NRL 2022, retro round, perfect 10s, Rugby League Week honour roll features great names from Sterling to Florimo and Jason Taumalolo

Peter Sterling is one of the rare breed of players to have received two '10' ratings

Author: Martin Lenehan NRL Senior Journalist
Timestamp: Wed 20 Jul 2022, 04:39 PM

Almost 23 years to the day since North Sydney played their last premiership match, Greg Florimo remembers it like it was yesterday, and holds out hope that his beloved Bears may still have more tomorrows.

Having given 13 years of blood, sweat and tears to the Bears in a record 285 games, Florimo holds a special place in the folklore of the foundation club, including being the only North Sydney player to earn a perfect ‘10’ rating from Rugby League Week magazine.

As the game celebrates the deeds of its past champions in Retro Round, the man they call ‘Flo’ reflects with pride on the day he blitzed arch-rivals Manly at Bear Park in 1997, scoring tries and setting them up as Norths saluted 41-8.

From the time Rugby League Week was launched in 1970, the player ratings became one of the most read and most hotly debated features of the magazine – by fans and players alike.

Manly hardman Terry Randall had the honour of earning the first ever ’10’ after tackling himself to a standstill against St George in the opening round of the 1978 season.

A week later, legendary Balmain flyer Larry Corowa got in on the action with a ‘10’ for his sizzling four-try haul in a 39-5 win over Newtown at Henson Park, while across town at Lidcombe Oval, Magpie Geoff Foster was also earning a ‘10’ in a big win over the Dragons.

Bears legends Greg Florimo and Billy Moore celebrate a win at the SFS.

Rounding out a massive season for ripping performances, Eels halfback Graham Murray came up with the fourth RLW ‘10’ of 1978 when he piled more pain on St George with a dominant display in round 18 at Cumberland Oval.

Another seven players including Peter Sterling, Brad Clyde and Brad Fittler would earn a ‘10’ in the ensuing 19 years before Florimo had his day in the sun at the Bears’ spiritual home on June 29, 1997.

With an adoring crowd of 14,615 screaming themselves hoarse, Florimo ensured the Bears would avenge a 12-8 loss at Brookvale in round three with a powerhouse display.

“I made plenty of metres and had a pretty good game but I reckon I had a knock on in there somewhere so I’m not sure how I got a 10,” Florimo says modestly.

“I think someone tried to translate that game into fantasy points many years later and it came up pretty big.

“I loved playing at Bear Park, being able to put the red and black on and get out in the middle and entertain the fans, it is an awesome place.”

So pumped was Florimo at full-time that he motioned for the Bears faithful to join the players on the field to celebrate.

96. Bradley Clyde - Hall of Fame

Long after the final siren had signalled the Bears’ sixth home win of the season, the likes of Billy Moore, Gary Larson, Brett Dallas and David Fairleigh signed autographs and shared the moment with their passionate fans.

The Bears would go on to finish fourth in the ARL competition that season before bowing out in a heartbreaking preliminary final loss to eventual premiers Newcastle.

For the fourth time in the 90s a star-studded North Sydney side had fallen one game short of the decider, leaving Florimo to ponder what might have been.

“We got to the prelim in 1991, ’94, ’96 and ’97 and they all sit heavy in my heart,” Florimo said.

Larry Corowa was a cult hero among Balmain fans in the late 70s and early 80s

“The fact that we couldn’t convert such a great team into another premiership for the club still hurts and I still haven’t watched any of those games.”

History shows that the Bears would go on to finish fifth in the reunited NRL competition in 1998 and 14th in 1999 before being forced into a marriage with Manly which lasted just three years before being dissolved.

A groundswell of support remains for the Bears to one return to the NRL, but even if that dream is realised, Greg Florimo’s place in history as the only Bear to get a perfect ‘10’ from Rugby League Week, which ceased publication in 2017.

How good is... Greg Inglis

So, too, Foster and Corowa, whose clubs merged in 2000 to form Wests Tigers, meaning they would stand alone as the only player from Wests and Balmain to achieve the rare feat of a ‘10’.

Three-time premiership winner Bradley Clyde goes down as the only Raider to score a ‘10’ despite the fact he played in a champion Green Machine boasting legends like Mal Meninga, Laurie Daley and Ricky Stuart.

The Eels hold the record for the most perfect scores in the RLW ratings with five, starting with crafty playmaker Murray in ’78 and followed up by Peter Sterling twice and Jarryd Hayne twice.

Cowboys enforcer Jason Taumalolo can lay claim to being the only current player to have rated a ‘10’ for his herculean performance against the Broncos in an epic semi-final in Townsville in 2016.

Taumalolo clocked up 264 metres from 23 runs, had 11 tackle breaks and made 28 tackles as the Cowboys saluted 26-20 in extra-time to progress to a preliminary final against Cronulla, whose skipper Paul Gallen holds bragging rights as one of only three men to get two ‘10s’ during their career.