When the State League kicked off in 1982 the Easts Tigers mission was to travel from Emerald to Toowoomba with Lang Park chucked in there too and they would do it all with Jeff Ashe hooking and scheming in the scrums.
Ashe would be there at No.12 when the Tigers won the first State League final against Redcliffe.
Jeff Ashe Q&A
1981 Country versus Brisbane and you are hooker for Country – was that a highlight?
Playing for Country at Lang Park was a real highlight, Wally Lewis was named at No.6 in the Brisbane team and that was the first time anyone had moved him to No.6. Arthur Beetson was in charge and I think always saw him as a No.6. He’d be Queensland captain in a few weeks for the Origin after Arthur dropped out.
The Tigers and Ted Verrenkamp were always pretty good at thinking outside the box and scouting from other areas. 1982 the Tigers make the State League final against the Dolphins and win 23-15. What do you remember about the day?
I loved the State League, I went to the Tigers in 1981 and played finals against Wynnum. We lost 20-9, so that was pretty special, and the State League final was a real highlight in 1982. The last round of the State League we lost to Souths at Lang Park so didn’t take great form into the finals.
We beat Wests in the semi-final 13-6 and then Dolphins in the final. I remember Terry Webb got two tries and Steve Bleakley got a try. Dolphins were always tough.
I remember Errol Slingsby ran away to score and won us the game, I don’t think he’d scored a try since Under 9 and he was the nicest bloke in the world so I was happy he scored.
We went to Emerald and played Central Queensland, we went to Toowoomba and played Toowoomba and then you played the Brisbane sides too. It made you feel like a rock star going to all these places for football. It was all new to me so I was excited.
You’re a hooker who moves to the Tigers and gets coached by John Lang. That’s like walking into school and your music teacher is Paul McCartney.
I remember when I was talking to the Tigers about coming they said we are in talks with John Lang to coach and I thought: ‘Got me, I am in’. He was at the Roosters at the time. To be coached by John Lang, he was one of my favourite players, just universally liked by everyone.
Just a tremendous man and hooker. He doesn’t get the wraps he deserves for his career. If someone said to me they didn’t like John Lang I would be suspicious of their character straight away.
Just look at his year in 1980, apparently getting old; New South Wales hooker in the interstate game, Queensland hooker in the Origin, Roosters make the grand final, Dally M hooker of the year and toured New Zealand with the Kangaroos.
What’s one thing Lang taught you?
Langy would always say ‘don’t let anyone tell you to bulk up’… I think a few coaches had told him over the years he needed to get bigger but he said ‘you lose your zip’, so he’d always fought the good fight to stay the way he was.
You got to play against Arthur Beetson when he was at Redcliffe in 1981. Was it daunting playing him?
It wasn’t daunting but I remember vividly I would take the tap from the kick for touch and take the first hit up. I remember as a 70-kilogram hooker putting the ball on the ground against the Dolphins and looking up and seeing Arthur and Obst and thinking ‘oh no, what am I doing here’.
That’s no way to spend your Sunday afternoon.
Do you still have your Tigers winning State League final jumper?
Yep still got it. Fits too.