| Clubname | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles |
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| Fullname | Manly-Warringah District Rugby League Football Club |
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| Nickname | Sea Eagles, Silvertails |
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| Colours | Maroon White |
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| Founded | 1947 |
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| Exited | 1999 |
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| Readmitted | 2002 |
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| Sponsor | Quantum Eco Hot Water |
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| Ground | Brookvale Oval |
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| Capacity | 23,000 |
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| Chairman | Scott Penn |
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| Ceo | Graham Lowe |
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| Coach | Des Hasler |
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| Captain | Jamie LyonJason King |
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| Owner | Max Delmege & Scott Penn |
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| League | National Rugby League |
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| Season | 2010 season |
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| Position | Qualifying Finalists (8th) |
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| Premierships | 7 |
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| Premiershipyears | 1972, 1973, 1976, 1978, 1987, 1996, 2008 |
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| Minorpremierships | 9 |
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| Minorpremiershipyears | 1971, 1972, 1973, 1976, 1983, 1987, 1995, 1996, 1997 |
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| Runnerups | 10 |
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| Runnerupyears | 1951, 1957, 1959, 1968, 1970, 1982, 1983, 1995, 1997, 2007 |
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| Spoons | None |
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| Cup1 | World Club Challenge |
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| Cup1titles | 1 |
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| Cup1years | 2009 |
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| Homejersey | Manly Sea Eagles home jersey 2005.svg |
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| Awayjersey | Manly Sea Eagles away jersey 2008.svg |
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The
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional
rugby league club based on the
Northern Beaches of Sydney. They compete in the
National Rugby League's Telstra Premiership, the premier rugby league competition of
Australasia. The club first appeared in the
1947 New South Wales Rugby Football League season and currently plays home matches out of its ground
Brookvale Oval whilst being based at the
New South Wales Academy of Sport in
Narrabeen.
Since winning their first premiership in 1972, the club has won a total of seven First Grade titles along with a number of other competitions. Manly won their most recent premiership on 5 October 2008, when they defeated Melbourne Storm by a record breaking 40–0. They then travelled to England to become the first NRL team since 2003 to win the World Club Challenge by defeating the reigning European Super League premiers, Leeds Rhinos 28–20, cementing their position as the world's top rugby league club for that season.
Cliff Lyons holds the record for most first-grade games for Manly with 309. The record for most points scored is held by Graham Eadie with 1917 points and Matthew Ridge has the highest total in one season, scoring 257 in 1995. Steve Menzies holds the top try scoring record with 151. He is also the highest scoring forward in the history of the game.
The Sea Eagles have never won the wooden spoon in their 62 seasons, the longest period of any club.
History
The movement to set up rugby league in Sydney had gained serious momentum and Manly, as with all the other Sydney district rugby clubs, endured internal agonies as the new "League" was considered.The NSWRL accepted Manly's application and, along with Parramatta, they were granted admission to the 1947 competition.
The North Sydney Bears though suffered more than they anticipated. After having played in the 1943 Grand Final they hit the wall after the exodus of Manly players for 1947. The Bears lost half of their games in 1947, before spending the next four seasons at the bottom of the ladder.
Manly immediately adopted the maroon and white colours they had used for their Presidents Cup team since its inception. They chose for an emblem the sea eagle - the native bird of prey of the Sydney coastline. The use of emblems on jerseys and as a marketing tool was way in the future, and a number of media writers simply referred to Manly as the "sea gulls". However, while they never raised an objection to being called sea gulls (emphasising how much of a non-issue emblems/marketing names were at the time) the club maintains that it has always officially been the Sea Eagles since their first day.
Manly's first premiership game was against Western Suburbs Magpies at Brookvale Oval on Saturday 12 April 1947. Max Whitehead, who had first played for Norths in 1942 and was a member of their 1943 Grand Final team, was Manly's first captain. Whitehead was a big barrel-chested second rower who was used by Bonds as the model for their iconic "Chesty Bond" character. Their first win was against the Parramatta Eels and the club finished their first season in second to last place.
Their first Grand Final appearance was in the 1951 season, which they lost to South Sydney. Manly-Warringah played in five Grand Finals before winning their first in 1972.
Manly were powerful in the early 80s but were beaten in two Grand finals by Parramatta, but was victorious against the Canberra raiders in the 1987 Grand final. The Bob Fulton coached Sea Eagles returned to the play-offs in 1993 and 1994 but were beaten on both occasions in the first elimination semi-final by the Brisbane Broncos.
In 1995, amidst the dramas of the Super League war, Manly produced one of its most dominating seasons in the club's history but in one of the league's most dramatic upsets, were upset by the Bulldogs in the Grand Final.
In 1996 a Manly returned to the Grand Final and beat St George Dragons to win the title that had eluded them the season before. Rugby League in Australia was split in two leagues in 1997, the ARL and Super League, and Manly were one of the leading teams of the ARL's competition. For the third year in a row Manly reached the Grand Final, however lapses in their intensity which appeared during the season returned in the premiership decider against the Newcastle Knights and the Sea Eagles were beaten on the full-time siren by a Knights try.
The Manly teams of 1995 to 1997 produced some of the most entertaining football in Sea Eagles' history and featured many great players such as Geoff Toovey, Nik Kosef, Steve Menzies, Terry Hill, Mark Carroll, the ageless Cliff Lyons and former NZ All Blacks Matthew Ridge and Craig Innes.
Post Super League War
As with
Newtown Jets in the 1981 decider, the failure to win a Grand Final at a pivotal moment in a club's history was to prove significant to Manly's future. For 1998 the playing strength of the Sea Eagles was greatly diminished by a lack of funds available to the football club. The club had spent much of its resources to assist the ARL's battle and this was exacerbated when the team's major sponsor was lost to Super League's
Cronulla Sharks. After the
Super League War of the mid 1990’s, the end of the 1999 season, despite meeting the criteria for inclusion in the NRL's 2000 competition, Manly agreed to merge with the insolvent North Sydney Bears. Together they formed the
Northern Eagles for continued participation in the NRL.
The Northern Eagles venture ultimately collapsed at the end of the 2001 season and the NRL licence reverted to Manly. The club continued under the Northern Eagles name in 2002, though poor crowds at Gosford saw a quick return to Brookvale Oval. After finishing just outside the semi-finals in 2002, Manly announced that from 2003 onwards they would be playing again as the 'Manly Sea Eagles'.
Resurrection
The joint venture collapsed and Manly retained the Northern Eagles licence for the 2002 season until returning to the competition as Manly for the 2003 season. The 2003 and 2004 seasons produced very few moments of joy for Sea Eagles supporters - and some dreadful thrashings. The club improved its playing stocks for 2005, and reached the semi-finals for the first time since 1998.
A meeting of the Football Club in 3 June 2004 saw the club members vote for the privatisation of the Football Club.
Back to the Glory Days
2005 season
Manly made an unexpected bright start to the
2005 season, at one stage leading the competition outright after round seven. However their season was marred early by the dismissal of
John Hopoate who was given a 17-match ban for striking
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks forward
Keith Galloway in the round two match. Furthermore, the season overall was dominated by the team's fear of playing matches at night, with most of their defeats occurring under lights. This was pointed out by the
Channel Nine commentators prior to its round eight, Friday night match against the
Brisbane Broncos at
Suncorp Stadium (which was in fact Manly's first Friday night match in six years) which the Sea Eagles indeed lost by a scoreline of 38-12. The Sea Eagles suffered a late-season form slump with injuries plaguing the club, however wins over the Broncos in round 22 and the
Raiders in the final round ensured their first finals appearance since 1998. They crashed out of the finals with a 46-22 hammering from the minor premiers and bitter rivals
Parramatta.
This season also marked the beginning of the Sea Eagles' rivalry with the Melbourne Storm. In round three, both teams had won their opening two matches leading into an early-season top-of-the-table match which Manly won 25-18. Although Manly's time at the top of the ladder was short-lived, it proved that Manly could match it with the best sides in the competition. Steve Matai made his first grade debut in that match, a late replacement after John Hopoate was suspended, then sacked by the club.
2006 season
Season 2006, its 60th season in the competition, saw an average season in which the Manly side again advanced to the finals, finishing fifth. For this season only, a commemorative 60th anniversary logo was used on the player jerseys. Despite losing their first two matches of the season (both by small margins) the Sea Eagles built on their 2005 season to once again advance to the play-offs. Highlights in the season included wins over the Roosters in round 4, the Bulldogs in round 7, the Storm in round 11 and a last-gasp win over the defending premiers
Wests Tigers in round 14 in which
Brett Stewart scored a spectacular try in the last five minutes. Furthermore, their fear of playing matches at night were eliminated with the exception of losses to the eventual premiers Brisbane in round 10 and Melbourne in the final round.
Drawn an away final against their 1997 ARL Grand Final nemesis the Newcastle Knights, the Sea Eagles led at halftime only to see their lead run down in a controversial second half. Although they did advance a week further, the Sea Eagles' season ended with a 28-0 shutout at the hands of the St. George Illawarra Dragons. That match also marked Ben Kennedy's final game after two years in Manly colours.
2007 season
In 2007, Manly played in their 15th grand final against
Melbourne after defeating North Queensland at the Sydney Football Stadium 28 – 6. Manly were beaten 34 – 8 by the Storm on 30 September at Telstra Stadium, the game being notable for the sickening but apparently legal tackle of Manly fullback Brett Stewart by the Storm's Michael Crocker. Melbourne was later stripped of the 2007 title for salary cap breaches. Manly will not gain the trophy as a result of this, nor will they be recognised as the 2007 premiers (the premiers for 2007 and 2009 are instead being declared as null and void), despite calls by the fans and the Manly MP.
2008 season
With the departure of hooker
Michael Monaghan, many questioned whether Manly could be as competitive as in 2007 and losses in the first 2 rounds seemed to confirm this. Manly's first win came in round 3 at Brookvale with a 52-6 thrashing of the
New Zealand Warriors and followed this up with a 20-2 shutout of
South Sydney. In the round 5 grand final rematch against the Storm, Manly were soundly beaten 26-4 and doubt about their premiership credentials resurfaced. In Heritage Round (Rd 6) Manly had a season defining last gasp win over bitter rivals Parramatta, with Manly overcoming injuries before and during the game including to winger
Michael Bani who had to be stretchered off the ground after being knocked out.
Manly seemed to use this game as a springboard and entered a dangerous vein of form, notching up numerous impressive wins over top teams such as a 30-12 win over the Brisbane Broncos at Suncorp Stadium, a 42-0 annihilation of the Sydney Roosters at Brookvale Oval and a 34-14 win over the Gold Coast Titans at Skilled Park in round 17. In round 18 Manly avenged their opening round loss to bitter rivals and eventual preliminary finalists Cronulla with a 34-6 hammering of them at Toyota Stadium. In round 19, Manly once again faced historical rivals Parramatta and in a repeat of round 6, Manly lost halfback Matt Orford and lock Luke Williamson before the game and only minutes in five-eighth Jamie Lyon and prop Jason King were forced off the field with injury. An emotional King was later shown by Channel 9 cameras in the changerooms flipping over a table in frustration. Despite the setbacks and an early challenge from the Eels, Manly ran away with the game and finished 28-10 winners.
Some hiccups against the Roosters in round 20, the Storm in round 22 and the Rabbitohs in round 23 meant Manly finished the regular season tied first with Melbourne and Cronulla but 2nd on points differential and Manly missed out on claiming their first minor premiership since 1997. In the qualifying final manly faced 7th placed St. George at Brookvale. This game was club legend Steve Menzies's last ever game at Brookvale and he opened the scoring with an unusual charge down try in which after kicking ahead to himself and falling over, the ball bounced up and hit him in the head before he finally grounded it. Manly were easy 38-6 winners and departing Dragons centre Mark Gasnier was seen crying on the sidelines. After getting the week off, Manly faced the history making New Zealand Warriors whose late season charge got them into 8th place where they became the first 8th placed team to advance past qualifying finals with a dramatic and rare defeat of the Storm at Olympic Park. Despite an early challenge, Manly crushed the Warriors 32-6 and showcased their trademark wall of defense and attacking flair. With the win, Manly qualified for their 17th grand final where in a rematch of the 2007 decider, they would play the Melbourne Storm who had bounced back from the Warriors loss with wins over the Broncos and Sharks.
The story was very different for the Sea Eagles this time around as they decimated the Storm 40–0 to win their seventh premiership in front of 80,388 at ANZ Stadium. Ironically it was Michael Monaghan's replacement, the previously unknown Matt Ballin who scored the first try of the match. The game was also notable for winger Michael Robertson's hatrick and retiring legend Steve Menzies's try 10 minutes from full time, which he scored after coming back onto the field to replace the injured Steve Matai. Manly Brent Kite was awarded the Clive Churchill Medal after a powerhouse display which included a class try in the 58th minute. This is the largest winning margin in a grand final in rugby league history.
2009 season
The 2009 season boded poorly as a result of two incidents on the day of Manly's season launch. Second-rower Anthony Watmough was assaulted by a sponsor after allegedly making innapropiriate comments to his daughter . Brett Stewart later that night, allegedly sexually assaulted a 17-year old girl outside his apartment block, an incident which led to the dammning Four Corners investigation, "Code of Silence". Stewart was cleared of the charge in late September 2010.
Manly paid a $100,000 fine for failing to adequately punish Stewart for his offence. Stewart faced a brief trial at the time, and a further, more comprehensive trial began in March 2010. As a result of Stewart's absence, Manly lost their first four games of the season, crashing to last place after round four (thus becoming the first defending premier since Melbourne in 2000 to lose their first four matches of a season), before finally achieving a 23–10 win against the Tigers in which Stewart scored three tries in his first match for 2009. A double against Souths followed, before injury struck. Stewart only played five games overall in 2009 following a serious knee injury suffered in round six, before returning in round 25. The Sea Eagles snared fifth place at the end of the season and lost the first qualifying final to eventual grand final winners Melbourne 40–12 in a one-sided contest played at Melbourne's Etihad Stadium. Due to other unfavourable results occurring on the weekend, Manly were eliminated from the premiership race. This premiership was also stripped from the Storm.
2010 season
In 2010, Manly started the season with a team of many new faces, including young play-maker Kieran Foran. After narrowly losing their first two games of the season, Manly won their third, following three matches against Newcastle, the Warriors and the Sharks before a late season slump saw them settle for eighth position on the ladder. Manly players were not involved in any further violations in 2010, and embarked on an active program of community engagement, which includes activities such as reading at schools and raising money for charities.
Manly spent much of the middle of the season near the top of the ladder and were earmarked as a possible premiership contender with impressive wins over the St. George Illawarra Dragons and the Wests Tigers. Inconsistent form, injuries and suspensions caused a dramatic slide down the ladder and Manly were lucky to settle on 8th and just make the finals. Had it not been for the Melbourne Storm salary cap breach earlier in the season, Manly would have missed the finals altogether for the first time since 2004. In round 25 ballplaying second-rower Glenn Stewart was suspended for 4 matches for high shot on Sydney Roosters captain Braith Anasta and in round 26 centre Steve Matai was suspended for 7 matches for a high tackle that knocked out Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs hooker Michael Ennis. Their 2010 season ended with a dismal 28-0 hammering from the eventual premiers St. George Illawarra, although Manly were still in the game with 15 minutes remaining. Manly went into this game with 11 of their first choice players out with either injury or suspension and many of those who did play were still carrying injuries.
2011 season
At the end of the 2010 season Manly lost
Trent Hodkinson who signed a massive deal with the
Bulldogs from the 2011 season onwards, as well as
Josh Perry and
Ben Farrar to the European
Super League. Manly have not made any huge signings for the 2011 season. This was mirrored with its lowly 8th placing in the 2010 season, its lowest placing since 2005. However,
Brett Stewart and
David Williams are expected to return from long-term knee injuries which wiped them out for all but 76 minutes of the 2010 season. Manly has also announced plans to take games into Asia in 2011 with
Macau,
Singapore and
China being likely destinations.
Manly's 2011 season started with an 18-6 loss to the Melbourne Storm in Melbourne. Brett Stewart made minimal impact in the match but escaped injury-free. This was followed with an upset 27-16 win over last year's beaten Grand Finalists, the Sydney Roosters, where Manly went into the match without its captain Jamie Lyon, Shane Rodney, Dean Whare and Glenn Stewart through injury and also Jason King and Steve Matai through suspension. Brett Stewart was appointed acting captain for the Roosters match. This is regarded as one of the most commendable wins in Manly's history and featured outstanding performances by its younger players including Kieran Foran, Jamie Buhrer, William Hopoate and Vic Mauro. This was followed up with a 26-12 win over the Newcastle Knights at home, before a desperately unlucky loss against the South Sydney Rabbitohs by 32-30 which ended Manly's unbeaten run at Bluetongue Stadium, having won all of its matches at the venue beforehand.
Off-field controversy struck again when Anthony Watmough and Terence Seu Seu were both stood down by the club for urinating in public prior to its round five match against Cronulla at Toyota Stadium. The Sea Eagles were in trouble midway through the second half, at 13-0 down, before scoring 19 unanswered points, including a try after the siren by Michael Oldfield, to give the Silvertails a 19-13 victory.
Emblem and colours
Upon entering the NSWRL, the Manly club took on the colours of maroon and white. These were adopted from the colours of the President's Cup side who wore the colours of the local Freshwater Surf Lifesaving Club, which was previously established in the area in 1908.
The club's first jersey was maroon with a large white 'V' on the front. Manly teams were one of the first to feature an emblem, with an 'MW' appearing in the early 1950s. Far from the flashy logos worn today, the Manly‘Sea Eagle’which appeared in the mid 1950s was often confused for a seagull by many, including the media.
Various changes to the jersey were introduced at irregular intervals. The classic 'V' design was radically changed during the years of Pepsi sponsorship during the 90s. In addition, the club has broken up the maroon jersey with hoops, bars, large eagles, player numbers, stripes, double stripes, top and bottoms, collars, no collars, reversed colours and even the use of blue.
The team had been referred to as the 'Sea Eagles' as early as 1971.
Manly would change their Sea Eagle logo in 1998 following the introduction of the new competition. A new stylised sea eagle appeared under the 'Sea Eagles' banner, much more fierce and aggressive than its predecessor. It featured predominatley maroon, white, yellow and blue to symbolise the connection the club had with its major sponsor at the time Pepsi. This logo would not last however when the ill fated merger with North Sydney Bears in 2000 saw them take on the Northern Eagles moniker instead.
Upon their return in 2003, Manly opted to revert back to the previous logo but tweaked the logo slightly to focus on the sea eagle itself and include Warringah in the clubs name again. They also returned to their original colours of maroon and white, a symbol of their roots steming back from 1947. This logo has been in use since then.
A commemorative logo was used throughout the 2006 season to mark the 60th anniversary of their inclusion in the competition.
During the 2007 pre-season, the club introduced a limited number of 65 playing and memorabilia green and white jerseys, for a trial match against the Melbourne Storm.
Stadium
When Manly were accepted into the competition, the local Manly Council denied the club permission to use Manly Oval as a home ground. The council at the time was very pro-
rugby union and attempted to stop the rival code spread to the area. Because of this, the club decided instead to acquire Brookvale Showground in order to host matches, which was supported by Warringah Council.
The ground was mostly renovated between 1965 and 1980, including the construction of two grandstands along both the southern end (Southern Stand) and western side (Jane Try Stand) of the ground. In the early 1990s, these two grandstands were connected by the Ken Arthurson Stand. The ground has also retained grassy hill areas along the eastern and northern edges. On 1 September 2008, the Southern Stand was renamed the Fulton-Menzies Stand.
Today the ground has a capacity of about 23,000. In 2006, the ground saw its largest average attendance over an entire season, with an average of 15,484 patrons watching each of the club's 11 matches played there. The record crowd at the ground is 27,655, set in the final round of the 1986 season. Since the club started playing in 1947, over five and a half million spectators have visited the ground.
In recent years, Manly have received criticism over the state of facilities at Brookvale Oval. In 2007, Manly stepped up their campaign for government funding to improve the stadium, culminating in a "Save Brookvale Oval" Rally on 21 November. As of September 2008, $4,000,000 of Warringah Council funding and a $6,000,000 NSW State Government grant has been secured by the club to allow for the initial redevelopment of the Jane Try Stand (with an additional level) and improvements to the Southern Stand and other amenities. A further $10,000,000 is being sought from the Federal Government for the development of an eastern stand, with the intention of maintaining a 10-metre deep grassed area in front of it.
Rivalries
There is a saying in Rugby League: 'Every week, you go for two teams: your team, and the team Manly is playing against'. During Manly's first run of success in the 1970s, Manly had a habit of purchasing top players from their main rivals for the title, creating deep animosity. At the same time there were a number of ex-Manly officials in the top eschelons of the NSWRFL and ARL, and Manly were accused of running the league to suit themselves. At the same time there were a number of refereeing mistakes in Manly's favour in crucial games during the 70s. These factors, combined with Manly's ongoing ability to renew their team and build sides that win championships has led to their enduring position as the team that fans love to hate. In particular Manly has distinct rivalries with the following teams;
North Sydney – The first, and most obvious, was the local derbies between North Sydney. As well as taking many of Norths' playing stock, due to the residential rule imposed at the time, Manly had bought further stars from the North Sydney club – including Ken Irvine, Cliff Lyons and Martin Bella. Even the fact that North Sydney are no longer competing in the top league has fueled this rivalry, with many Bears supporters believing that Manly systematically pushed the North Sydney element out of the Northern Eagles joint venture.
Parramatta Eels – Another rivalry was with fellow debutants from 1947, Parramatta. Not much was made of their clashes until the mid 70's, and in particular the 1976 Grand Final in which Manly denied the Parramatta club a maiden premiership. Further clashes through to the mid 80's cemented a fierce rivalry between many of the clubs supporters. This rivalry has continued through the 2000s, with many notable matches between these clubs, arguably the most notable being the 36–34 win to Manly, at Brookvale, on 18 May 2003, which was the first ever golden point match, Ben Walker, the Manly 5/8th scoring the winning penalty goal, the 23–22 Manly win on 30 April 2006 at the SCG, after being down 16–0 near the end of the first half, the match being held as part of a 30th anniversary event of the famous 1976 Grand Final , and the 20–16 win to Manly, at Parramatta Stadium, on 18 April 2008 where Manly won after having 4 players forced off through injury throughout the match, and Heath L'Estrange scoring the match-winning (and his first) try for Manly in the 75th minute
South Sydney Rabbitohs – There was a small rivalry between these two clubs from 1947 to 1971, as along with the St. George Dragons, they were the powerhouses of the time and they played each other in the 1951, 1968 and 1970 Grand Finals. From 1972, the rivalry became bigger, due to the abolition of certain restrictions on player movement between clubs. With the ability to freely negotiate with players from other clubs, the Sea Eagles signed many of South Sydney's stars, including Ray Branighan and John O'Neill, and more recently Ian Roberts and Mark Carroll.
Western Suburbs Magpies – Also during this time, the clashes between Western Suburbs Magpies and Manly were billed as a battle between the "Silvertails" and the "Fibros," especially by the Wests coach, Roy Masters. This distinction between perceived classes of people fuelled many tough matches between the clubs, particularly after Manly acquired several top players from the Magpies such as John Dorahy, Les Boyd, David Gillespie. The Silvertails and Fibros monikers first appeared in the 1970s in articles written by reporter Chris Masters, Roy's brother, in the late 70's.
Newcastle Knights – Since the mid-90's, Manly has also built a rivalry with the Newcastle Knights club. In many ways this mirrors the Manly/Wests clashes where class distinction is used to fuel the perceived underdogs, in this case the working class city of Newcastle. In 1997, both Manly and Newcastle fought out the decider, with Newcastle winning 22–16. Recently, in the 2007 August 10 match to commemorate the 1997 grand final Manly took revenge, thumping the knights 50–16. Other notable recent matches were the 13–12 win to Newcastle in golden point, in Rd. 2 2008 and the fiery 16–10 win to Manly, at Newcastle, on 11 August 2006, when Andrew Johns was charged after an outburst at the match officials.
Melbourne Storm – In recent years Manly have recently built up an on-field rivalry with the Melbourne Storm club. The rivalry started in 2005 with Manly defeating Melbourne 25-18 in an early season top-of-the-table clash. The resurgent Manly team finally found their path to a premiership headed by one of the most dominant (but illegal) teams assembled in the NRL. Over the 2007–2008 seasons, both teams were the clear top-two clubs of the premiership with Melbourne taking the honours in 2007, before Manly clearly reversed the result posting a record breaking 40-0 unprecedented annihilation of the storm to take the 2008 honours, the biggest grand final winning margin in NRL history. Prior to the 2007 decider however, Manly won a close match 13-12 at Brookvale Oval which was notable for the sickening broken leg suffered by Manly prop George Rose. After this match, an ABC commentator was noted as saying: "The next time you will see these two teams go head-to-head will be on 30 September (the date of the NRL Grand Final)". In 2008, Melbourne won both regular season matches before Manly won the 2008 title. In 2009, Melbourne won the first encounter at Brookvale Oval whilst later on in the season Manly won in Melbourne, its first ever there. Three weeks later, these two teams clashed in the first week of the finals when the Sea Eagles travelled to Melbourne's Etihad Stadium to open the 2009 Finals Series against the Melbourne Storm with the Storm getting revenge for the previous year's grand final loss by winning 40 to 12. The Storm's title against Manly, as well as its most recent premiership has since been stripped from them as a result of salary cap breaches that were disclosed by the NRL on 22 April 2010. There has since been calls for Manly to be awarded the 2007 title, which will not occur. Given the Sea Eagles were the last genuine premiers, they argued that they should have been the defending premiers in 2010, however the NRL refused to acknowledge this. St. George Illawarra are currently the genuine defending premiers.
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks – Manly played the Sharks in two grand finals during the 1970s. The Sea Eagles took both titles, 10–7 in 1973 and 16–0 in the 1978 replay. This was after the 78 grand final ended in an 11-all draw. These two grand finals are renowned for being the most brutal in history. Today, the rivalry remains strong between the Sharks and the Sea Eagles, the battle of the Northern and Southern Beaches. Another interesting note is their record at each other's home grounds. Cronulla has only won five times at Brookvale in four decades, while Manly went twenty one years without a victory at the Sharks home ground, before finally breaking the drought with a 29–22 win in Rd, 19 2007 and continuing their good form by smashing them 34–6, at Cronulla, in Rd. 18 2008 , which cemented Manly as a top side, although somewhat ironically Cronulla had had a rare 16–10 win against Manly at Brookvale Oval in Round 1 that year in what was a successful season for both sides. Both teams looked destined to make the 2008 NRL Grand Final, but Cronulla were soundly beaten 28–0 by the Melbourne Storm who were without suspended captain Cameron Smith, putting the Sharks rivalry on the backburner while the Storm rivalry intensified.
Players
2011 Squad
2011 Player Transfers
IN
Daniel Harrison (from Canterbury Bulldogs)
Tim Robinson (from Parramatta Eels)
Liam Foran (from Newtown Jets)
Ray Moujalli (from Sydney Roosters)
OUT
Chris Bailey (to Harlequins RL)
Ben Farrar (to Catalans Dragons)
Trent Hodkinson (to Canterbury Bulldogs)
Josh Perry (to St Helens)
Lama Tasi (to Sydney Roosters)
Notable players
In 1990, the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles club recognised their players, past and present, with a team announced to reflect the best squad up to that point. That team is listed below.
In 2006, a Dream Team of former Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles players was selected by a panel of selectors which featured former Manly-Warringah administrator Ken Arthurson, respected rugby league writer Ian Heads, the club Chairman Kerry Sibraa and journalist Phil Rothfield.
Coaches
Harold Johnston – 1947
Ray Stehr – 1947–1948
George Mullins – 1949
Wally O'Connell – 1950–1952 and 1966–1967
Roy Bull – 1953
Ray Norman – 1954
Pat Devery – 1955–1956
Ken Arthurson – 1957–1961
Ron Willey – 1962 and 1970–1974
Tony Paskins – 1963
Russell Pepperell – 1964–1965
George Hunter – 1968–1969
Frank Stanton – 1975–1979
Allan Thomson – 1980
Ray Ritchie – 1981–1982
Bob Fulton – 1983–1988 and 1993–1999
Alan Thompson – 1989
Graham Lowe – 1990–1992
Peter Sharp – 1999 and 2003¹
Des Hasler – 2004–present
¹ Sharp was also coach of the
Northern Eagles between 2000 and 2002.
Statistics and records
Honours
Supporters
The Sea Eagles, nicknamed the Silvertails, are well known as a team that most working-class rugby league fans traditionally love to hate. Notable supporters of the club include
Jim Anderson,
Allen Aylett,
Wendy Harmer,
Hugh Jackman,
Thomas Keneally,
Doug Mulray,
Peter Phelps,
Miles Stewart and
Sarah Murdoch.
References
Sources
Rugby League History; Sean Fagan
Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players, 1999; Alan Whiticker and Glen Hudson
ABC of Rugby League, 1995; Malcolm Andrews
Heritage Report on Brookvale Oval, Mayne-Wilson & Associates; August 2005
External links
Rugby League Tables and Statistics; Paul Jeffs
Official Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Website
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Annual Report 2008
Silvertails, Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Supporters site, group and Forums
Category:Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
Category:Australian rugby league clubs
Category:Rugby clubs established in 1947
Category:National Rugby League clubs
Category:Rugby league teams in New South Wales
Category:Rugby league teams in Sydney
