Canterbury legend Geoff Robinson, who died on Wednesday after a long battle with cancer, was a fierce competitor – and will always be remembered for one ‘moment of madness’ on the field.
Parramatta – the Bulldogs’ arch enemies in Robinson’s heyday in the 1980s – had a renowned move known as ‘The Wall’ where, from a tap kick, four players would line up side by side, backs to the defence, to hide the ball and confuse the defence.
But ‘Robbo’ decided he would have none of it, and in a famous incident at the SCG – charged headlong into the wall – sending players skittling like nine pins.
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“It’s a move I’d seen many times but what I did was just a spur of the moment thing,” Robinson told this reporter many years later.
“I thought ‘I can’t see the ball so I’ll bowl them all over’.
“It was a stupid thing, head down, arse up, but it worked.
“I cleaned up a couple of the forwards and also gave Peter Sterling, who was working the move behind the wall, a shock as I charged through.
“Most players just stood back, watched the wall and waited for the ball to become visible. My approach obviously stunned them.
“But it worked as they dropped the ball.
“I did it a couple of times and I don’t think they used the move nearly as much after that.”
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Robinson’s tactic was typical of his ‘bull at a gate’ approach that made him a crowd favourite for 11 seasons at Belmore.
The Canterbury pack was the most feared in the league in the ’80s – and no one embodied that fear more than the bearded, tearaway prop.
Robinson, who was 66, battled throat cancer for years but is believed to have died of a heart attack.