I have been stewing over the very difficult topic of naming Parramatta’s greatest ever hookers of the last 50 years.
The topic was made even more difficult by the fact that the club’s two most capped hookers (John McMartin & a member of the Eels hall of fame, Billy Rayner), were plying their trade prior to 1975 (the cutoff date for this exercise). After removing these two, I was left with a very even playing field.
Unlike other positions, Parramatta has had very few hookers who could be considered the best in the league during their time at the club. However, we have had lots of very good players.
I found it incredibly difficult to separate the likes of Brad Drew, Mark Riddell, Nathan Peats and PJ Marsh from the players that eventually made the cut.
But that’s enough excuses, let’s chat about some of the greatest ‘rakes’ to ever wear the famed blue and gold.
Honourable Mentions
Reed Mahoney
Admittedly, this one stings a little.
Mahoney burst onto the scene towards the back end of the 2018 wooden spoon and immediately his enthusiasm and energy played a role in turning the club’s fortunes around.
During the next four years, Parramatta made the semi finals every year (including the 2022 GF) and I still heavily question the recruitment decisions that allowed Mahoney to leave, while retaining high priced edge and middle forwards who have not lived up their price tags.
His impact at Canterbury has been immense, helping to turn our arch rivals into a competitive force once more. Although his niggling antics are upsetting to opposition fans, let’s be honest, we would still love him if he was at Parramatta.
Michael Moseley
Moseley was a tough, uncompromising hooker who was the successor to the great Steve Edge.
Although not the player that Edge was, Moseley filled the position admirably for much of the 80’s and was a premiership winner in 1986.
A converted back rower, Moseley was a high effort player and a great motivator of his team mates.
It was in the 1986 Grand Final that Moseley provided a performance that should long be remembered by Eels fans.
In what was a championship moment for the club, and arguably a career highlight for Moseley, he made a series of desperation tackles in the final 30 seconds of the game to allow Parramatta to hang on and win their fourth premiership of the decade.
Third Place: Aaron Raper
Years at Parramatta: 1996-1998
1st Grade games for Parramatta at the position: 39
Premierships: 0
Representative Games: 1 x Australia, 1 x NSW (sort of), 2 x City
Personal Honours: NA
Although perhaps best known for his time at Cronulla, I will always have a soft spot for Aaron Raper due to the integral role he played in turning around Parramatta’s fortunes in the mid to late 90’s.
Raper was rugby league royalty (the son of legendary Dragons lock Johnny Raper) and came through the ranks at Cronulla. The talented dummy half was coaxed across to Parramatta before the start of the 1996 season, as part of the famous Super League recruitment drive which also netted four former Bulldogs.
A crafty player, Raper represented Australia in the 1995 World Cup against South Africa before joining the Eels.
At Parramatta, he was part of three highly competitive semi final bound teams before ending his Australian career after the 1998 preliminary semi final and heading to the UK to play for Castleford.
Famously, (or infamously?) Raper was selected to play State of Origin for one game in the 1997 series but rode the pine for the entire game after not being used (being forgotten?) by Tommy Raudonikis.
A brilliant player at his peak, Raper could have been higher on this list if not for injury cruelling his career at various stages.
Second Place: Ron Hilditch
Years at Parramatta: 1975-1982
1st Grade games for Parramatta at the position: 111
Premierships: 1
Representative Games: 3x Australia, 4 x NSW, 1 x NSW City
Personal Honours: Parramatta Eels Hall of Fame
Perhaps controversially, I did not consider the ‘Hitman’ for the front row position as he played far more of his first grade career at hooker.
It’s probably a measure of Hilditch as a player that he was able to excel at two positions. He represented NSW & Australia and won a premiership with Parramatta in the front row despite that predominance of his time being at rake.
Regardless of the position he played, I am glad I can pay him his dues here.
In fact, Hilditch was only moved to prop to accommodate the player who made it to number one on this list.
Known for his bone rattling defence, Ron Hilditch was dubbed ‘The Hitman’ for his ability to snap opposing ball runners in half. His debut during the 1975 season coincided with a golden period for the club, and the steel he provided in the middle contributed to this in no small measure.
Hilditch played hooker in the 1976 & 1977 losing grand finals at hooker before finally breaking the drought as a front rower for the 1981 premiership team.
Hilditch was part of the 1982 side but narrowly missed selection for the grand final before retiring at the end of the season. A true club man, Hilditch later coached the club during some difficult years in the mid 90’s.
First Place: Steve Edge
Years at Parramatta: 1980-1984
1st Grade games for Parramatta at the position: 118
Premierships: 1981, 1982, 1983 – Parramatta, 1977, 1979 – St George, 1980 Midweek Cup (Parra)
Representative Games: 1 x NSW, 2 x Combined Sydney (NZ tour)
Personal Honours: Parramatta Eels Hall of Fame
Where else could I place the captain of our first ever premiership winning side and possibly the finest leader in our clubs’ history?
If there was anything that Edge lacked in style, he more than made up for in grit, determination and courage. Calm in a crisis, he was the perfect man to bring together a champion team filled with big and contrasting personalities.
Edge’s contribution can’t be limited only to his captaincy skills, he was also a very high quality hooker and was justly rewarded with a NSW cap in the inaugural State of Origin match in 1980.
Although I try not to dwell on player’s achievements at other clubs, Edge was a winner everywhere he went and is still the only player to captain two sides to premiership success.
After captaining St George to premiership success against Parramatta in 1977, Edge had to win over the blue and gold faithful when he first joined the club in 1980, particularly when he replaced local favourites, Ron Hilditch and Ray Price as captain following the 1980 season.
It’s fair to say that after four consecutive grand final appearances and three premierships as captain, that Steve Edge did exactly that.
Chris Ricketts
I’ve had this same conversation recently with several people, including Isaac De Gois and Alan Fallah—both of whom played first grade, with Alan having played during the 1980s. Alan made an interesting point: it’s not entirely accurate to refer to modern number 9s as “hookers.” Today’s number 9s function more as dummy halves, playing a very different style of game compared to their pre-1990s counterparts.
The change in the scrum rule—specifically, the removal of contested scrums—transformed the hooker’s role entirely. Players like Cameron Smith redefined the position, taking on responsibilities that were a world apart from those of the great hookers (or number 12s) of the 1950s through to the late 1980s.
As a result, it wouldn’t be fair to group legends like Steve Edge and Michael Moseley in the same category as more recent players like Reed Mahoney, Brad Drew, or PJ Marsh. The role has evolved too significantly to make a direct comparison.
That’s an excellent and valid point. I think Steve Edge would be rated alongside Kenny, Price, Sterlo, Ella, Grothe Thornett as the best ever to play for the Eels.
I do remember Billy Cementhead Rayner who was as tough as they come particularly from that era when anything was acceptable. If you wanted to hurt Rayner you had to bring a sledgehammer.
Mosley a good suggestion as was McMartin who got shafted to Cronulla because they believed he was the “leak”. Had he not left he would have had many years at Parra. A very good footballer.
Excellent point Chris. It’s as if a new position was created, and as such, maybe Chris Ricketts should have amended this post to make it two different categories. I know that the hooker role is probably the one that’s changed the most, but it could apply to a number of positions. Wing for example has become a work horse in yardage. We once asked Guru Senior to compare himself to Junior, and he said the role had changed that much, and that Junior had a much heavier workload than he ever had. Then you look at centres who used to play inside centre and outside centre.
It’s impossible to compare the nines of to-day with those of, say, the eighties because the role has hanged so much. Once the 9 packed into the scrum in the front row with the primary responsibility of winning the ball. To-day the nine may not pack into the scrum at all. In the fifties a common tactic was to try to knock the nine out cold – no replacements were allowed and without a specialist hooker there could be no supply of ball. Hookers had to be very tough men. As a result, former Parramatta High School student Ken Kearney captained Australia though being notably not an athlete.
That comment made, the first two choices nominated are certainly defensible. Ron Hilditch was a Kangaroo and subsequently coached the side. I’d have Billy Rayner at three, though his time is outside the scope of the exercise. aron was a talented player but his time at the club was controversial – 9 was perhaps not his best position.
This series is great fun.
If the criteria can stretch back to 1975 & even though it was his last year in B&G John McMartin is in my top two. Wonderful hooker forward with lightening feet and a good turn of speed in the open. Edge on results alone has to rightly be number one.
I’d have John McMartin in the top 2 as well mate
Number one for me will always be Brad Drew, we only had him for a couple of years, but he killed it in 01.
Good call mate definitely in top 3
I thought that Drew was a superb dummy half. I was frustrated with Smith’s turnover of spine players during his tenure.
Same 1 & 2 here. Hilditch came through the juniors (Hills Distrct), basically an Eel for life. Like Higgs, it took me a few games to work him out in the Cumberland middle on a Sunday afternoon, then you got to appreciate the gangly, tall hooker who in the early days had you thinking ‘ is he hurting himself more than that bloke he just hammered’,but you got used to it and it became part of the ticket price. You waited for it to happen. Then he got his full kamikaze badge at the point of the wedge.
The wedge! The wall! The stuff that you’ll never see again.
PJ Marsh is always a favourite of mine! He worked great whether it’s PJ / Drew or PJ / Riddell. We were always at the top of the ladder when PJ Marsh was in our team.
Hard to argue with your choices Chris. Hilditch was one of my favourites as a young lad but, as I mentioned previously, his hooking was actually pretty average. I loved him as a prop. I also had that footy card of him when I was a kid.
Edge was just good and a good leader as well. I really enjoy listening to him being interviewed. I guess the only black mark against him is that I think he used to work for the ATO! 😊. Seriously though, he had a great career and was valuable in helping us achieve that first premiership success.