Terry Lamb - Hanley Incident and The World Cup

Hanley Incident and The World Cup

Warren Ryan departed Canterbury at the end of 1987 with reserve grade coach Phil Gould taking over the reins in a caretaker role with Chris Anderson being groomed for the top position. The 1988 season was Lamb's fifth at Canterbury and the first he wouldn't cross the line at least 10 times. Lamb played a very important role in Canterbury's season as former captain Steve Mortimer missed a large chunk of the season due to injuries.

Canterbury defeated Canberra and Cronulla to make the Grand Final where they earned a week off as first qualifiers. Balmain, influenced by Great Britain captain Ellery Hanley made the Grand Final coming from a playoff for 5th position to make the decider. Controversy struck in the 26th minute when Hanley was taken out in a tackle from Lamb and Farrar.

Balmain led 6-4 with the Tigers scoring thanks to a mistake from Bulldogs fullback Jason Alchin. Hanley was wrapped up low by Andrew Farrar and as he went to offload the ball Lamb finished off the tackle. He hit the ground in an awkward position and was out concussed. Lamb denied he deliberately took Hanley out and denied Canterbury went out of their way to target one individual. Lamb commented in his 1992 book that Balmain had other important players such as Wayne Pearce, Ben Elias, Paul Sironen and Garry Jack.

Speaking to Inside Sport Magazine in August 2005, Hanley was asked:

What do you remember about that infamous tackle by Terry Lamb? "I don’t know if it was caused by Terry Lamb, or if it was just my head hitting the ground. I couldn’t tell you because I have never looked at it since. Some people have said Terry got a good shot on me. I suspect, however, it was more a case of my head hitting the ground. I like to think it was accidental. Afterwards, I was concussed and didn’t know where I was. I didn’t regain all my faculties immediately so, from a safety point of view, I had to come off the football field. It was a shame, but it is a physical game and sometimes things like that happen."

Have you spoken to Lamb since then? "No, I never have. I have never bumped into him. I have to say I respect him as a footballer. I don’t know him as a person, but by all accounts he is a good guy. Let me be clear that I have no malice towards him, none at all, regardless of the incident being deliberate or accidental."

The New South Wales Rugby League despite all the media pressure backed up Lamb's version of events and deemed he had no case to answer. Lamb was later selected in the Australian squad for the World Cup Final against New Zealand at Eden Park. Lamb was again selected as a replacement and came on the field after 20 minutes when captain Wally Lewis broke his arm. It was to be Lamb's last match in Australian colours.

Canterbury endured a tough year in 1989 as the 'Wozzaball' era out Belmore way was coming to a rapid close. Lamb didn't have his best season where it was affected by injuries and off-field dramas. He played one final match for NSW with the Blues going down 36-6. He was out injured for the middle part of the season and missed selection for the New Zealand Tour.

After the 1989 season, Phil Gould was removed as coach with Chris Anderson taking over.