By Matt Findlay

A fair bit happened in 1969.

Woodstock transformed live music forever, the Boeing 747 took flight for the first time and Dennis ‘Muncher’ Garlick played his first game for the Parramatta Two Blues.

Now in his 70s, Muncher has been through it all with his beloved Parramatta (now Western Sydney) Two Blues.

The dazzling highs of the glory years and the debilitating lows which, in more recent times, genuinely had many questioning the club’s future.

And it all began with his first game in colts 50 years ago, on a dreary day just down the road from his home in Granville Park.

“That game was at [Parramatta] Marist, I remember it vividly because it was Golden Slipper day and it was the first trifecta I’d ever won at the races,” Muncher laughed, even recalling the stunning run super colt Vain had in that famous win.

“It’d be one of the only trifectas I’ve ever won too, although I’ve tried bloody hard since.”

Trying hard is something Muncher is no stranger to, it’s something he’s done for his beloved Two Blues ever since –  as a premiership-winning, 300-game player and then as a manager, trainer and the most dedicated of supporters.

In 2017, he was presented with the NSW Community Sport Award for his service to the club and still fondly recalls his  playing days, particularly the club’s grand final win over Randwick in 1986 – the last title the Two Blues won.

“The guys that played in that team will always be mates,” Muncher said.

“I played through until about 1989. The first grade coach at the time asked if I’d like to be involved with the team which was really good of him, that’s when I started running water and all of that.

“All the players at the time accepted me really warmly.”

After highlighting Brad Selby as the best player he’d seen at the Two Blues in his time and Pee Wee Goddard as the toughest, Muncher explained what keeps him going is pretty simple too.

“To tell you the truth I’d love another premiership, I might be here for another 50 years trying to get it but there’s good signs now and you never, ever give up hope,” he said.

“It might not be just around the corner but there is hope, there’s a lot of really exciting players in the group now and they want to win, the coaching group they’ve got is very good too. I just hope they don’t get frustrated.”

From the players’ perspective, former Two Blues skipper and Ken Catchpole Medal winner Adrian Musico was succinct in his description of the club legend, simply saying “he’s like part of the furniture”.

“He’s just always there, at training, games, everywhere, he’s great to have around the club,” Musico said.

“They’re the kind of guys every club needs but I’m not sure every club has a bloke like Muncher, he just loves his rugby and the Two Blues. Loves a punt too, he’s always talking about the gallops.

“We did a pre-season training camp at Marist one year and that’s where he played his first game for the Two Blues 50 years ago. He told us that story and a lot of the boys didn’t believe him, it’s incredible really.”

Musico went on to say how much playing on Back to Day meant to the players at the Two Blues, even if some of them are newer to the club than others.

“It’s always a massive day for the club and for the players, but obviously more so for him,” Musico said.

“Muncher was here through the good years back in the 1980s but he was here through the really, really dark years as well, when the club was basically just getting smoked week-in, week-out, but he’s still turns up.

“So if there’s anyone who deserves to celebrate a Two Blues win on Back to Parramatta Day, it’s Muncher.”