DRAGONS LEGEND DIES

BOB Fulton describes fellow Immortal Graeme Langlands as the best “all-round” footballer he has ever seen.

Known for his prestigious sidestep, “Changa” Langlands finished his career as one of the most decorated rugby league players of all time, playing a then record 45 Test matches and 227 games for St George.

He died in a Sutherland Shire nursing home aged 76 after suffering from dementia.

Langlands is in the rarest of company as one of just eight Immortals. Fulton has no doubt about his greatness.

“He was the best all-rounder that I’ve played with or against,” Fulton said.

“His coaching ability has to be taken into consideration when you’re assessing the impact he had on the game.

“He was a player players liked playing with. He could win games single-handedly.

“He would play wing, centre or fullback and could genuinely play in any of those positions at international level.”

Former TV commentator and primary school mate Barry Ross said Langlands was a child prodigy.

“He was brilliant from the time he was 12,” Ross said.

Langlands was picked for NSW while impressing for Country Firsts a year before being graded by St George in 1963, the same year he would win a premiership and make his Test debut.

Former St George premiership-winning and international centre John Riley remembers first laying eyes on a young Langlands, who was not overawed by joining the high-flying St George side in the midst of their recordbreaking 11-premiership run.

“St George in those days were full of internationals and he just fitted in straight away,” Riley recalled. “You could see he was one going to be one of the greats as well.”

Langlands won four premierships with the Dragons, going on to captain-coach his club and country. He led Australia to success at the 1974 World Cup before retiring from representative football.

Langlands played one more full final season with St George, which was overshadowed by the infamous white boots he wore in the Dragons’ grand final loss to the Roosters.

Langlands was given Immortal status in 1999 and picked as an interchange player in Team of the Century.

In November 2017, he was charged with six counts of indecent dealings with a girl under 16, dating back to the early 1980s on the Gold Coast.