To this point we have covered off Fullbacks, Wingers, Centres, Five Eighths and Halfbacks. Now we get to a position that might just draw the greatest debate.
The position is one for the purists, for the discerning fans who value those players in the engine room. The players who don’t always get the plaudits they deserve but without them, the flashier players couldn’t do what they do.
That’s right, it’s time for a discussion about Parramatta’s greatest ever prop forwards. The big boppers, the bookends, the pigs, the grunts.
I’ve had it pretty easy up until this point with a lot of the players picking themselves. This list was far harder, and the quality of Parramatta’s front row talent over the years is best defined by the players who narrowly missed the cut.
There’s a case to be made for Denis Fitzgerald, who although primarily known as an administrator for the club, was also a representative prop, playing five games for both NSW and Australia.
Geoff Bugden, Michael Vella, Paul Mares, Stan Jurd & Tim Mannah all also narrowly missed the list. Ron Hilditch was considered as a hooker.
Then there’s the great Arthur Beetson who captained Queensland in the first State of Origin game while at Parramatta, but by that stage of his career his best years were behind him.
All of these players deserve some sort of mention however these lists are all about the tough choices, so it’s time to step up and narrow down my selections to the players mentioned below.
Honourable Mentions
Regan Campbell-Gillard
A few eyebrows were raised when Parramatta signed big ‘Reg’ from Penrith following the 2019 season. Although Campbell-Gillard had been one of the best young props in the game in his early career at Penrith, a badly broken jaw had stunted his development, and he was joining Parramatta on the back of a poor 2019 campaign.
After joining the Eels, RCG kept the sceptics quiet with five strong seasons, forming one half of a formidable front row partnership with Junior Paulo. This partnership formed a crucial component of the Brad Arthur game plan, with the two big boys time and again forming a strong platform for the rest of the team to play off the back of.
Arguably his finest moment in the blue and gold came in the 2022 Preliminary final against the Cowboys where he put the team on his back with a two try effort to take the Eels to the big dance.
RCG played 2 of his 3 State of Origin games while at the club and wound up being Mal Meninga’s most trusted prop forward by the end of the 2021 World Cup, eventually being on the winning side in the final against his old friend Junior Paulo.
Regan left the club on a high after being awarded the 2024 Ken Thornett Medal for club best and fairest. On behalf of the rest of the Blue and Gold Army, we wish him all the best for the remainder of his career.
Graham Olling
Graham ‘Shovels’ Olling came through the junior ranks at Parramatta before being given an opportunity by Easts to play first grade in 1972.
After three uneventful seasons on Bondi, he returned home to play for Parramatta in 1975. He would go on to play the best football of his career after returning home.
Known as a hard man of the game, one of the toughest players to ever pull on the jersey, Olling was a NSW and Australian representative while at the club.
On a side note, he was also remembered for becoming the first rugby league player to admit to taking steroids during a period when it was not against the rules of the game.
Dean Pay
Dean Pay was one of the famous ‘Canterbury four’, who joined Parramatta in the 1996 season after deciding to stay loyal to the ARL over Super League (which the Bulldogs affiliated themselves with).
Although Pay will perhaps be better remembered as a Canterbury legend (he played around 60% of his games for them and went on to coach the club), he was nonetheless a star player for Parramatta across four seasons.
A tremendous on field leader and bone rattling defender, Pay represented both NSW and Australia while playing for the Eels. He was appointed Parramatta captain for his last three years at the club and his last two years in the game were characterised by near misses, with Parramatta surrendering leads in heartbreaking fashion in the 1998 and 99 preliminary finals.
FuiFui Moimoi
In my time supporting the club, it’s hard to think of a player who more aptly fits the term ‘cult hero’ than FuiFui Moimoi. Perhaps the only one that gets close would be Mark ‘Toooooks’ Tookey. With no disrespect to Tooks though (who ended up carving out a solid career across a few different clubs), it would be doing Fui a disservice to simply label him a cult hero.
For over a decade, he represented Parramatta with distinction. A powerful and fearless ball runner, with quads that had to be seen to be believed, defensive lines would have nightmares about the thought of Fui hurtling into them with his eyes bulging and hair flowing.
Fui represented Tonga 9 times and NZ 12 times during his time at Parramatta. Although he was a great player over many years, he was best remembered by many for scoring one of the all-time great grand final tries in a losing effort to Melbourne in 2009.
Incredibly, Moimoi was still playing professional rugby league only few years ago, eventually playing his last professional game a day before his 43rd birthday when he turned out for Rochdale Hornets in the 3rd tier of English Rugby League.
Third Place: Junior Paulo
Years at Parramatta: 2013-16, 2019 – Current
1st Grade games for Parramatta at the position: 184
Premierships: 0
Representative Games: 11 x NSW Origin, 17 tests for Samoa
Personal Honours: 2020 Jack Gibson Coaches Award, 2021 RLWC Team of The Tournament
In 2013, a hulking front rower by the name of Junior Paulo made his debut for the Eels.
In his initial years, his size saw him best used in short bursts. By 2016 though, Junior’s game had evolved, and he was rapidly becoming a complete front rower.
Parramatta recruited heavily for 2016 (too heavily as it turns out) and in round 9 of that year, there was one golden week where it appeared as though all of the pieces had fallen into place. That week a rampant Parramatta put Canberra (a team that would go on to the preliminary final) to the sword in a 36-6 hammering.
Unfortunately, a salary cap breach was discovered, and the fallout was significant.
After being squeezed out as a consequence, there was a time where we thought Junior may have been lost to the club for good.
Thankfully his heart lay in Parramatta, and he was able to return in 2019, a far more mature and improved player.
I’ve already spoken about the importance of Reg and Junior to the Eels finals runs between 2019 and 2022, so I won’t go into further depth on it.
But they were/are different styles of props.
Unlike Reg, Junior is one of the best off-loaders in the game, using his massive frame to bulldoze into the defensive line before hitting and spinning to provide second phase ball for the backs to play off.
Junior’s added maturity in his second spell with the club was demonstrated by being made both club captain as well as captain of his national team, Samoa.
In 2022, he was able to lead Parramatta to a losing grand final and then followed it by leading Samoa to a runner up position at the World Cup.
Junior was one of the world’s best props for a period of time in the early 2020’s, which was demonstrated by being one of the first players picked for NSW Origin during this period.
Recent photos of a ‘skinny’ Junior have been circulating in the media. Clearly, he has bought into Jason Ryles’s mobility first philosophy and it’s beyond exciting to see what he can achieve in 2025 and beyond.
Second Place: Bob O’Reilly
Years at Parramatta: 1967-1975, 1980-1982
1st Grade games for Parramatta at the position: 217
Premierships: 1 (1981)
Representative Games: NSW x 9, City x 4, Australia x 16
Personal Honours: 1981 Clive Churchill Medal (retrospective), 1981 Eels Life Membership, 2002 Eels Legend, 2002 Eels Hall of Fame
This was a tricky one as the criteria for this list is the last 50 years. Based on ‘Bear’ O’Reilly’s full body of work there’s a very strong case that he should sit at the top of this list as Parramatta’s greatest ever front row forward.
However, based on his time at the club after 1975, and despite the Bear being part of the Eels first premiership team, he might not be on this list.
All of O’Reilly’s representative games came before 1975, including 16 test matches for Australia!
Ultimately, I’ve decided to put a foot in each camp, and I’ve selected him at number two on this list.
In his first stint at the club, Bob O’Reilly was arguably the pre-eminent prop forward in the game. He entered as a youngster playing in a pack of tough, representative forwards. All too soon he was holding the fort as the star rep player in a fairly ordinary Parramatta team.
Bob holds the distinction of being the first Parramatta junior to be picked to play a test match for Australia and was a key member of the successful 1970 World Cup side.
After leaving the Eels at the end of 1975, he spent a couple of seasons at Penrith and then Easts, The Bear returned to Parra for the 1980 season.
Although a chronic knee injury had made him a diminished presence on the field, he was valued greatly by Jack Gibson as a locker room leader, and his talismanic presence played an integral role in Parramatta’s maiden premiership season in 1981, a fitting way to cap a superb career.
Sadly, after starting the 1982 season, he eventually succumbed to the knee injury and retired midway through the season, missing out on a second title win.
Bob O’Reilly’s durability was an anomaly for front row forwards for the era, and at one stage he held the record for most first grade games played before being overtaken by Geoff Gerard.
First Place: Nathan Cayless
Years at Parramatta: 1997-2010
1st Grade games for Parramatta at the position: 206 (259 in total)
Premierships: 0 (Runner up in 2001, 09)
Representative Games: 39 tests for New Zealand
Personal Honours: 2005 Ken Thornett Medal winner, Jack Gibson Coaches Award (1998, 2006), 2014 Eels Hall of Fame
It’s a measure of Nathan Cayless as a person and as a leader that he was given the Parramatta captaincy in his early 20’s while playing one of the most physically demanding positions on the field.
A Parramatta junior, he made his debut by age 19 and was captaining the side by 22.
Cayless was part of an exciting new batch of talent that came into the club in the late 90s and early 2000’s, along with his brother Jason, the Hindmarsh brothers, Michael Vella and Luke Burt to name a few.
During his time at the club, Parramatta made seven preliminary finals, twice going on to lose Grand Finals in 2001 and 2009. Cayless was a major contributor to that, with his rugged and durable game ensuring that Parramatta almost never lost the forward battle while he was in the team.
Cayless was a tireless performer in the middle. He had a sneaky sidestep and was a powerful and prolific tackler.
Outside of being an incredible player for Parramatta, he was also a superb performer at international level, playing 39 times for the Kiwis with the crowning achievement being his captaincy of the 2008 World Cup winning team.
His place at number one on this list is a testament to both his ability as well as his longevity with the team.
In this day and age, it’s rare to find players who were juniors at a club before going on to a decade long career at that same club.
Nathan Cayless is a Parramatta Eels legend and I’m comfortable with my choice to pick him as Parra’s greatest prop of the last 50 years.
Chris Ricketts
Very much a matter of opinion. We have had a number of high impact props,others who were high work rate, lower impact. Our highest impact prpp was Fui Moi Moi. I would imagine that, of all our players ever, Fui was the likeliest to cause opponents real fear. Peaking probably in 2022, Junior has had probably our greatest mix of skills and impact.
Beyond question we’ve had a very high number of quality props.
This must have been tough for Chris to narrow down Noel
For me fui fui .. the bear and Campbell Gillard
Nice work Chris, tough list for sure. There’s a split hair between most of them.
One of my favourite league stories is when Fui was playing for Souths. He left training after 5 minutes and when the coach asked him where he was going Fui said “if I play for 5 minutes then I’ll train for 5 minutes” he was also famous for telling the media he couldn’t speak English when he could.
Cayless with his consistency and longevity is my pick too.
The Bear, what a legend, he had a motor that’s for sure. Gibson dusted him off, rehydrated him after he retired and he went again and won a comp.
If it was possible, I’d have Junior and RGC equal third. They were as good as each other and neither could have been as effective without each other during our “win the collision era”
Dean Pay had the fabulous ball-playing skill of putting a runner through a hole. His short pass was timed to perfection and thanks to it players on his shoulder made a lot of metres in open space. Tough guy, too.
So many great props. Thanks for the memories, Chris. The man they called “The Bear” was pretty mobile for such a hulk. Fui Fui was fabulous on the charge 10 metres from the line. Cayless was an all-round champion player.
They were all props but all so very different.
Thanks for the article. It’s always hard to come up with a list when everyone has their favourites.
When my son was young he loved Fui, his absolute favourite player.
Interesting you are including Ron Hilditch as a hooker. I’d like to see the breakdown of his first grade games for us between hooker and prop – probably more at hooker I would guess. However, I’ve always thought his best days for us were at prop with Steve Edge at hooker. Hilditch wasn’t a great hooker back when you had to hook in scrums. He lost a lot of scrums where we had the feed and loose head. His dummy half play was good though.
Funnily enough, when family and friends discussions in our house turn to great Eels players Cayless rarely gets mentioned. And yet he was a bloody good player. Subjectivity makes these list such great discussion starters.
I’d probably have put The Bear on top, but get your point about his two distinctions periods with us.
While not in the top echelon I always liked John Baker when I was a kid, and he was at the back end of his career, playing a lot of reserve grade when I started watching. But he was an old school, tough as nails sort of player that I admired.
Baker was a tough bugger came from the magpies. Not overly big just a hard nut. I think pricey loved playing with him
Too true. I remember a reserve grade game at Cumberland. Baker had the ball about ten metres out, gave the young fullback a don’t argue pushing him to the ground, then trampled over him on the way to scoring a try. Classic old school footy
Classic
Great anecdote.
I remember reading a piece in Rugby League Week many years ago when Terry Fearnley brought “Bake” across from Western Suburbs . He said “all I wanted was a chance to play first grade and a bit of respect….and I got both at Parramatta”. Love the old school values! He was a very fit guy and went on to coach in the bush after he retired.
Pretty sure Ray Higgs liked playing with Baker also. I can remember one week when coach Fearnley was unavailable so Higgs and Baker coached the team that week. Come game time, when the team ran out of the tunnel, Higgs and Baker ran out first, both side by side and talking with animated arms. We won the game. Both very tough men. Higgs leaving to Manly was heartbraking. After he left Parra, pretty sure Baker continued to play A Grade up the coast way into his 40’s.
I loved higgsy
Yep, I’m with Tragic….Higgs going to Manly was the final insult of the losing 77 grand final to St George…..Price being bashed and Higgs wanting to retaliate and being told NO by Fearnley….. it was the end of what was our real first Golden Period, luckily we didn’t have to wait long for the next one.
This discussion re our best prop in the last 50 years is tricky….Being an old bastard I have to go with the Bear……
I know that will make my friend Parra Tragic happy as well!
Head to head, each at his peak, I Suspect that Junior Paulo would have outpointed Bob O’Reilly; both outstanding forces. Fui would be the wild card; Bugden would round out my rotation.
I know we’re only going back fifty years; go about further into the fifties and there was a very, very tough old war horse called Roy Fisher helping win the scrums, protecting the hooker and giving as gooo as he got under the three yard rule.
And I agree with you in regards to hilditch another tough nut who stood out more as prop. And pretty sure he represented as a prop not hooker
He played more games att hooker but became a rep player as prop.
Thanks mate wasn’t sure about the figures
Namrebo, Hilditch gad 90 games at hooker, 65 at prop, one off the bench
Cheers Sixties, thanks for the stats, appreciated. Would have thought he played a few more games for us than that. I had the Scanlans footy card with Hilditch throwing a pass from dummy half.
Still reckon he was a far better prop. Also reckon he played better with that big moustache than clean shaven. A precursor to RCG 😂
We lost our first grand final on scrum penalties because we couldn’t win the ball from scrums. Eventually we moved Ron Hilditch from hooker to prop and recruited Steven Edge from Saints to win us the ball
This is a difficult topic best props!
To me and its only my opinion. Geoff Bugden, Michael Vella, Fui Fui, Paul Mares, Stan Jurd & Ron Hilditch are all better than Cayless. No disrespect intended but just my opinion. Whilst, Cayless was a good consistent player over years. You always knew what you would get. He was good but never really feared by opponents. I believe we really lacked that hard edge during his time. If you look at say JWH, probably could have played 400 games if not sent off so much. Whist JWH was pretty much a grub. But If Cayless was just a little bit more like JWH he could have been great. My view only.
Hard job to pick the props. But if you want to pick players that would die on the field for the Eels.
Ron Hilditch
Bob O’Reilly
Olling
Geoff Bugden
For me it’s,
1) the bear, amazing player not just at the eels though I guess
2) Cayless
3) Paulo
4) Bugden instrumental in grand final wins and laid a platform for the brilliant back line
Neither of the bookends?
As Chris said, Buggo was one of the players with a case for inclusion.
We can forget that, over time, these blokes have played different games. In the Olling, ,O’Reilly rta, for instance, scrums still were a. context and scrimmaging was an important skill for pros, as was the ability to protect the hooker from getting pushed around, or even knocked out of a game. Some of the smaller pros of to-day would have had an uncomfortable time under those conditions.
The difference in the game will become ital when we look at hookers
From a different club (though he coached for us at one stage Ken Kearny was a legendary ball winner and dummy half; his immobility was such that he wouldn’t have been considered for any grade to(day.
Bob O:,Reilly was probably our best ever scrummager enforcer ball player, maybe not put most agile cefender.
So true Noel. The scrummaging role has diminished so much over the last 50 years. I get disappointed when a team gets penalised or brought back for pushing in a scrum. I thought that was the point! I loved the contest. Can still see McMartins feet for Cronulla hooking the ball back in scrums and wincing because it was our feed and loose.
Then to learn as an adult that he used to play for us just rubbed salt into the wound. McMartin was bloody good raking the ball back in the ruck when he was marking as well. Something I think should still be allowed.
So many changes. When I played it was under the three yard rule for defence, move up as soon as the ball touched the ground. No television oversight of foul play, have a mate distract the referee and do pretty much what you liked.
Pointless trying to compare a prop forward to-day wiith one he seventies like Morris of Balmain pr John O’,Neill; the job they did not longer exists.
The skills of Bob O’Reilly hold up well
O’Reilly and McMartin won something like 20% of scrums against the feed.
An article on the Bear’s off field antics would be more than entertaining.
He was a stand out in a team that struggled through his time there.
Hard to split the top 4.
All those names mentioned deserve it.
Chris , it is a no brainer that the Bear was our greatest prop by the length of the straight with daylight second. Cayless would not be in my top 7.
O’Reilly
Fui Fui
Bugden
Leadbeater
Paulo
RCG
Olling
O’Reilly man of the match in 1981 GF. He was crowd surfed 100 metres from the team bus back to the club after the game after the bus couldn’t get near the club.
This series has been great to read Chris but it’s no contest the The Bear is number 1.
Great list Parra Tragic
Yep, it’s The Bear in top spot for me as well and sharing the podium are Fui Fui and Dean Pay. Even though I have Dean Pay at third I recall crossing paths as the team was coming back from their warm up at the rear of Parramatta Stadium in the opening game of the Super League era and the look in his eyes was pure fury and determination. He was one tough cookie. All fine players of different eras but Bob is number one in my book.
I knew that the debate would be strong with this one
At my ripe old age (I am 60) I have had the pleasure to watch every one of these props mentioned. I am not sure who would be #1 as they are all quite different, but the one that gave me the biggest thrill, just watching him tear it up, was Fui Fui Moi Moi.
For me
1) Dean Pay
2) Fui
3) Junior
The great unknown woukdve been Adam Ritson
I’m with you on that one Brett. Ritson had the potential to be the best ever. Only two come to mind for me, The bear and Fui. What amazed me was an article I read a few months back, that the bears playing weight was only 102kg, yet he looked so much bigger, and from memory, he did play the full 80mins in the 81 gf.
Yes, what could have been with Ritson. The future was at his feet.
As for the Bear, he was big by the standards of the day. Pricey played well under 90kg and the backs were often under 80kg. A measure of how times have changed is that Mitchell Pearce at halfback played at a heavier weight than his father Wayne did at lock.
Dick Huddart played at 95 kilos. Norm Provan played at about the same and was regarded as a giant. Jack Gibson, who held his own in the front row and was regarded as one of the very hard men played at 88 kilos. John Baker wasn’t very big; neither was Chris Phelan who played prop in one of our premiership sides.
I would have to go with the Bear – technically a better prop than the other nominees, IMO. Olling will always be my favourite due to his aggression and intimidation on the field and I wish he’d been around in that ‘81 side as I really think, as a club junior it would have been fitting for him to have been there. Parra prop who could have been anything if he’d had luck on his side will always be Paul Mares
Mares was loaded with talent and probably more akin to modern mobile props
Bob O’Reilly, in that 1970 World Cup final v Gt Britain, he was around 21, it was one of the most brutal internationals. If ever a prop came of age and be recognised as absolute top level, the Bear did so when most props still have their L plates. It’s hard to rule that out. You still own it when you’re older.
Hilditch was a classic…, gangly, not over-heavy, looked like the boy next door, but geez he gave you value, couldn’t hurt him with a crow bar and hit like a hammer. And he was the front man in the wedge, did he volunteer? Probably.
I saw Olling first in A Grade juniors for Wenty, he was a lock forward but hard and uncompromising. Never changed. Always reliable.
Interesting. I must admit that Cayless didn’t come to mind when I started to read the blog, but he was a consistent performer who also regularly played rep footy. Agreed with the sentiments regarding Bob O’Reilly and that his best was behind him during the period we are looking at, but still offered a great deal to the teams he played in. If Paulo can take the back part of his career to new heights from this season, he would be my pick for greatest Parra prop. His skills are very versatile and unique – something you generally only see from players who are the top echelon.
The discussions above probably show that Parra have never really had a standout prop at the club, and I suppose you could say that traditionally has not really been their role either.
The fact is the Bear was a standout prop from when he was young at Guildford. Played for Oz in a real tough era against the poms when young. Called back by Gibbo to play for Parra and won Clive Churchill medal for best on ground in 81 GF. You obviously never saw him play.
Terry Fearnley also tried to get The Bear back and if O’Reilly played in ’76 and ’77 we win both Grand Finals (allowing for the Cook factor). Somewhere on YouTube is Fearnley being interviewed by Ray Warren and Terry admits he is trying to get Bob back. lol….I am almost a bit miffed that O’Reilly is not seen as the obvious standout prop 🙂 . If I was picking a team to play Mars my props would be O’Reilly and John O’Neill (Artie in 2nd row).
Seconded. My memory says Roy Masters (but maybe not) wrote a great piece on that 1970 World Cup final. He rated the performance of the forwards as off the charts, giving a summary of each one in that artistic tone that Masters revels in. I’m sure he described the Bear as a towering young lamp post, O’Neill was the other prop and Masters captured his soak-it-up, blood and guts style. The English referee allowed anything and everything, and Malcolm Reilly was on the park.
Only in 1981, so I admit that I never saw the best of him.
Very interesting to say the least.
Look I’m only mid 50’s and will also ask my old man. I know he would not have Junior Nor Cayless in the top ones but each to their own.
For me
Dean Pay and Bear from my early days.
D Pay was unlucky not to have a GF win along with others in the B Smith days..gee we could’ve won at least one!
One for impact and I also think a guy like Fui who put it al out there (later in his Parra career was phenomenal for how he played).