Bob McCarthy

It is part of Australian rugby league's history that Bob McCarthy transformed the way second-rowers played the game. It is also true that it took the Australian selectors a while to realise the impact McCarthy's style of play would have on the code.

McCarthy scored an intercept 75m try for Souths in the second half of the 1967 grand final against Canterbury to help set up a dramatic 12–10 victory.

However, McCarthy's elation was dampened when the selectors bypassed him for the 1967 Kangaroo touring team.

Apparently, their belief at the time was forwards should not scout wide but instead stay in tight and battle it out around the rucks.

But with the introduction of the four tackle rule in 1967, McCarthy became one of the most devastating second-rowers the code has produced, scoring 100 tries in his 211 games with Souths, including four premierships, and another 21 tries in two seasons with Canterbury.

McCarthy's representative career began in 1969, when he was selected in the Australian team to tour New Zealand.

He played in the World Cup in 1970, successfully ending the criticism of his playing style with his magnificent tight second-row performance in a brutal final against Great Britain that Australia won 12–7, went on a second World Cup tour two years later, and was finally chosen for the Kangaroos in 1973.

He led his country to victory in the second Test, and made his final Test appearance in the following year.