Video Clips - Mark Broadhurst drops Queenslander, Hull Kr vs Queensland 1983
To view just click the Link :- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62XSX_w8aQk

Stats -

A glaring omission from your "Memorable M! atches section is the 1981 Semi-Final between Newtown and Manly.

The longest and most vicious brawl in Sydney RL Finals history, it involved virtually every player on the field from both sides.

The main fight, though, was between Newtown's Steve Bowden and Mark Broadhurst.

It followed a week of taunting of Bowden by the media, mostly employing invented quotes from Broadhurst that, as a former NZ South Island Light Heavyweight champ, he was going to give it to Bowden in the first scrum.

Sure enough, the first scrum erupted as Bowden got in first. He broke both of Broadhurst's cheekbones and completely closed one of the Kiwi's eyes with a terrifying flurry of punches and headbutts.

I had the honour of reintroducing these two gentlemen at a dinner in honour of the 20th anniversary of their fight.

Broadhurst stressed that he had never made any of the inflammatory comments quoted in the pre-match press reports.

The upshot was that Bowden! was sent off and a courageous Broadhurst played on with his injuries.

Bowden was subsequently suspended and his loss was sorely felt by Newtown in the Grand Final, which they lost to Parramatta.

Regards,
David Benham

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The first time i ever went to the SCG was for a semi final between Manly and Newtown.

I can remember Steve Bowden from Newtown and Manly's Mark Broadhurst (a former Kiwi Test player)go toe to toe with Bowden getting the better of him with a vicious display of biffo .

I was in the Bradman stand (many years before a big screen)so my brother and i ran down to the kiosk area underneath where they had televisions set up to watch the replay of the stoush ,sensational!

I was about 12 at the time and was the happiest kid in sydney that day coz Manly got beat in the stink and the game..

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My favorite Moment is: Without doubt my favourite moment was when Steve "Head butt" Bowden landed 2 of the most ferocious head butts on Mark "2 black eyes" Broadhurst in the Jets/Sea Eagles final of 81.

I remember watching it on the late night replay with my dad who was totally distressed about Broadhursts facial injuries.

I however as a 10 year old kid thought it was great to see and the camera man at that match deserved 10 out of 10 for following the 2 front row forwards as they paired off and went toe to toe in there own space.

It looked even while the fists were flowing which wasnt surprising seeing Broadhurst was a amatuer boxing champ in NZ and Bowdens first love was boxing and trained alot with a punching bag in hes spare time.

But Bowden was notorious for using hes head in battle situations, being sent off in the previous 2 seasons and also sluggin one on Bob Cooper in a clash against Wests.

The precision timing of Bowdens head butt was perfect. He held nothing back giving Broadhurst the brunt of all the power in hes neck and back.

The result was shattering. The impact could almost be felt in the living room as Broadhursts head whipped back and every bit of sweat flew off the big Kiwis melon.

This precise moment would have been an awesome photograph for anyones sports bar or rumpus room.

Unfortunatly what followed even as a 10 year old didnt please me. When a mans down thats it and although impressed with Bowdens thuggery tactics of putting Broadhurst down, when Bowden continued to lay upper cuts on hes defeated target I became a little disenchanted with Bowden.

Fortunately Broadhursts team mates eventually came to hes rescue but not before Bowden had made a mess of hes other eye with the punching. At this stage Broadhurst was badly bruised under one eye and battered swollen under the other.

If hes face wasnt already a mess, when the dust had cleared the sheer aggression that had possessed Bowden encouraged him to waltz through the huddle of players who had all settled down by this stage and blatenly put Broadhurst down a second time with another head butt in which he delivered and a awesome right hook that collected him also as he was falling to the ground.

Its funny how things work as Bowden was struck in the back of the head by a Terry Randall boot that ended up putting the Manly hardman on crutches for 6 weeks.

Broadhurst amazed me and showed either he was just a complete lunatic or a man of amazing guts as he continued to play on with what must have been reasonable concusion and a face that was almost similar to the elephant man.

Bowden was naturally sent from the field and in the long run suffered the most as he had to sit on the sideline and watch hes team mates run around in the grand final.

He was suspended for 7 weeks which I thought was getting off lightly.

However the entertainment was absolutely splendid.

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12/05/04...... FROM DAVE DOWELL, NORTH CANTERBURY N.Z. Enquiry about the above mentioned game and other incidents......... CAN ANYONE HELP DAVE ???? Quigs @ Team Era

David Dowall
City/Suburb=Kaiapoi
State=Nth Canterbury, New Zealand
righttome@hotmail.com


Some 20 years or so ago a mate of mine returned from a trip to OZ with a video that he had copied from a cobber in Brisbane. It was originally taped from a TV programme I think, showing highlights of Biffo from the 70's and 80,s. Les Boyd featured alot in it as did Terry Lamb and Ray price ( usually on the receiving end )however it also featured what I consider to be the most furocious encounter of all time that being the one between Mark Broadhurst and Steve Bowden during the Winfield Cup preliminary final of 1981, Manly V Newtown. Sadly my mates missus taped over his copy ( the most cardinal of sins ) and his cobber in OZ lost his.My request is wether or not you are aware of such a tape/DVD or anything like it,or even how I could get my hands on a copy of the 1981 Winfield prliminary final,Manly V Newtown.Failing that could you reccomend or refer me to someone who might know? It would be much appreciated.

Kind regards.
Dave.

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The 1981 Semi Manly v Newtown brawl.... I can confirm that this brawl was in fact started by Broadhurst in the first scrum. Evidence of this is the second tackle of the match when Broadhurst takes the ball up and is tackled by Blyth. Broadhurst gets up swinging for no reason. The next opportunity Broadhusrt gets to turn it on is the first scrum and he is clearly seen swinging at Bowden. Newtown players have also confirmed this.

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Hull KR V Queensland - Early 80's - Queensland were more interested in having a fight than playing Rugby - Hooker (can't remember his name) for Queensland was hitting everyone until he ran into Mark Broadhurst (Ex Boxer - could tell by his very bent nose)in only his 2nd or 3rd game for Rovers. Broadhurst hit him with a left hook right in front of the referee - Dropped him like a stone - Broadhurst was a hero after that and Rovers won the game 6-4 (Mike Smith scoring the winning try)

(From Quigs - and here is the video proof.....
Mark Broadhurst drops Queenslander, Hull Kr vs Queensland 1983
To view just click the Link :- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62XSX_w8aQk

22/10/2006 Quigs here "I posted the yourtube link on the Sharkies Forum and received some great info"

Popper kicked the goal and answered the question "who was the No9" His Answer
It was a bloke named Shane Bernardin, Quigs. Played for Redcliffe in Qld, I believe.

The Knowledgeable Blacktip Reefy also contributed with this from the Hull website.

Thanks to http://www.hullkr.co.uk for this article.

For the best part of the decade British Rugby League had been tempting to to close the gap on the Australians, mostly without success. The season of 1987 saw Wigan crowned unofficial club champions when they beat Manly and earlier, Hull Kingston Rovers showed that the Aussies need not rule OK.

In October 1983, the Australian State champions Queensland arrived for a mini-tour. Coached by then Australian national coach, Artie Beetson, and captained by Wally Lewis, already being hailed as the finest player in the world.

Their tour began at Craven Park just as the full Australian tour had done 12 months before, and as on that occasion, it proved an acrimonious start.

They met a reshaped Hull KR side on October 16 and far from dazzling the crowd with their skills, they shocked them with their aggressive violence.

Unchecked by referee Robin Whitfield, Queensland laid into an unsuspecting Rovers side with a savagery nobody had expected.

Within half-an-hour they had claimed three victims. Prop Roy Holdstock and hooker David Watkinson were carried off and stand-off Steve Hartley was led away with a broken arm.

But for the prior arrangement of four substitutes a side, Rovers would have been in a hopeless position before half-time.

As it was, they seemed badly up against it. An early penalty by Lewis and a well-worked try by the same player on the one occasion Queensland showed flair rather than fire, gave the tourists a 6-0 lead after 13 minutes.

In reply, George Fairbairn slotted over two penalties, the first after 29 minutes for the collective fouls on Holdstock, the second just before half-time.

But just as significant as Fairbairn's two goals had been the influence of Rover's latest overseas capture, the New Zealand international prop Mark Broadhurst.

Broadhurst, a one-time boxer, adopted an un-changing approach to Rugby League. He always played the game hard and fair. It took a lot to make him lose his temper.

The Queensland hooker, Shane Bernardin, discovered how much in the 36th minute. Repeatedly niggling Broadhurst in the tackle without the referee stepping in, he finally blew the fuse at the end of the Kiwi's temper.

As the two squared up at the play-the-ball, Broadhurst unleashed a left hook of stunning power. Bernardin went up and dropped like a sack of potatoes.

It should have been an instant dismissal, but the crowd were on their feet cheering and applauding the first act of Rovers' retaliation. Mr Whitfield contented himself with the penalty award.

Queensland were never the same again. Deprived of their physical superiority by Broadhurst's punch they went to pieces in the second half.

Only three minutes after the break Rovers were ahead, Mike Smith gratefully accepting the chance when winger Mitch Brennan made a hash of his attempt to gather Gordon Smith's angled kick for the corner.

And that was that. Queensland had their chances, but Rovers' tackling was sure and solid and even the normally sharp Lewis was forced into tactical errors, scorning kickable penalties in favour of quick taps.

Little Wonder that when he remembered a goal would earn a draw, his nerve was so shattered that he missed a relatively simple penalty that would have given Queensland a draw.

It had taken a Kiwi forward in a Rover's shirt to show Britain the way. Stand up to the Aussie, don't be overawed by their physical approach, and they are beatable. Still Hull Kingston Rovers proved to be the only British club that could manage to defeat the Australian State champions on their mini-tour.

The team card for the game was (Thanks to Blacktip Reefy)

HULL KINGSTON ROVERS 8

Tries: Mike Smith
Goals: George Fairbairn 2
Team: George Fairbairn; Gary Clark, Mike Smith, John Dorahy, Gary Prohm; Steve Hartley, Gordon Smith; Roy Holdstock, David Watkinson, Mark Broadhurst, Phil Hogan, Chris Burton, David Hall Subs: - Kelly, Lazenby, Laws, ??

defeated QUEENSLAND MAROONS 6

Tries: Wally Lewis
Goals: Wally Lewis
Team: Colin Scott; Steve Stacey, Gene Miles, Brett French, Mitch Brennan; Wally Lewis ©, Mark Murray; Paul Kahn, Shane Bernardin, Brad Tessman, Bryan Niebling, Chris Phelan, Wally Fullerton-Smith Subs: - Jones, Patterson, Lindenburg, Kilroy
Coach: Arthur Beetson

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I was at that game and my old man was a trainer for the jets.

after the game Broadhurst was leaving the ground with his wife ,and my old man was having a look at him and his wife asked my dad if he got an eyefull ,and my old man said no but he did!!!

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I would like to put a few people straight who have contributed information about Mark Broadhurst.

As Mark's former wife I can verify that he is still indeed a butcher, but lives in Christchurch, not Wellington.

In the punchup with Steve Bowden against Newtown, he broke only one cheekbone, not two but he did look like elephant man at the end of it!

To Chooky Croucher, I don't remember giving your father cheek, but as I was pretty hotheaded back in the day, I am not at all surprised, and I was pretty distressed at the sight of him.

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