'Keep your money-hungry hands off Scully Park,' demand angry locals Ben Barba (R) in action during the Canterbury Bulldogs v Canberra Raiders NRL trial game at Tamworth in country NSW. GET your money-hungry hands off our country footy ground. That is the widespread opinion of angry locals and NRL greats toward controversial plans to bulldoze Tamworth's historic Scully Park for a motel-function centre. Scully Park is among the most famous grounds in bush football. Down through the years, the best of rugby league has played there, including Andrew Johns, Garry Schofield, Allan Langer, Craig Fitzgibbon, Gene Miles, Steve Menzies, Steve Roach, Ellery Hanley, Justin Hodges and Ben Elias. The ground's possible demise would all but end any chance of NRL clubs taking future trial matches to Tamworth. "It is terribly sad - we should be trying to hang on to our heritage," Roach said. These country grounds have a lot of history and charm. A lot of great players have graced Scully Park. How can you keep telling stories about a famous ground when the ground itself has gone? Elias added: "I remember the ground well - we played a National Panasonic Cup game there in the 1980s. I remember it well because Garry Jack and Mario Fenech had a stink. These are great old country grounds with a lot of history. It would be really sad to see Scully Park go but I guess progress is inevitable. A public rally on Wednesday night attracted criticism toward the plans, drawn up by West Tamworth League Club, to demolish the ground and redevelop nearby Scully Park 2. But decades of memories and tradition would vanish if Scully Park was lost. "There are plenty of special memories at Scully Park over many years," said former Tamworth local and ex-Canberra champion Alan Tongue. It is a great little oval. You can sit at the club and watch the action and the fans are right on the edge of the field. I had some great high school battles there. It is right near the centre of town too. It will be sorely missed. Local Gary Chillingworth, whose father Ken was a driving force behind building the park, said the possible demise of Scully Park was an indictment on the whole community. Craig Fitzgibbon wrapped up by Steve Menzies during a pre-season matchheld at Scully Park Oval, Tamworth in 2002. "If this town continues on this way of not caring about green spaces, then this town has no soul - it's not going anywhere," said Chillingworth, who's a stalwart of West Tamworth's crosstown rivals, North Tamworth. Scully Park has the best playing surface in rural NSW. It has hosted several Great Britain touring sides, the most famous result being a 36-12 loss to Northern Division in 1988, a defeat which left Pom coach Malcolm Reilly "seething with anger and embarrassment." Legendary Glen Innes player Reg O'Keefe, a powerful and fearless lock, took on the tourists twice at Scully Park. Once at the peak of his powers in the 1950s when every Sydney club was desperate to sign him and again in Northern Division's famous win in 1966. O'Keefe, then in his 40s, wreaked havoc and had English players complaining to the referee that there were in fact two of the balding, bandaged backrower on the field, rather than just one. Some of the fine players to emerge from Tamworth include David Brooks, Keith Harris, Jim Leis, Brad Tighe, Phil Graham and Chris Guider. "It defies belief that a club which was founded to propagate all sport would even consider bulldozing an iconic football field," Save Our Scully Alliance co-convener Stephen Young said. Scully Park has functioned as a football ground since 1957 and is widely recognised as one of the best football fields in country. It would be a real leap of faith for the community to accept its premier football field would be replaced by a better one somewhere down the track. If the club was serious it would develop a new football field before destroying the iconic Scully Park. An NRL trial between Newcastle Knights and Canberra Raiders is still due to be played on Scully Park in February. Newcastle and Cronulla played a trial there this year. The Newcastle Jets and Central Coast Mariners contested an A-League trial game at the ground. Early in its life, Scully Park as "full of weeds and whistles surrounded by a hedge and with a small tin shed in the corner." Over years though it improved and developed with Wests Leagues buying the oval from council in 2000. A stalwart back-rower who played his entire premiership career with Balmain, Brooks played junior football in Tamworth before breaking into first grade with the Tigers in 1983. He stayed a decade with the club, appearing in the grand final in 1988 and sharing in the club's midweek triumphs of 1985 and 1987. He played State of Origin in 1985 and represented Country Firsts in 1982. Brooks spent the 1987-88 off-season with English club Hull. Keith Harris Tough-tackling centre or second-rower who carried the appropriate nickname of 'Crash', Harris played 11 seasons of first grade, starting and finishing with North Sydney, and playing two seasons at Canterbury under the coaching of Malcolm Clift in 1975-76. Harris made his state debut for NSW against the touring British side of 1974 as a 20-year-old and played two interstate matches against Queensland in 1975. Harris played 195 top grade games but never appeared in a grand final. Jim Leis Leis was enticed to Sydney from Tamworth in 1980 and represented Australia in his first season with Western Suburbs. Coached at the Magpies by Roy Masters, who had cut his coaching teeth in the same north-western city, Leis won a berth in Australia's team that toured New Zealand on the strength of one replacement appearance for New South Wales against Queensland. Later the same season he played in the inaugural State of Origin match for the Blues. Although he played over 100 top grade games, Leis never managed to recapture the explosive form of his rookie season. Brad Tighe tackled by Matt Cooper. Pic: Gregg Porteous Source: News Limited Brad Tighe A West Tamworth junior, Tighe grew up playing at Scully Park before being identified by the Knights when he was a teenager. He made an immediate impression in the top grade, scoring 12 tries in 20 top grade appearances in a Knights team that finished last. He played three seasons with Newcastle before establishing a regular top grade berth in Penrith's backline. Tighe has scored 61 tries in 157 top grade appearances. Phil Graham playing for the Roosters. Phil Graham Like Tighe, Graham played his junior football at Scully Park as a West Tamworth junior before linking with the Canberra Raiders in 2002. A capable centre or winger with genuine pace, Graham scored 68 tries in 111 top grade games for the Raiders before injuries affected his final seasons with the Sydney Roosters and Gold Coast. Graham represented Country Origin in 2007. Chris Guider A diminutive hooker, Guider first appeared on the radar in 1980 when he represented NSW Under-18s against Queensland 18s in the curtain-raiser to the first ever Origin game at Lang Park. He linked up with Roy Masters at St George in 1984 and played 19 games in his rookie season before injuries barred his progress the next year. It was in 1985 that Guider achieved the rare distinction of playing in three grand finals on the one day, sharing in two lower grade victories before going down to Canterbury in first grade. Guider captained the Dragons in seven games in 1986 before retiring in order to pursue scientology. June 26, 1966 - Northern Division 15, Great Britain 13 Northern Division staged a historic boilover when they defeated the touring Great Britain team 15-13 in a savage game in 1966. The tourists quickly lost respect for the local referee and the match descended into a series of ugly brawls with fists and elbows a common sight. In one of the worst incidents, Northern Division winger Danny Shearer was kicked when lying on the ground. Fielding five players who had played in the first Test in Sydney the previous day, Great Britain scored three tries to one but Shearer's superb goalkicking (he landed six goals from seven attempts) proved the difference. July 9, 1975 - Easts 13, Souths 8 Tamworth locals turned out in vast numbers to catch a glimpse of one of the greatest club outfits in premiership history when the Jack Gibson-coached Eastern Suburbs took on South Sydney in an Amco Cup quarter final in 1975. The Roosters, midway through the greatest winning sequence the Australian game had seen, were forced to win the hard way after the Rabbitohs scored two tries to one. But four scrum penalties conceded by Souths hooker George Piggins presented Easts centre John Brass with four of his five goals in a 13-8 victory. April 1, 1987 - Souths 23, St George 6 Old foes South and St George squared off in a National Panasonic Cup qualifying match in 1987 but the Dragons were never in the contest. The Rabbitohs scored their first try after seven minutes, led 11-0 at halftime and cruised to a comfortable 23-6 victory. Souths coach George Piggins fielded a second-string forward pack that included rookie props David Hosking and Alan Nelson but the youngsters stood tall in an inspiring defensive performance. St George forward Graeme Wynn scored his team's only try in the final quarter. May 4, 1988 - Balmain 19, Souths 4 An excited crowd of more than 11,000 packed every vantage point of Scully Park to watch a Panasonic Cup semi-final between traditional Sydney rivals Balmain and Souths. The Tigers scored three tries to one to win 19-4 and qualify for their fourth consecutive midweek title. They had taken out the midweek competition in 1985 and 1987 and were beaten finalists in 1986. Hookers Ben Elias and Mario Fenech renewed their intense rivalry while Balmain prop Bruce McGuire carried off the man of the match award. June 5, 1988 - Northern Division 36, Great Britain 12 Great Britain coach Malcolm Reilly was left "seething with anger and embarrassment" after his tourists were swamped 36-12 by Northern Division, only six days before the first Test. A team that included Garry Schofield, Lee Crooks and flamboyant winger Henderson Gill was beaten all ends up by a Northern Division combination captained by former Dally M winner Robert 'Rocky' Laurie. Halfback Ewan McGrady, soon to star for Canterbury, crossed for two of Northern's five tries, while fullback Michael Spinks landed eight goals. February 27, 1991 - Illawarra 36, St George 6; Brisbane 28, Newcastle 13 Tamworth fans were treated to a smorgasbord of action when two quarter finals of the Lotto Challenge pre-season competition were played as a double-header. Teenager John Simon starred for Illawarra in a crushing 36-6 defeat of St George in the early match, while Brisbane overpowered Newcastle 28-13 in a fiery encounter that followed. Broncos captain Gene Miles and Newcastle winger Glenn Miller were sent off after a second half brawl, while Brisbane prop Greg Dowling and Knights pair Steve Linnane and Scott Carter spent time in the sin bin.