Former Dally M medal winner Robert ‘Rocky’ Laurie dies

Robert “Rocky” Laurie is being remembered as a legend of the mid-north coast after the 1980 Dally M medal winner died aged 66.

Laurie made his first grade debut in 1976, and went on to play 122 games for Eastern Suburbs and the South Sydney Rabbitohs until 1982.

The five-eighth won the coveted Dally M Medal, which is awarded to the top flight competition’s player of the year, while he was playing his final season for the Rabbitohs.

Laurie played 64 matches for South Sydney, which were wedged between two stints at the Roosters in a career spanning eight seasons.

He returned to his hometown of Wauchope, near Port Macquarie on the NSW Mid-North Coast, in 1983.

Laurie captained a Northern Division representative side to a famous victory over the touring Great Britain Lions in 1988.

The game became known as “Black Sunday” for the Lions, who were left stunned following the 36-12 defeat. The tale goes that after the game, coach Mal Reilly locked the Great Britain side in the dressing room and scolded them for 20 minutes before the media were allowed in.

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