Billy Curtis - One of Hay Magpies greatest
Captain Coach Billy Curtis (left) and half-back Ian Springall with the 1972 Premiership Cup.
By Peter ‘Parra” Montgomery
A number of brothers have played with the Hay Magpies over its long history. Just some who come to mind are the Curtis brothers Billy, John and Richie; the Nisbets Neil-John, Wayne and Robbie; the Snowdons - Geoff and Bob (Red) ; the Hookhams Garry and Wayne; the Beissels - Kenny and Robbie; the Whiteheads - Dean and Garry; the Byrnes' - Danny and Jamie; the Carvers - Philip, Ray and Paul; the Schillers - Allen (Nugget) and Bernard; the Johnsons Colin, and Ron, the Kems - Colin and Chris; the Sheas - Glenroy and Rod, the Richards - John and Daryl; the Bairds - Adrian, Keith, Mark and Craig; the Woods - Rene and Jamie, the Heys - Harley, Ziggy and Noah but there are obviously many, many more.
One of the major dynasties that helped shape the Club into what it has become is the Curtis clan - Billy, John and Richie.
Billy and John played their major football with the Magpies, while Richie, who showed outstanding ability as a lower grade player, confirmed that promise by being graded with the North Sydney Bears in the NSWRL competition, playing a couple of seasons in the Bears reserve grade team. The influence Billy and John had on the Magpies Club and the game of Rugby League in this part of the Country, is one of the reasons the code, and the Club, has been able to flourish for such a long time.
The Curtis boys were ornaments to the game legends in their own lifetime. Both Billy and John were included in the Magpies Team of the Century, and both have been inducted into the Magpies Hall of Fame. They were responsible for development of some of the outstanding talent that wore the Black and White over the years and played big parts in moulding of future coaches.
This story is about Billy Curtis. Billy or Bunter as he is affectionately known had a great playing record after starting with the Magpies as a 19 year old in 1958. It was a time when Rugby League was played by hard men. Men who were physically hard men who did not have the skills of today's player. They were men who were as tough as teak, no sooking, just took what was dished out in the 'Era of the Biff’. The game was not policed as much then. There were no videos, and head high tackles were good old stiff arms. Billy said to get hit with a stiff arm tackle was like running into a pick handle.
"Nobody complained," Bill said. "It was part and parcel of how the game was played in those days.
"You gave as many as you copped, they toughened you up, made you concentrate on the game and keep your wits about yourself," he said with a laugh. Bill remembers coming into league when he first started work at the Lands Office in Hay.
"I worked with staunch league blokes in the office, and there was no way they would let me play Aussie Rules.
"In the end, I sort of bowed to peer pressure - it was around even in those days - and I decided to play for the Magpies.
"I was lucky I suppose, I found the transition from Rules to League fairly easily. "I could catch and kick the ball, and that was half of the battle," Bill said. Bill was an immediate hit and in the years of 59, 60 and 61 played a starring role in the Magpies three-peat of premiership wins.
"I was only about 20 then - the baby of the side. The rest of them were all old blokes, about 25 or 26," he laughed.
"We had a champion in Laurie Foley as coach. Great player, great leader, great bloke," Bill recalled. Back then there wasn't much depth in League ranks, but winning the premiership gave the Magpies a huge kick along in Hay.
"We carried on the work under Bill Poole, as well, winning the premiership under his leadership the next two years. Two of his team mates in the 1959 premiership team were Ken (Feet) Flanagan and Bob (Biffer) Lee, two great characters of the Club. Ken played first grade with Lee in the English competition and was Eastern Suburbs Rooster hooker in the 1966 season. Bob Lee went to Parramatta and played grade, including an appearance in the 1964 Parramatta team that played Newcastle in the State Cup Final in Newcastle.
Bill was transferred in the Lands Office to Tamworth, and signed up to play with Tamworth City, a strong Club in a League stronghold. It was at Tamworth that Bunter switched to the forwards starting in the second row and gradually moving up to prop. One of his opponents in the Group was John "Lurch" O'Neill, generally regarded as one of the toughest men EVER to play the game.
"In those days, " Bill recalled, "Lurch was reasonably young, and nowhere as tough as he was later on. Though he was still a very good player, he was more a non-stop player than just outright tough and overbearing".
O'Neill went on to spearhead South Sydney and Manly to premierships in the late sixties and early seventies and had a long career in the Australian Test teams. Bill played second division with Hornsby in Sydney (the equivalent of the NSW Cup being played now) and later with Goulburn in the strong Group 8 competition. At Goulburn he came under the guidance of Kiwi legend Ron Ackland who added the finishing touches to his already strong Rugby League experience.
Bill returned home to Hay in 1971, taking over the coaching duties after coach Vince Hey broke his leg. Bill took control of both teams.
"I had a lot to do, but I derived a lot of satisfaction from it," he recalled. "Coaching the Magpies to the first grade premiership in 1972, was the highlight of my career. It is a treasured memory, that's for sure.
"We had a Club full of kids a lot of them were just 18, and a couple just 16.
"I really enjoyed the atmosphere in the Club. Group 17 was probably at its peak. We had a strong Club, good administration and excellent selectors in Noel Corliss and George Andrews.
"We made a policy of no train, no play, and we stuck rigidly to it. Names meant nothing.
"It worked really well and we won three premierships that season - firsts, reserves and the unofficial third grade,” Bill recalled.
He had some great talent at his disposal and he helped mould them into outstanding players. Some already were champions in their own right like the mercurial Ian Springall, a half back who came to Hay straight from the NSW Schoolboys team where he had played in the halves with the mighty Russell Fairfax. Others were just raw talents, outstanding in their ability and just needing that extra coat of polish to top them off. They all respected Bill and wanted to succeed for the man who was a great leader, and a rock up front.
Nobody bullied Bill or his young teammates - he made sure of that.
The 1972 premiership team contained players who would make the future for Hay Rugby League. Michael Johnston, Ken Beissel and Mick Ireson all had stints at coaching the Magpies. Bill not only educated his players on how to play the game of Rugby League he set a great example for them on how to behave off the field. He derived much enjoyment out of the development of his work horses. Turning blokes like John 'Agget’ Ball and Peter 'Swill' Leonard into key players for his side was what Bill described as his greatest coaching triumph Both 'Agget' and 'Swill' were solid 80 minute players, tackling machines, who racked up great defensive numbers week in week out.
"My key players," Bill said.
Jack Gibson would have been proud.
Bill was a long term Secretary of the Magpies and Group 17. He was on the General Committee of Riverina Division and the Country Rugby League, and a Co-Manager of the Country team which played against Sydney in 1980. Rugby League and the Magpies are a big part of his life. He is one of Hay sport’s all time greats, and a winner of the Hay Bowling Club Sportsperson of the Year Award. T
Bill Curtis is a true champion of the Magpies Rugby League Club. He is retired from work and lives with wife Jan on the Central Coast at Erina Heights. They don't come much tougher - or better - than Bill 'Bunter' Curtis, great bloke, an innovator, motivator and inspiration who influenced the sporting direction of Hay Sport.
Originally published on August 17, 2022 as part of the Magpies reunion weekend feature.
