I Just had word that Ex eel John Mcmartin has died unfortunately.
A bit before my time but played 167 games for us at hooker between 66-75 before going to the sharks for 4 seasons, from what ive read he was highly regarded on and off the park..
His brother Mal was also a rugby league player for Balmain.
RIP to john, thankyou for your efforts in the blue and gold jersey, may your next journey be a great one, and condolences to his friends and family.
Played strong, done good.....
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Sad news, he was one of my favourite players. He was an excellent hooker forward, fleet of foot and an excellent ball winner against all opposition.
thoughts are with his family.
I knew him through Harness Racing , he trained and drove Pacers unfortunately with Cronulla colours as his silks . May he rest in peace .
My condolences to his family and friends!
Wonderful hard working 80 minute hooker with quite a bit of skill. Watched him play in numerous games. Fuck he was tough, particularly against Souths, St George, Wests, Tigers and Manly. Don't ever remember John being dominated for 80 minutes by any opposition hooker. He had his fucked moments but he would not spill his marbles and just got straight back into the tough stuff and never looked back. Was good enough to be NSW and Australian hooker for many years but there were other high quality hookers playing for the above teams getting the nod.
Great man, great player.
Nice Jersey.
He was up there with Steve Edge and Billy Rayner, RIP John
He was very much a favourite of mine, he was tough and no nonsense, he was only bettered by George Piggins in his ability to rake the ball in a play the ball when it was allowed, also could win balls against the feed in scrums, in his time was an 80minute player and kept going.
I was very disappointed when he signed with Cronulla, we should have kept him, his brother Mal did play for the eels for a seaon or two, at the same time as John.
Sad to hear of his passing, and all my thoughts and prayers to the McMartin family.
RIP John McMartin. Condolences to family and friends.
RIP John and condolences to all your loved ones. His brother Mal was a centre and it was great they got to play with each other at Parra, especially during that great semi final run we had in 1975. It was a sad day when he left . Great ball winning hooker and even though he went to Cronulla it was impossible to not think of him as a Parramatta man. Thanks for the memories John (and you also Mal)
PT, agree with your comments about Macca. A great ball winner when hookers were really hookers.
I remember hearing him talk about getting penalised by a referee in the juniors. Apparently out of frustration the referee said to him and his captain just before half time that if he isn't changed by another player in the scrum he will send him off for repeated infringements. So at half time he and Mal swapped jumpers and nobody knew.
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