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VIDEO LINK
Tommys Tribute(links to www.centenaryofrugbyleague.com.au)

Now we all know that Tommy was a bit of a rogue on and off the paddock....

I had the pleasure of coaching a reserve grade side on the far south coast of NSW and the first grade captain coach at the time had played for some years with West.

Now this story cannot be substantiated but it is a good yarn all the same. The coach who shall remain nameless is a very likeable bloke, and very laidback and easy going. In his playing days with the Maggies the management of the club thought it would be best if this player was to join the NSW Police Force as it was a good job for League players. if you knew this particular bloke you would think it was the last job that he would be suited for....but....

Now "X" was stationed in the inner city of Sydney and as he told it to me, he was doing point duty one day (traffic directing) as some traffic lights were down. Unbeknown to him he had stopped a commodore that was being driven by a west player who had transferred from Illawarra. The car was actually a prize awarded to this player from his efforts in the mid week cup. Also in the car as a passenger was one T.R. and a couple of other west players.

Next moment there was an unprovoked assualt on the unsuspecting policeman doing traffic duty. He was crashed tackled in the heart of Sydney by a group of assailants, forcibly carried to a car and thrown in the boot, and the offenders then drove off from the scene with an extra passenger in the boot.

Concerned members of the community who witnessed the event immediately reported the matter to Police fearing the worst.

"X" sauntered into the Inner City Police Station some short time later unaware that a "Signal One" Policeman down had been issued and there was a major search underway for a policeman that had been seriously assaulted and abducted...

As I mentioned this story is unsubstantiated but the source was pretty reliable..... Quigs.

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Leaving the Leagues club late one night in pouring
rain Tommy Raudonikis saw a little kid stading near the car park with a hotdog stand.

He looked very wet and miserable, so Raudonikis said to him that he might as wll go home as there was little chance of him selling many more at that time of night and in that weather "

You're kidding," the kid said "John Donnelly hasnt come out yet, and he always has twelve!"

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TOM RAUDONIKIS MAKES WESTS TIGERS TEAM OF THE CENTURY
From West Tigers website - to visit click here


On the 20th April 1908 the first official game of Rugby League was played in the Sydney Premiership. The combatants were the Western Suburbs Magpies and the Balmain Tigers. Since that time, there have been a total of 15 Premierships won between the clubs and a host of State of Origin, Kangaroo and Premiership stars produced. A wealth of legendary moments played out by some of the true legends of the game. To celebrate the history and prestige associated with two of Australia's most famous Rugby League Teams, as well as embrace their recent unification into the Wests Tigers, it is time to celebrate the.

Wests Tigers TEAM OF THE CENTURY

A panel of judges spanning the different eras from both Clubs will select nominees according to strict criteria. The panel comprised Keith Barnes (Balmain), Kevin Humphreys (Balmain), John 'Chow' Hayes (Wests), Rick Wayde (Wests) and Ian Heads (Independent). A Western Suburbs and a Balmain Tigers team has been selected by the panel representing each club, before the unenviable task of selecting the best combined team took place.

Wests Tigers Team of the Century

Fullback: Keith Barnes (c)
Wingers: Peter Dimond, Alan Ridley
Centres: Charles Fraser, Harry Wells
Five-Eighth: Vic Hey
Halfback: Keith Holman
Lock: Wayne Pearce
Second Row: Paul Sironen, Arthur Beetson
Front Row: Steve Roach, Noel Kelly
Hooker: Ben Elias

Reserves: Kel O'Shea, Jim Craig, Tom Raudonikis, Harry Bath

Coach: Norm "Latchem" Robinson

The Western Suburbs Team of the Century was

Fullback: Frank McMillan
Wingers: Peter Dimond, Alan Ridley
Centres: Cliff Pearce, Harry Wells
Five-Eighth: Vic Hey
Halfback: Keith Holman
Lock: Les Boyd
Second Row: Arthur Clues, Kel O'Shea
Front Row: Jack Donnelly, Ed Courtney
Hooker: Noel Kelly

Reserves: Bill Carson, Neville Charlton, John Dorahy, Tom Raudonikis

Coach: Roy Masters.

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851 from LU Forum

Tommy and Mortimer........yarn

My favourite is from Tommys book,Mortimer had just replaced Tommy in the State team pre origin.

They were playing at Lang Park and Tommy was a reserve so they roomed Mortimer and Tommy together(not a good move).

When they got to the room there was a double bed and a single bed,Mortimer said as he threw his bag on the double bed "I am the starting halfback I'll take the big bed".

Tommy as cool as you like picked up Mortimers bag walked out on to the balcony and dropped it down to the carpark.He then said to Mortimer "when you get back mine is white with 2 sugars".

At the game NSW were expected to win easily as they always did but things didn't pan out that way.NSW were behind in the second half and Mortimer was choking,Tommy went on and replaced him.

He started a fight as soon as he hit the field,put QLD off their game scored a try and set one up in one of the best 20 minutes of his career.

Tommy proved you don't knock a champion,and you could never under estimate Tommy,"you champ."

FROM QUIGS - REPLY TO 851
Mate I remember the game and the blue. When Tommy ran on he had sparks coming out of his bum, he was as wild as. When the blue erupted there was an all in. Tommy spotted his counterpart Oliphant on the deck near the sideline getting treatment. Tommy ran about 15 metres pushed the trainer/ambo or what ever they were called in those days, out of the way and started into him. It was on again.

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I had a mate who played a lot with Dapto years ago and he told me the story about West and Dapto having a trial game.

He alleged that before the first scrum went down that Tommy seriously told the Dapto hooker that he was not to win any scrums.

When the first scrum packed Dapto won the scrum. I don't know if it was their feed or West.

The Canaries Hooker was pretty pleased with himself for winning and upsetting TR.

The next scrum Wests won and my mate relieably informed me that the scrum broke up and play continued. But and it was a big but.

Shortly after the scrum broke the Dapto hooker was unable to take any further part in the game. He was laid out prone on the Dapto Showground deck.

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Tommy Raudonikis (Past Brothers Brisbane)

After providing his services for 4 or so years with playing (1 year) and coaching Tommy was slowly getting a Brothers side together for a promising future.

However on the brink of establishing a strong side by buying corectly and bringing juniors through he was suddenly sacked for the 1985 season for Ross(The Rat)Strudwick from Valleys.

Even though Tommy was backstabbed by the committee he still drank regulary at the club even when he was involved in coaching with other clubs.

Supposidly he still loved the club. Bad Karma for the club though because it went bust three to four years latter.

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I have been a maggies supporter for my entire 34 years.

I love the club. My dad started to take me to maggies games from the age of 2. I started playing footy for Berala Bears when I was 4 years old in the under 7`s. I had one real hero and that was Tommy.

My dad used to go to the Dancers club at Lidcombe or to the pub there, he used to buy me a drink and leave me outside.

These days I drive to the Footy and I drag the old man along.

Tommy was just so inspirational to me as a kid. Even though I played hooker for 24 years I still yearned to be as tough as Tommy.

Little bloke huge heart.

My dad even bought a jersey from him when he used to own the sport store at Blacktown.

When he coached Wests I was able to get him to sign my then current jersey as well.

Whenever I hear him on the radio or see him on tv he just seems to epitomise what being a Magpie is all about.

Long live Tommy and the Magpies

ps..their current jersey sucks though go back to the original

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Souths vs Wests at Lidcombe Oval in 1976

I remember going to the match with several schoolmates. It was a Sunday, and the crowd was so big that we spilled onto the cycle track inside the fence before first grade started.

I remember it was just a hard match. Wests absolutely hammered Souths in the first half. The game never seemed to be more than 30 metres from Souths line but they hung in. Wests had John Donnelly, Les Boyd and Geoff Foster and with Tommy Radonikus and John Dorahy were a formidable side - just watching them! I remember Bernie Lowther took an intercept and ran the length of the field to score. Souths seemed doomed simply by the weight of defence they had to produce but they just always got someone to the next tackle. It was the game that George Piggins scored a memorable try in the 2nd half, driving through the middle of the ruck to score by the posts. I remember the atmosphere and noise was amazing. I have supported Balmain all my life but I simply remember this game as being one that was the most memorable I ever saw live.

Best Regards with the site

Dean Gibson

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One of my favourite all time Tommy R stories came from the Allan Langer book. Tommy was coaching Langer as a younster at the Ipswich Club in the Brisbane Competition, anyway Tommy was not happy with the amount of heart his team was playing with so before the next game he stopped in at the butcher and purchased the biggest, bloodiest ox heart he could find.

Later on in the changing sheds before kick-off as he was going through his pre-match motivation, he reached into his bag and pulled out this Ox heart dripping with blood.

He then screamed at his team that they were lacking ticker and that he wanted them all to take a bite out of the heart before taking the field! IIRC

I think Alfie suggested that they just pass the heart around and touch it instead in which Tommy agreed to.

I also enjoyed the 'cattle-dog' bit on the footy show.

Tommy was certainly one of a kind.

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I watched jim mills in a test v australia in the seventies at bradford .

Big jim picked tommy raudonikis up by the scruff of his neck & butted him. he then showed the ref the bite mark on his hand & got a penalty awarded to G.B. that shut the little aussie gob-shite up

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courtesy of Tony Adams great book The Hitmen - A tribute to League's tough guys.

"Touring with the"Roos was great, even though they put us in low-class hotels back then. One section of the pub we stayed in we called 'Surrey Hills'; you wouldn't go there after dark. Tim Pickup, Terry Randall, Tom Raudonikas and (journalist) Bill Mordey hung out there, and one night they had a water fight. Someone ended up bringing in a fire hose and the whole floor collapsed. The management nearly went crazy.

Bob McCarthy went up the fire escape one day just for a laugh and it disintergrated under his weight. he was lucky he didn't kill himself.

They were great days, but they went to bloody quick.

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Hi all in Australia, is it true that tommy Raudonikas said after the 1979 test series against great britain that he could not wait to play a good hard club match because the tests were just that soft ?, I would love to be able to see those tests because over here the BBC shown virtually none of the games, Sue.

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In 1981 I was 10 years old and already a dyed in the wool Manly fan after my favourites Dorahy Boyd & Brown switched from Wests a year earlier (hey! I was nine okay! And Dorahy was our local butcher) I remember thinking afterwards that if the match went another 10 minutes we would've got Newtown coz it ended up 20-15 and we were on our way back. Two weeks later I cheered Newtown on against Parra but it wasn't to be. Those guys in that Newtown team are the hardest of hard - Bowden, Jensen, Raudonikis, O'Grady and one that is almost forgotten - Mick Pitman. Last year I cheered Newtown on in Premier League against Parra all over again. No shame in losing to this mob back in 1981.

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Quigsy ~ 30 March 1980 - Round 1 - Henson Park. Newtown Jets versus Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs. Mate as games go this was brilliant. The Jets had signed 5 bulldogs the year before: Charlton, Noonan, Hage, Mick Ryan and I believe Mark Ogilvie. We had just signed Tommy from Wests and had O'Grady and Blyth in the pack along with Jensen and Mick Pittman. Well mate the jets had Noonan and Pittman sent back for early showers and were playing with 11 men for the better part of the match. But I can remember sitting at the 25 metre line on Newtowns side with my old man and a scrum went down. Tommy fed the ball, a bit of a brawl breaks out but who should be out flat cold on the other side of the scrum but Steve Mortimor. The crowd cheered and he was taken off not to be seen again for the rest of the match. Too bad we couldn't recover from being 2 blokes down and lost 38-17....oh and Mal Creevey, Mortimors replacement crossed for a try. Great, hard game.

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In 1963, the 1st test was a night game at Wembley and Gasnier was at his imperious best. He's still the greatest centre I've seen. He never looked as though he was moving, but nobody could get near him. He had class to burn. Then we had the 50 - 12 game at Swinton. The die was cast and I think it gave Australian players the self belief to upset history. Since then of course we've only won one test series (1970), but I believe it was won on the back of my favourite all time player Malcom Reilly; and Roger Millward. They were the difference on that Tour. Many of the series around that time were close and different players stood just above to make the difference. I believe that in 67 it was a John Raper / Ron Coote combination as the game breakers. The test when they won in the snow typified the Australian never-say-die spirit.

In 73 Artie was head and shoulders above the rest.

In 74 it was Ron Coote's famous tackle on Steve Nash that broke our resolve.

In 78 we would have won that series but for the half back combo of Tom R and Bobby Fulton. Fulton was the finest captain of a touring team that I've seen and he lead from the front. Most of the players were young and inexperienced and making their first Tours, but players like Rod Reddy and Craig Young came up trumps. It was also the best test debut I have seen in the decider at Headingley. Les Boyd tortured us for an hour and came off injured, but by then the game and the series were run.

Apart from 1990 when we was within a minute of squaring the series, but for Ricky Stuart's breakout and Big Mal Meninga; since then we've been an embarrassment since 1978. But then we don't have players of the calibre of Reilly, Huddart, McTigue, Millward, Ashton, Murphy, Mick Sullivan.

Personally, I deride the modern game. The scrums are a joke and the 10 metre rule has killed off the great ball playing backs like Murphy and Millward in the British game. Same in the forwards. In those days you had to have the skills to break defences, because they were stood on top of you. Artie was the best ball playing forward I've seen and McTigue wasn't far behind.

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Tom Raudonikis was a great player and as tough as they come. The person got it wrong regarding Tommy in the 2nd test in 78 at Bradford. Jim Mills nutted Rod Reddy and accused him of biting. I don't think Jim could reach down that far.

What I do remember is the blue that Tommy and Steve Nash had at a scrum in the same series. If my memory serves me they both got sent off.

The only time I can remember Roger Millward getting sent off was when playing against Australia; not a test match. Again, I think it was the same year. However, Roger was really pee'd off because he said Tommy laid in to him and he was just trying to get away from all the blows raining down on him.

Heard another good story about the 78 Tour, don't know if it's true. Apparently the Oz tourists had some wrestling matches as part of training, and that they sometimes got out of hand with a bit of claret showing. The two strongest in these comps were Tommy T and Bob Fulton; the two halfbacks.

What I'm certain of is that the Australians wouldn't have won that series without Fulton and Raudonikis. They were absolutely terrific and led from the front. The rest of the players were very inexperienced and had few caps between them.

Finally, I'm sure I saw in Rugby League Week that we used to get from Oz, that TR did indeed say he was looking forward to playing a hard game after the tests in '79.

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