Ben Bidwell admits it may have been more good luck than good management but the Commercial Hotel has secured one of the timeliest sportsman’s barbecues in recent memory.
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The Morpeth pub will welcome South Sydney legend and Kangaroos selector Bob McCarthy and three-time premiership-winning Canterbury forward Peter Tunks on Saturday afternoon as a warm up for the NRL grand final between the Rabbitohs and Bulldogs on Sunday night.
The event was organised well in advance and, after the two teams won their semi-finals last weekend, it gave the pub their dream afternoon.
What makes things even more interesting is that while McCarthy and Tunks are known as Souths and Canterbury heroes respectively, they actually played for both clubs.
McCarthy played for the Bulldogs in 1976 and 1977 after winning three premierships in 15 seasons with the red and myrtles while Tunks played for Souths from 1977 to 1983 before joining Warren Ryan at Canterbury where he also won three premierships.
Mr Bidwell, the hotel’s publican, said he looked forward to the afternoon.
“We got really lucky with their teams making the grand final,” he said.
“We’re hoping it will be a good crowd, it’ll be very relaxed where the blokes will do a bit of a talk and then have a chat with people afterwards.
“It will be a nice little starter before Sunday.
The event is not ticketed with free entry.
There will also be a memorabilia auction to raise money for the Morpeth Junior Rugby League Club.