Neville Elwin 1985

The Wheel

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Russell Gartner was part of a golden era of success for the Manly Sea Eagles during the 1970s when the club won 4 of its 6 premierships.



He had a strong family connection with
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rugby league as his father Jim and uncle Clive played for Canterbury in the 1950s. In later years his cousin Daniel would also play with distinction for the Mighty Sea Eagles.




The tall and lanky Gartner made his first grade debut in 1975 as winger/centre and immediately earned the nickname Frogs Eyes due to the way his eyes protruded when he was



Russell Gartner was part of a golden era of success for the Manly Sea Eagles during the 1970s when the club won 4 of its 6 premierships.



He had a strong family connection with rugby league as his father Jim and uncle Clive played for Canterbury in the 1950s. In later years his cousin Daniel would also play with distinction for the Mighty Sea Eagles.



The tall and lanky Gartner made his first grade debut in 1975 as winger/centre and immediately earned the nickname Frogs Eyes due to the way his eyes protruded when he was at full stride. Very simply he eyes stuck out like a green tree frogs eyes would look like when stunned by a spot light.



Gartner used his remarkable pace to his advantage and benefited by playing alongside great Manly players like Bob Fulton, Alan Thompson and Graeme Eadie.



He was Fultons centre partner in the 1976 Grand Final victory over Parramatta and after the departure of Futon to the Roosters in 1977 he became the clubs No 1 centre. This however did not affect Russell and he went on to represent Australia in the World Cup of that year and was the seasons leading try scorer with 17 tries.



In the World Cup final against a strong Great Britain side he scored a spectacular 65 metre solo try which was a catalyst to Australias eventual victory.



His fantastic form continued in 1978 and he played an integral part of the clubs memorable against the odds premiership triumph in that season.



Russell scored two tries in the Grand Final replay against the Sharks and he was narrowly pipped for man of the match honours by the great Manly fullback Graeme Eadie.



However his try in the preliminary final replay against Parramatta sticks out in my mind as one of the greatest tries scored by a Manly player that I can personally remember.



This particular game is now etched in history as the game referee Greg Hartley awarded us a controversial 7th tackle try. As an 12 year old boy I was sitting in the Bradman Stand at the SCG with my father consuming a classic game of finals footy.



The Eels scored early via Geoff Gerard and took a commanding lead just after half time. However this Manly side was made of stern stuff and they came storming home on the back of a classic Russell Gartner try to win the match and then go onto beat Western Suburbs in the final and then Cronulla to win the premiership.



The Sea Eagles won a scrum on their quarter line and in a flowing back line movement the ball was passed to Frog Eyes who sliced through the Parramatta defensive line. As he broke the line Russell stretched out and he came to a young Peter Sterling, who was making his first grade debut at fullback. With sheer pace he swerved around the young Eel tyro and sprinted 70 metres to score a great try which got Manly back into the match.



Over the years I have probably seen hundreds of Sea Eagle tries and I have probably forgotten individual aspects of most but this one scored by Gartner is still vivid in my memory, I can still see his every step almost 3 decades on.



After 105 games and 41 tries he left Manly for Eastern Suburbs at the end of 1981. Gartner transferred to Balmain in 1985 and as a winger rejuvenated his career and playing in their losing 1988 Grand Final side, he was a non playing reserve in the Tigers dramatic extra time loss to the Canberra Raiders the following year. After the game he retired bringing down the curtain on a career which spanned 226 first grade games and 16 seasons.



Russell Gartner remember the eyes.

 
One of my all time favorite players. Speed to burn which was only beaten by Larry Corowa at that time.
 
Team P W L PD Pts
2 2 0 36 4
2 2 0 26 4
2 2 0 23 4
2 2 0 19 4
2 2 0 12 4
2 1 1 13 2
2 1 1 10 2
2 1 1 3 2
2 1 1 0 2
2 1 1 0 2
2 1 1 -14 2
1 0 1 -20 2
1 0 1 -24 2
2 0 2 -8 0
2 0 2 -17 0
2 0 2 -22 0
2 0 2 -37 0
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