John Callus would speed down the sideline at Langlands Park and score 68 tries for the Tigers.
Along the way he’d collect Queensland jumpers and play against Great Britain and France but always be in love with being a Tiger and a two-time premiership winner.
John Callus Q&A
You started at Wynnum in 1970 and won the 1972 third grade premiership against Norths. How did you go from Wynnum to Easts?
I was a Wynnum junior all the way through and played every grade for Wynnum. It got to the point where Wynnum bought in lots of imports to try and get out of the rut they were in and there were locals who moved on at the time. I just wasn’t getting a look in at Wynnum. I got married in September 1973 and my wife’s parents lived over towards Easts, so I went and had a meeting and the thing I remember about the Tigers was everything seemed so professional and organised compared to Wynnum in the 1970s. They told me that champion winger Jeff Denman was retiring and they thought I could fill the void and that was it, I went back to Wynnum and said I need to move.
Three grand finals in a row in 1976, 1977 and 1978 so it worked out to be a good move?
Easts was such a strong club and great admin. Ted Verrenkamp was a genius, great business and football mind and then you had Des Morris captain and coach. I got the best of both worlds. I got to play with the older players who had won in 1972 who were still there in 1974 and I got to be part of a great rebuild that then won in 1977 and 1978. John Lang, Des Morris Rod Morris, Alan Currie and Jeff Fyfe were Tiger greats.
You played for Queensland marking up on another Queenslander in Roosters Mark Harris and scored a try in your first game for Queensland in 1977- sadly two losses in the interstate games?
I scored a try marking up on Harris. He was massive. The biggest I ever played was 80kg. I got around him and we were having a beer and he said 'you got round me, that won’t ever happen again, you’re too fast for me'. Harris got two tries and they won 19-3. So he made up for it. Playing for Queensland was a great experience. Just their centres of Cronin and Rogers were daunting.
Who is your favourite Tiger?
So many to choose from but I would say Alan Currie, just a great player and we would swap around and if he was tired, he’d come out on the wing and I would go infield. We had a pretty good combination. The only thing with swapping around and moving if Des Morris went the blind and offloaded and you weren’t there you would cop it big time. Currie was a great defender. When I was at Wynnum, I played against him and I sledged him. He didn’t say anything to me, just proceeded to cut me in half for the rest of the game. We became great mates and when I was at Easts.
1977 grand final, a win over Redcliffe, your try was a long-range effort from deep in your own half, some great work from Lindenberg, Morris, Holben, Backer and inside to you.
I used to give them 15 minutes to get me the ball and if it wasn’t coming out, I had Des Morris’ permission to go looking for it. I used to come infield and run around, but I stayed out that time and called for it. I thought Lindy was going to run it but he let it go. One of the best centres I played outside was Steve Farquhar, he was terrific at getting you the ball. 1977 we were last in May - won three games and things weren’t looking too good. I remember we beat Wests 29-14 and they were the back-to-back premiers and played some great attacking football and that was a turning point.
Are you a jumper keeper?
I have my Queensland jumpers and my tracksuit, but not my Tigers jumpers.
You got to play with two mad men in John Payne and Nev Hornery - who was madder?
Payney was a different mad, he was a nice bloke sometimes. The Hornet was mad all the time.
