Tommy Bishop

Terrier-sized St Helens and Great Britain halfback transformed the fledgling Cronulla club into a premiership force in the early 1970s. Bishop had toured Australia with the Lions in 1966 and again in the 1968 World Cup before being signed by the Sharks in 1969. After captaining Great Britain against France in 1969-70, he took on the captain-coach role with the Sharks for the 1970 season. Under his leadership, Cronulla produced an open style of attacking football and when countryman Cliff Watson joined him in 1971, the club enjoyed its best season on record. Bishop snapped his Achilles tendon in 1972 and returned home to England to recover and missed the entire season. The following year proved to be a watershed in the club's history; Cronulla finished second to Manly in the minor premiership and qualified for its first grand final appearance. Many were critical of Bishop's tactics in the match, with the Sharks' uncharacteristic strong-arm tactics failing to unsettle the more-experienced Sea Eagles. Bishop's efforts never wavered though, setting up a try for Rick Bourke to keep his young team in the match until the final whistle. At the conclusion of the season, Bishop and Watson failed to come to terms with the financially rattled club and Bishop went to captain-coach Northern Suburbs in the Brisbane competition. However his short-lived time as coach of Norths in 1979 was a disaster, as was his return to Cronulla in 1980. Bishop briefly returned to England after this career setback and coached Workington in 1982-83.