Charity Shield - UK | 1 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00% | List | ||||
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Test Matches - By Team | ||||||||||||||
Team | Years | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | |||
Australia | 1973-75, 1977-79 | 22 | 7 | 17 | - | 55 | 17 | 5 | 0 | 77.27% | List | |||
World Cup Matches - By Team | ||||||||||||||
Team | Years | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | |||
Australia | 1973-1977 | 8 | 5 | 7 | - | 29 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 87.50% | List | |||
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Australia - By Team | ||||||||||||||
Team | Years | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | |||
NSW Firsts | 1972, 1974-80 | 14 | 4 | 10 | - | 32 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 78.57% | List | |||
NSW City Firsts | 1974, 1976-77, 1979-80, 1983 | 6 | 9 | 11 | - | 49 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | |||
NSW | 1980 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00% | List | |||
Overall | 1972-1983 | 21 | 13 | 21 | 0 | 81 | 17 | 2 | 2 | 80.95% | List | |||
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NSWRFL Premiership (NRL) - By Year | ||||||||||||||
Team | Season | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | |||
Manly | NSWRFL 1971 | 4 | - | 10 | - | 20 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 75.00% | List | |||
Manly | NSWRFL 1972 | 11 | 4 | 15 | - | 42 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | |||
Manly | NSWRFL 1973 | 18 | 4 | 69 | - | 150 | 15 | 2 | 1 | 83.33% | List | |||
Manly | NSWRFL 1974 | 21 | 10 | 93 | - | 216 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 66.67% | List | |||
Manly | NSWRFL 1975 | 25 | 14 | 100 | - | 242 | 16 | 9 | 0 | 64.00% | List | |||
Manly | NSWRFL 1976 | 22 | 9 | 103 | - | 233 | 16 | 6 | 0 | 72.73% | List | |||
Manly | NSWRFL 1977 | 18 | 4 | 67 | - | 146 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 61.11% | List | |||
Manly | NSWRFL 1978 | 22 | 6 | 52 | 2 | 124 | 14 | 6 | 2 | 63.64% | List | |||
Manly | NSWRFL 1979 | 20 | 6 | 68 | 1 | 155 | 11 | 8 | 1 | 55.00% | List | |||
Manly | NSWRFL 1980 | 20 | 2 | 80 | - | 166 | 9 | 9 | 2 | 45.00% | List | |||
Manly | NSWRFL 1981 | 14 | 2 | 40 | - | 86 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 64.29% | List | |||
Manly | NSWRFL 1982 | 15 | 3 | 51 | - | 111 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 53.33% | List | |||
Manly | NSWRFL 1983 | 27 | 7 | 99 | - | 226 | 22 | 5 | 0 | 81.48% | List | |||
NSWRFL Premiership (NRL) - By Team | ||||||||||||||
Team | Years | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | |||
Manly | 1971-83 | 237 | 71 | 847 | 3 | 1917 | 159 | 70 | 8 | 67.09% | List | |||
English Career - By Year | ||||||||||||||
Team | Season | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | |||
Halifax | 1986/87 | 35 | 20 | 4 | - | 88 | 23 | 11 | 1 | 65.71% | List | |||
Halifax | 1987/88 | 32 | 9 | 11 | - | 58 | 16 | 15 | 1 | 50.00% | List | |||
Halifax | 1988/89 | 5 | - | 7 | - | 14 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 60.00% | List | |||
English Career - By Team | ||||||||||||||
Team | Years | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | |||
Halifax | 1986-88 | 72 | 29 | 22 | - | 160 | 42 | 28 | 2 | 58.33% | List |
Contributions:
Greg Fiveash, Andrew Ferguson, Shawn Dollin, Rugby League Tables, Paul Carter, Alan Katzmann, Steven Russo, AJ Lucantonio, Max Turner, Bill Bates, Tim Costello
Sources:
Match Video, Irvin Saxton's Record Keepers' Club, Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook (1981-82 to 1999)
Your Say
23/08/2012
In 1979 Eadie got a 10 in Rugby League Week.He got a 10 after Manlys 19-14 win over Cronulla at Brookvale Oval on May 27.Also in 1983 Eadie scored the First ever 4 point try in the New South Wales Rugby League/Australian Rugby League/Super League/National Rugby League.He scored that try in Manlys 38-12 win over Cronulla at Brookvale Oval on Febuary 26.
06/10/2013
When I was about 14 years old, I was convinced I would marry Graham Eadie! He was my most favourite rugby league player and I brought rugby league week religiously hoping there would be an article or photo of him in it. I grew up in country NSW and my sister took me to Brookvale oval once to watch him play. I had plans of asking for his autograph and having my photo taken with him but as I saw him walking off the field at the end of the game, I just completely froze. As a teenager I was besotted with him, my voice was gone, and then he was gone, and so was my chance to meet him. That was some 35 years ago. I liked the way he carried himself, I liked how he always played fairly and professionally and with so much integrity, he was a classy player. What a shame I never got to meet him that day, but at least seeing him in real life was so much better than reading articles about him.
18/07/2014
I arrived in Australia in 1976. I grew up in the Canterbury area. Naturally I followed the Canterbury Bankstown bulldogs. Well until I watched a Manly game sometime in 1980. from that point on Graham became my favorite player. And yes I have followed Manly ever since.
19/10/2016
I would love to say thank you Graham for your most generous donation of your number 1 1977 jersey for my fundraiser on the 30th October 2016 .
it was so selfless of you .
Julie
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