Forster-Tuncurry's Ken Emerton said that succinctly summed up his time playing rugby league for the Hawks, particularly in the Tony Paskins-era from 1968 to 1970.

The Hawks won two premierships in that time, victories in 68 and 70 sandwiching a shock grand final loss to Wauchope in 69.

"We had some great players here and Tony, well, he was just the icing on the cake,'' Emerton, who will be inducted into the Group Three Hall of Fame tonight, said this week from his Newcastle home.

But, first some history.

Emerton was born in Forster but didn't start playing league until he moved to Sydney to join the police service when he was 16.

"There was no junior league in Forster when I was a kid,'' he said.

"So I started playing in the Eastern Suburbs juniors, then I had one year with Easts' lower grades.''

However, it was his intention to try and get back to the Great Lakes.

"I was transferred to Newcastle, which was getting close, and I played there.''

He journeyed up to Taree in 1967 to see the Hawks, captain-coached by Rex Elvins, go down to Wauchope in the grand final (all finals matches were played in Taree then).

"I think Tony (Paskins) played in the second half of the season.

"They were a bit unlucky in that game, I think they got beaten by a penalty goal late in the match.''

Emerton made it back home in time for the 1968 season, with Paskins now at the helm.

The Hawks hadn't won a premiership since 1947. Emerton knew from the first training session they were going to take a power of beating for the 1968 trophy.

"There were just so many good players there,'' he said.

"Bunny Ferguson in the centres, Hector Bolt at fullback, they could score tries from anywhere.

"The Elliott brothers, they were as tough a hooker and halfback as you'd see anywhere. Bernie Gleeson at five-eighth.''

And Paskins was orchestrating it all from the centres.

"Such a great player,'' Emerton enthused.

"He just had so much time to do things and he could read a game.''

Emerton played no small part in the success. A strong running second rower and brutal defender, he was among the most dominating forwards in the comp.

"The competition was strong and most of the clubs had great captain-coaches.

"We had Tony, Bodey (Ron Boden) was at United, Harry Wells played a season at Port in 1970 - they were internationals,'' he said.

Back to 68 and the Hawks lost just one game, to Wauchope by two points in the season-proper.

They ran into a youthful Taree United side in the grand final, but it was no contest, Forster winning 21-0.

"The whole town was behind us,'' Emerton said.

Forster were odds-on to go back-to-back in 1969 and again won the minor premiership.

However, there was a hiccup in the grand final against Wauchope, with the Blues taking the honours. So the Hawks were primed for revenge come the dawn of a new decade in 1970.

And, like 1968, they dominated the season-proper before beating Port Macquarie, then captain-coached by Harry Wells, on a heavy field in Taree.

It was Garry McQuillan's first year at the club and he was the five-eighth. Representative honours came Emerton's way.

"I made the Group Three side and from there the Group Three/Two team,'' he said.

This was the main trial for the North Coast side, Group Two/Three meeting One/18.

"From there I was selected for North Coast,'' Emerton said.

The Hawks also won a North Coast championship in this time, the competition contested by clubs from Groups two, three, one and 18.

Paskins retired after the 1970 triumph. Emerton stayed two more years at the club but the Hawks, while competitive, were never able to repeat the successes.

But the journey wasn't over for Emerton.

He returned to Newcastle, playing first grade with Western Suburbs and Lakes United, before finishing up his playing days as captain-coach of Swansea, before retiring in 1976.

Did you know? Great Lakes Advocate online subscribers not only have 24/7 access to local and national news, sport, what's on and entertainment - they also have access to our print edition in digital format, with all the advertisements and classifieds at their fingertips.