Manly Sea Eagles, Premiers Again!
I ADMIT IT… I was wrong. Yes I tipped Manly as 2008 Grand Final certainties… but I only gave you 10 reasons why they’d win. There were 40! I said (and I quote) “We’ll win, but it won’t be a blow out”. How wrong can a footy fan be? I’ll take my 40 lashes… it’s worth it.
The Drum
By Dave Keogh
What a win! How good was it?! Never before has there been a 40 point margin in a Grand Final. And yet even with the lop-sided nature of the second half, the footie was exhilarating.
There was the Robertson hat-trick (with one scored off that brilliant kick from Ox)... the Wolfman in the other corner off Glenn Stewart... Matai v Folau all match... Jamie Lyon everywhere in attack and defence... Kite, King and Hall hammering them up the middle... Steve Bell putting the icing on the cake by swallowing a now trademark flick pass from Brett Stewart (the Snake’s 3rd try assist for the match)... and of course, the best moment of all... The Beaver scoring with 10 to go in his last match in Australia and then slicing down Billy Slater in a classic grass-cutter as his final action for Manly, just before the final whistle... highlight after highlight at a hundred miles per hour.
And over 80,000 fans going nuts for Manly at the stadium… when was the last time that happened? I’ll tell you… NEVER! Back in Manly and the scenes were stunning… cars everywhere with flags and streamers trailing behind, honking horns, waving frantically at fellow supporters. Then the next day as the sun shone through, revellers who may or may not have grabbed a few hours sleep the night before returned to Manly wearing jerseys and caps, or T-shirts already proudly proclaiming ‘PREMIERS 2008’… I even saw a hardy few adorned with the Northern Eagles strip as a badge of honour… evidence of their non-failing support through bad times as well as good. The tall trees on The Corso were draped in maroon and white as fans took over the annual Jazz Festival, marching behind street musicians with giant Manly flags waving in time to the music.
Seven premiership titles now… winning one or more in each of the last four decades (70s, 80s, 90s and now the 2000s). Two grand finals in a row and no reason why we can’t make it three straight next year as our last great team did in 1995, ’96 and ’97. And the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles have won the premiership in the year Rugby League celebrates its centenary… that really is one for the record books!
It was a glorious weekend to be a Manly fan. Of course, Des and the boys had worked hard since the beginning of the year to make it happen… for themselves and for us. A season that had a wonderful symmetry about it, starting with a Trial match against The Storm and finishing with that Grand Final, again against Melbourne. Talk about being trained to the minute! If Des Hasler trained thoroughbreds he’d give Bart Cummings a run for his money every first Tuesday in November.
Remember before the season ever started… that terrible trial match in February at Bluetongue Stadium in Gosford? We continued our then bad record against The Storm, losing 56-10. Then there were the first two matches of the season… those two shock losses to Cronulla and the Knights. That’s when the stories started in the media saying we were lost without Michael Monaghan at hooker. That we’d struggle even to make the final eight this year, let alone repeat a Grand Final appearance. March seems a long time ago doesn’t it?
We won our next two matches, thumping the Warriors 52-6 in Round 3, but in Round 5 we came up against Melbourne again… and again finished on the wrong side of the scoreboard, losing 26-4 at Olympic Park. This monkey was going to take some getting off our back.
Four good wins followed before The Dragons got under our guard at Brookie (by two points) in a game we should never have lost. Then came a run of seven wins in a row before the Roosters got us at the SFS, avenging the 42-0 drubbing we’d handed them at Fortress Brookvale in June. We nailed the Panthers as winter came to an end then fought the Storm in ‘the Battle of Brookie’ deep into August. They got us again (this time by just six points), but it was a match we very nearly won and you got a sense that the tide was turning.
That match took a bit out of us and resulted in a ridiculous game of touch against Souths the following weekend… but that was the last match we even looked like losing this season.
Like a stayer peaking for the Melbourne Cup, Des had his charges primed for the big matches in September. We flogged the Tigers mercilessly, then thumped both the Titans and the Panthers in the run in to the semis. Then Beaver played his last match ever at Brookie in a semi-final against St. George… a match that also marked the last time Mark Gasnier would play rugby league in Australia. Gasnier scored a great try that night… but Manly scored plenty more to run out 38-6 winners.
The Grand Final qualifier was against the Warriors… and again we held the opposition to just 6 points while scoring more than 30. And that brought us to that glorious Sunday afternoon at ANZ Stadium in front of 80,000 plus screaming fans.
The 40-0 score line meant the mighty Sea Eagles had racked up 112 points in three finals matches and conceded just 12. We were renowned for our defence all season, yet our attack resulted in 220 points over our last six matches of the year, compared with just 54 against… (or an average result of 37-9).
Listen to me saying “we” like I played beside the Ox, Lyon, Beaver, Snake and all those other majestic animals in their huge Premiership victory. But that’s what following Manly is like. Media Manager Peter Peters put it beautifully in an e-mail he sent me in response to my personal congratulations. He simply said:
“This victory is for all those fans with maroon and white in their blood and decades and generations of support behind them. The enormity of the victory and the manner in which it was achieved made it a special day for the people of the northern beaches. Kids are wearing our jersey with pride again and that is all we can ask, because they in turn will pass on the passion to their children in the future.”
It was a victory for Manly, the team and Manly, the district. And importantly, it was the best way possible to send out our amazing champion Steven ‘The Beaver’ Menzies. He’s off for a final year in Bradford where he’ll probably re-write the record books again playing for The Bulls. Consider this for a back rower… a forward who’s defended brilliantly for 15 years at Manly in the thick of the toughest game on earth…
Steve Menzies played 349 1st grade games - all for the Eagles… and would have played many more if an injury early in his career hadn’t sidelined him for a considerable time. That’s the all-time record for 1st grade games, held in conjunction with Canterbury and Western Suburbs legend, Terry Lamb. His Grand Final try on Sunday left him with a total of 180 ‘meat pies’ … more than any other player in 100 years of rugby league except fellow Manly legend (and perhaps the fastest winger of all time) Ken Irvine. That’s incredible!
On top of all that, he’s just about the best role model the game has ever known… the man who made all Sydney cheer for Manly last Sunday against the invaders from south of the border.
Good luck Beaver. Thanks for the memories. And thanks to Des who though originally from the foot of the mountains, is as Manly as Chesty Bond and Norfolk Pines. Thanks too to the rest of Hasler’s coaching team, the trainers, recruitment officer ‘Crusher’ Cleal, the Manly management, to our 18th Man, the great Tooves and to Max Delmege and Scott Penn for saving the mighty Eagles from oblivion. And of course, thanks to the sensational 17 players who took the field on Sunday and the other 10 Des used throughout the year… and a fond farewell to Steve Bell and Luke Williamson who’ll join the Beaver overseas next year.
What a ride the last 5 years has been… every season taking us inexorably closer to the pinnacle achieved on October 5, 2008. Dare we look ahead to 2009? Why not? You can bet Des Hasler’s started planning the defence of our campaign already.
We lose some terrific players and one out and out champion… but the Crusher’s made sure we’ll be competitive again with good buys including giant teenager Tony Williams from Parramatta and Chris Bailey from Newcastle. Will Des be able to keep their minds on the job through another long season? If anyone can, it’s Des.
After surviving the horror brought upon us by the so-called Super League, we have reason to stay optimistic. As it says on a banner on the official Sea Eagles web site… “We will live forever!”
Our Manly columnist Dave Keogh has been a professional writer for some 30 years, contributing to publications as broad as Modern Fishing and Outdoor. He honed a passion writing a regular column – Talking Tennis – for The Manly Daily. With a varied history including work as a music industry publicist, theatrical agent, band manager, poet, editor and tennis coach, he found his niche in advertising, and with loads of awards under his belt, Dave went into business on his own and now runs several very successful businesses, including an online community connecting sport-loving people – http://www.doubledrummer.com/ Most importantly, Dave loves sport, and is an avid supporter of The Manly Sea Eagles…