Fans stand under the scoreboard at Henson Park on March 28, 1982 after the Newtown and Canterbury draw 0-0.Credit: Julian Zakaras
March 28, 1982 was like “a bad Halloween day”. It was “haunted”. As storm clouds descended on Henson Park like a scene from a horror film, the Newtown Jets jogged onto the field to face the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs. Little did they know they were about to play in one of the most iconic rugby league matches of all time as, after 80 minutes of play, the score would read 0-0 when referee Barry Goldsworthy blew the final whistle.
To league fans, the match is part of the game’s lore, with memories told and retold by the Bluebags faithful as they sip beers on the Henson Park hill. To this day, it’s still the only 0-0 draw in professional rugby league.
But while it might be part of rugby league history, as far as the Newtown players – and the 6716 fans that braved that cold and miserable Sunday afternoon – are concerned, the Jets were robbed.
“We should have got a free kick from the referee at the end,” says long-serving Newtown director Terry Rowney, who remembers the match clearly.
“I remember it exactly, like a horror story. Kenny Wilson, who was my sales manager and the highest points scorer ever for Newtown, kicked none out five [penalty goal attempts] that day.
Phil Sigsworth and Kenny Wilson in the sheds following Newtown’s 0-0 draw with Canterbury.Credit: Fairfax Media
“I used to have a bit of a chuckle about it. Peter Cassilles, who I went to school with … whacked Kenny – with about eight minutes to go – around the choppers right in front of the posts. And no one could believe it. And the referee missed it.”
Time can often lead to an exaggerated story, but Rowney has the re-telling spot on – just ask Cassilles himself.
“That’s true,” Cassilles says. “The story goes we were on the 25-yard line – as it was then – and I ran up and threw probably what would have been the first punch that I had thrown at any time against anyone, and whacked Kenny Wilson.”
Newtown halfback Ken Wilson.Credit: Fairfax Media
Why? What had Wilson done to deserve the whack? “Nothing” concedes Cassilles.
“He [Wilson] was an interesting character because when he ran off the field after full-time, it didn’t matter what the weather was like, he always looked the same as when he ran on – he was neat and tidy, and he was the goal kicker.
“So I belted him, and then the referee called the linesman on from the eastern side and said, ‘No. 9 for Canterbury hit No. [7] for Newtown’. A fight ensued and, for whatever reason, he then ran off the field and the other linesman said, ‘No.[7] hit No. 9’. Fight ensues.
“Kenny Wilson, at this point in time, blew up and was carrying on – a little bit like I would have carried on if I had been accused of doing something … he [referee] then said, scrum it down … So that’s one of the reasons it ended up nil all.”
Former Bulldogs player Peter Cassilles at Henson Park.Credit: Wolter Peeters
By all accounts, the match was far from extraordinary. The harder both teams tried to find the try line, the further away it became.
John Lynch, a long-time Newtown fan who has been the Jets’ ground announcer since 1995, recalls the day well.
“Because of the conditions, it wasn’t a good game to watch, and that was sort of Henson Park in the old days,” Lynch says.
Rain is forecast on Saturday when the Jets face the Bulldogs there in the NSW Cup.
“Henson Park now, you could play Wimbledon on it now, it’s so beautiful and lush green. But the old days, grounds in those days weren’t up to scratch … it was always a ground that wasn’t too bad in the wet – it was just like slippery and sloppy conditions that day.”
Colin Murphy, Terry Rowney, Peter Cassilles and John Lynch at Henson Park for the anniversary of the 0-0 draw between Newtown and Canterbury.Credit: Wolter Peeters
The game and the conditions were so ordinary that former Canterbury player Graeme Hughes barely remembers it at all.
“I hardly remember anything in the game,” Hughes says. “People ask me about this game all the time, and I’ve got to be honest. I vaguely remember, I think, Kenny Wilson missing a goal. I thought we had a couple of chances that we bombed, but the particulars, I can’t recall anything in detail.”
Jets playmaker Phil Sigsworth remembers the day, and the match, because of another controversial call from Goldsworthy.
“It was a dark dingy day. The weather was terrible. It was like a bad H Halloween day … the game was just haunted,” Sigsworth recalls.
Phil and Ron Sigsworth at Henson Park.Credit: Alan Gilbert Purcell/Fairfax Media
With no precedent set for what happens when the score is 0-0 at full-time, Sigsworth says the teams were left scratching their heads.
“It was just, ‘What do we do now’? No-one has scored. Do we have to go back and kick goals? Or do we have to shootout like in soccer … Do we have to go back out again and play a game, so someone gets a point on the board’?
“But I was disallowed a try in the first half. I was caught in the left-hand corner of the southern end of the ground, and I was pulled back. It was a forward pass. In my eyes, it was a fantastic pass.”
If Sigsworth had scored, if Wilson had been awarded that penalty for the punch or had kicked any of the other penalty goal attempts he had that day, Newtown would have missed out on a piece of history that has now become synonymous with the club.
Even now, 43 years on, the game always comes up in conversation, says Lynch – “It’s embedded in your rugby league thinking”.
And to all the people – Lynch, Rowney, Sigsworth, and the thousands of Newtown fans – who still say the Jets should have won that day, Cassilles says: “They’re exactly right. But it being the only nil all game ever in first-grade league, I guess there’s a bit of history there.”
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