Graeme Langlands - "The White Boots Affair"

"The White Boots Affair"

One of the most popular stories in Australian rugby league concerns Langlands playing for the Dragons in the 1975 NSWRL Grand Final against Jack Gibson (rugby league)'s coached Eastern Suburbs Roosters. Before the game, Langlands, who was pulling up poorly from a long-standing groin injury, was given a painkilling injection that, rather than deadening his pain, instead made his whole leg numb. Langlands wrote in his book Larrikin and Saint: "It was an injection that went wrong. It wasn't the doctor's fault. The injection went in where the nerves shouldn't have been. They had moved because of all the injuries that I've had around the groin".

When Langlands kicked for the touchline early in the match but missed, it became obvious to everyone that something was wrong. The Dragons' match plan was to keep the Roosters pinned back in their own half with long kicks (a tactic that Canterbury used ten years later). With their main kicker useless, the Dragons found themselves unable to stop the Roosters advancing. Langlands forced his way back onto the field after half-time, but made little difference as the Roosters ran in seven tries to win 38-0. Making matters worse were his white football boots, worn as part of a sponsorship deal with Adidas. At the time, black football boots were the norm. Langlands' white boots were unique on the field, highlighting every mistake he made to the fans. He was originally planning to retire at the end of the Grand Final, but the humiliating experience spurred him to return in 1976, where in the few early-season matches he played his performance was mediocre.