NRL: Sydney duel recalls clubs' golden era

Former Parramatta forward Peter Wynn compared the matches to State of Origin battles. Bulldogs great Terry Lamb said both sides just tried to "beat the shit out of each other".

It was the 1980s and if it wasn't the Eels lifting the premiership trophy it seemed to be the boys from Belmore.

Between them, they won eight of the 10 titles on offer with only Manly (1987) and Canberra (1989) pinching premierships late on in the decade.

The golden eras for the two western Sydney clubs sparked one of the great rivalries and their loyal followers are set to flock to ANZ Stadium for tonight's NRL preliminary final.

The record crowd in Sydney for a league match outside of a grand final is 57,973 set back in 1963 and that is expected to be shattered at the Olympic Stadium.

Sure AFL fans might scoff at the hype behind a game promising more than 60,000 but Sydney punters are a fickle bunch.

Fuelled by the good vibes of recently being welcomed back into Parramatta's inner sanctum along with other former club greats, Ray Price was very upbeat about his old side.

He said he couldn't remember having been as excited to watch a game because of the flair the Eels have displayed in recent months.

"It is a good rivalry," he said at a 25-year reunion of the 1984 grand final at the SCG this week, the clash where the Dogs stopped the Eels from a fourth straight premiership.

"I was saying to [Bulldogs chief executive] Todd Greenberg how wouldn't it be great if the 80s came back.

"The 80s, they were the years."

Wynn said the Eels-Bulldogs matches always had an edge to them during that period.

"There was a lot of publicity, a lot of marketing and a lot of rivalry between the sides and the fans really got behind both teams," he said.

"You had two sides that were very well prepared and because of all the hype and because of that challenge you lifted a gear as well.

"Playing the Bulldogs was like playing a State of Origin match in a lot of ways because they were tough and so hard to beat."

But Bulldogs great Steve Mortimer said despite their ferocious on-field battles, there was never enormous animosity between the players off the park.

"It really was not a hatred, probably on the football field it was but off the field we would be the first, no matter what happened on the field, to have a beer," he said.

"You know what, we were out to there to kill each other for want of another way of saying we were out there to win."

But it was not only the on-field battles that spiced up the relationship between the clubs.

There was also the ill feeling from the Eels poaching the Bulldogs quartet of Jim Dymock, Jason Smith, Dean Pay and Jarrod McCracken during the Super League war in the mid-1990s.

Not that Bulldogs assistant coach Terry Lamb thought the players had that strong a sense of history.

He wondered whether they had a genuine feel for the rivalry of the 1980s, the period that included the 1984 and 1986 grand finals that were both decided by only two points.

"I don't think so, they are a different breed these days professional footballers. They might watch it on Fox when the odd game is on TV but I don't think they know the rivalry," he said.

"You have to understand Brett Kenny and Guru (Eric Grothe Snr), we are all good mates these days.

"We just went out to try and beat the shit out of each other."

League is a bit more scientific than that these days.

But not that much, and that is why tonight will make for compelling viewing.

PREMIER HIGHLIGHTS

1983: Parramatta were on track for their third consecutive premiership win when they met the Bulldogs in the major preliminary semifinal. Eels winger Eric Grothe scored one of the greatest tries ever seen at the Sydney Cricket Ground when he bumped off, steamrolled or out-paced five Canterbury defenders in one astonishing burst. Parramatta won 30-22.

1984: Canterbury ended the Eels' three-year domination of the premiership with a 6-4 grand final victory. Bulldogs hooker Mark Bugden scored his team's only try shortly after halftime when injured Parramatta lock Ray Price left a hole in the defensive line.

1986: After the Bulldogs had recorded back-to-back victories in 1984-85, the Eels regained the premiership crown with a 4-2 victory in the only tryless grand final in history. Parramatta veterans Mick Cronin and Ray Price celebrated their final match in the Blue and Gold in style.

1998: Bulldogs winger Daryl Halligan landed the greatest pressure kick of his career to send the grand final qualifier against the Eels into extra time. With only minutes of regulation time remaining, rookie centre Willie Talau crashed over in the north-western corner of the Sydney Football Stadium and Halligan potted the conversion to level the scores at 18-all. The Bulldogs went on to win 32-20 after having trailed 18-2 with 11 minutes of regulation time remaining.

2007: A record crowd for Bulldogs-Eels matches of 50,621 poured into Telstra Stadium at Homebush for a hugely anticipated semifinal but the Bulldogs' hopes nosedived early in the contest when boom forward Sonny Bill Williams fractured his right forearm after 16 minutes. The Eels took charge to lead 12-6 at halftime and cruised to a 25-6 victory.

- AAP