Visiting Dragons Legends’ Walk at Kogarah Oval

BY JAMES SMITH 

One of the truly fantastic corners of the rugby league world is the Dragons "Legends Walk" at Kogarah Oval in Carlton, Sydney.

Opened back in March 2004, it currently recognises the footy heroics of 18 of the greatest and most famous players to have ever adorned the Red V, be that in the St George era or since the club's joint venture with Illawarra.

This place is magic. Simple in design, the Walk stretches from the corner of Jubilee Ave and Park Street, right up to the main admin entrance of the famous old suburban ground.

I didn't go for this reason, but when your author last rocked up to the monument, Norm "Sticks" Provan had just departed the world and the roses had begun piling up on his particular part of the display.

"The Finisher" immortalised at Kogarah Oval. 

I've always been fascinated by the names of the great players who were wowing crowds in the decades before I arrived on planet Earth.

One player whose name I knew, but who I didn't really know anything about, was the winger Eddie Lumsden.

Like all of them, Mr Lumsden, nicknamed "The Finisher", sounds like he was a colourful character, but Larry Writer offers an interesting insight into the player's main on-field strengths. Off the field, by all reports, Eddie was an astute businessman. 

"On St George's right wing, Eddie Lumsden was like a cat on burning tiles," Larry wrote in his classic 1995 book "Never Before, Never Again".

The Dragons' Legends Walk, a beautiful corner of the rugby league world. 

"Though big, gangling and fast, he was an edgy player, hyperactive and tense, who seemed to take three steps to other players' one.

"His scampering running style made him a nightmare to tackle and he combined elusiveness with a good fend and a hip-pump," Mr Writer continued.

Thank you Mr Lumsden, thank you Mr Writer and thank you to whoever is responsible for the installation of the Dragons' Legends' Walk - a real rugby league treasure in suburban Sydney.

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