The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs have tonight celebrated their 80th Anniversary at a Gala Dinner held at Le Montage, Lilyfield with over 800 guests in attendance.
To celebrate the occasion, the Board of Directors have chosen to create a Hall of Fame, with five inaugural inductees being added this evening. A selection panel including Gary Lester, Barry Nelson OAM, Ian Heads OAM, David Middleton and Phil Gould came together to select the inductees and were provided with the following criteria:
- A Hall of Fame inductee player must have been selected in either the 50th, 70th or 80th team of the decade.
- They must be retired
- No more than five players can be inducted at one time
- Must be a player, administrators are not eligible.
- Must have played at least 100 first grade games for the Bulldogs
- And they must embody the spirit and values of the Bulldogs
The five inaugural players inducted into the Hall of Fame are:
- Eddie Burns: was a local junior who went on to play 221 games (1935-50) for the club before then coaching the first grade side for three seasons (1960-62). Burns was a mobile tough forward who had a reputation for his try scoring ability, mainly through his support play.
- Les Johns: played nine seasons (1963-71) in the blue and white as a fullback who also had the goal kicking duties. He was named as part of the Ring of Champions back in 2007 before then being named in the ‘100 Greatest Players’ in 2008.
- Dr George Peponis: moved to Australia as an 18 month old and became entrenched in the Canterbury area. Played 11 seasons (1972-82) and also captained the club for five years that included the 1980 Premiership. Is a member of the ‘Ring of Champions’
- Steve Mortimer: held the halfback position at the club for 13 seasons (1976-88) making 272 appearances. ‘Turvey’ captained the club to the 1984 and 1985 Premierships and was also part of the 1980 and 1988 victories. Also a member of the ‘Ring of Champions’ and the ‘100 Greatest Players’.
- Terry Lamb: was the five-eighth of the club for 13 seasons making 262 appearances, with 121 of those as captain. Was part of four Premiership winning sides and is still today the most talked about Bulldog of all time. ‘Baa’ is also a member of the ‘Ring of Champions’ and the ‘100 Greatest Players’.
