John Sutton had to play 300 NRL games before he was honoured with a street mural.
The artwork was produced in the same year fellow South Sydney legend Greg Inglis, entering the twilight of his career, was enshrined on the side of a workshop on Cleveland Street.
The memorable embrace of Cronulla legends Paul Gallen and Andrew Ettingshausen after the Sharks won the 2016 premiership was rendered on a wall in the Shire, while an artwork dedicated to Benji Marshall, who was starting his second coming as a Wests Tigers player, appeared in Leichhardt in 2018.
Billy Slater’s last-ever home game for the Melbourne Storm was marked with a mural in Melbourne , while the wonderful artwork featuring Sydney Roosters legends Arthur Beetson, Brad Fittler, Anthony Minichiello, Boyd Cordner and Jake Friend that graces the side of a Waverley terrace was not completed until they had all finished their careers.
Then there was the tribute to womens’ league pioneer Maggie Moloney on the side of a home in Redfern earlier this year, more than a century after Moloney played in the first game of women’s rugby league.
Over Canterbury way, however, the success-starved Bulldogs have wasted no time immortalising two players who are yet to play a single minute of football for the club.
Portraits of Reed Mahoney and Viliame Kikau were unveiled this week on the side of Jobel’s Cafe, in downtown Belmore, alongside Tevita Pangai jnr, Matt Burton, Raymond Faitala-Mariner, Max King and Jacob Kiraz. Fan favourite Josh Addo-Carr remains on a separate wall.
Bulldogs supremo Phil Gould had a big say on who made the final cut after a mural completed two years earlier featured former coach Trent Barrett, the recently-retired Josh Jackson, Corey Allan and Nick Cotric, who have since departed the club, and Kyle Flanagan.
Jackson walked past aerosol artist Danny Mulyono as he was painting over his face last week. Mulyono said he had wanted to include Gould, only for the Bulldogs boss to persuade him otherwise.
The mural required more than 20 cans of spray paint and four ten-hour shifts to complete. Mulyono hails from Adelaide, but appreciates what the Bulldogs mean to the community – and what the arrival of Mahoney will do for the club.
Mahoney joked he was just grateful Mulyono painted him in headgear and saved him from exposing his cauliflower ears.
“I’ve only just started training, but it’s pretty cool to see your face up on the wall and [knowing] the impact I can have at this club,” Mahoney told the Herald.
“They have such a passionate fan base. The main street is decked out in Bulldogs colours. It’s so cool to see. We’ll look after each other, the Dogs are the family club, and that will help us win footy games.”
Mahoney cut short his summer vacation by a couple of days to start training with Canterbury this week. He praised coach Cameron Ciraldo for spending time in Fiji with Kikau as he buried his father, while Gould was the man to deliver the Dogs to the promised land.
“Gus and I sat down this week and had a chat about a few things, just about where we want to go,” Mahoney said.
“He gave me that same plan when I signed the contract last year. I have full faith in him and trust in him that he’s the right man to run the club. We’re all heading in the right direction.”
The building where the mural of Gallen and Ettingshausen sits is about to be demolished, with the Sharks in talks about how they can save the image and relocate it to their training base.
