 Early in the 1973 Grand Final against the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks (playing their first Grand Final), a team which was captain-coached by Reilly's former Great Britain team mate Tommy Bishop, and also included former Lions prop Cliff Watson, Reilly was felled late by Sharks hooker Ron "Rocky" Turner after putting in a mid-field chip kick (Turner had already targeted him once and just missed him only a minute into the game).Clearly hobbled with a badly bruised hip, Reilly went off for pain killing injections.As it was clear he would not last out the match, Manly coach Ron Willey gave the Englishman the instructions to go out and cause as much physical damage to the Sharks players as he could before he could go no further.