Manly
Sea Eagles
Sean Fagan of RL1908.com
Part
1 / Part
2
The
origins of the "rugby" game in the Manly area
(on the northern side of Sydney Harbour) can be
traced back to as early as the 1870s. Manly Rugby
Union was initially denied a place in the first
Sydney district competition at the start
of the 20th century - it being suggested that
the area join resources with North Sydney. Manly
chose to go alone and eventually was admitted
in 1906 to the Sydney competition.
But
before the end of their second season, 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.
Influential
people within the Manly community, including many
who were players and officials involved in the
Manly rugby union club, met with the founders
of the NSWRL with a view to including a Manly
team in the 1908 rugby league competition.
However, the fact that Manly had only just been
admitted to the Sydney RU competition, weighed
heavily on those involved - would the club be
expelled if negotiations continued, and what if
the League failed within a season or two? The
district was not prepared to risk its relatively
new district rugby club and flirtations with rugby
league ceased. To be fair though, the area north
of the Manly town village was nothing more than
farms where it wasn't still scrub - hardly a population
base to support a team.
Expansion of the population up "the peninsula"
didn't really take hold until the 1920s. The Sydney
rugby union competition was run on residential
qualification requirements and the Manly club
did not possess sufficient player strength to
win a premiership title until 1922. Until that
time the club was unable to even run any junior
competitions in the fledgling district. If there
were any young men who wanted to play rugby league
from the Manly area they would have to venture
to North Sydney to do it - few (if any at all)
did.
Amidst
the effect of the Great Depression, Rugby League
finally came to Manly and the peninsula in 1932
when a Manly and Warringah Junior League was established
under the senior district club - North Sydney.
The initial A Grade teams were North Curl Curl,
Harbord, Manly Juniors (maroon with white V),
Brookvale (maroon and gold) and Narrabeen. Use
of grounds of reasonable standard was difficult,
especially as Manly Council denied the use of
Manly Oval. The Council though had no issue with
the Manly rugby union club's use of the ground.
Meanwhile, Warringah Council with its very limited
resources was bending over backwards to assist
the new sport and provided the Junior League with
an enclosed ground - Brookvale Showground.
The
formation of the Manly-Warringah Junior League
afforded the area with its first representative
team in the NSWRL's Presidents Cup state knockout
competition for U'18 players.
Manly's (Manly-Warringah) first match was ironically
against North Sydney. It was played as a curtain-raiser
to the June 6 Ashes Test match between Australia
and Jim Sullivan's touring English Lions.
The
crowd at the Sydney Cricket Ground presented an
intimidating experience for the young men from
the peninsula as they prepared in the dressing
the room - the SCG crowd was well over 70,000.
But, being the "new boys" the crowd got behind
Manly as the game got under way, but the experienced
Norths team ran out winners 32-6.
The
Junior League struggled for player numbers and
income, particularly during WW2 when they lost
use of their only enclosed (paying) ground when
Brookvale Oval was seconded for military operations.
The use of Manly Oval by rugby league was still
not permitted by the Council. The fledgling Junior
clubs relied upon grants from the NSWRL and North
Sydney just to see out the 1942 season.
However,
the area was starting to provide quality resources
to North's stocks with 21 Manly-reared juniors
graded in 1943 including Frank Collins, Teddy
Rudd, Max Whitehead, Keith Kirkwood, Gus Kellock
and union convert Kelly McMahon. Towards the end
of WW2 junior numbers and clubs was on a steep
rise and the push for District status gained momentum.
Any
request to the NSWRL though could only proceed
through the North Sydney club - who had no obligation
to pass the matter on. However, Norths did not
ever really stand in front of Manly's objectives,
despite knowing the impact it would have its own
success.
Manly
had made its first attempt for inclusion in the
First Grade competition as far back as April 1937.
The hope was that with the impending demise of
the Sydney University club, Manly could simply
step up into their place. The NSWRL though were
not satisfied as to the district's ability to
sustain a team and opted to reduce its competition
back to a symmetrical eight teams and thus eliminate
the bye.
In
1944 Manly again sought entry but were rejected
due to the present uncertainty of the war and
that Manly Oval wasn't of acceptable standard
(let alone the Manly Council's stance). Manly,
however, were advised that after the war the matter
would be revisited.
The increasing number of Manly juniors in the
North Sydney grades was well understood, but the
real acknowledgement of Manly's arrival at an
acceptable playing standard would only come if
they won the Presidents Cup - something they had
been unable to do.
Come
1946 though and Manly finally delivered the final
proof of their ability - they won the Presidents
Cup. The team, which included Freshwater player
Roy Bull, won three sudden-death matches to take
the title. They beat Western Districts 5-2, then
knocked-out Easts 15-11 and faced up to North
Sydney in the Final. The game was played as a
curtain-raiser to an Ashes Test - this time it
was before 65,000 fans who were eagerly awaiting
the first post-war Test match which was between
Australia and Gus Risman's Lions.
Manly
held out North Sydney in a close fought game by
12-8 and the feeling on the peninsula was that
they could no longer be denied. On November 4
1946 Manly again sent a deputation to the NSWRL.
Attending with them were officials from North
Sydney who were supporting Manly's request. Norths
selflessly put forward Manly's bid, even though
its inclusion would see them lose a large number
of players from all grades with the immediate
application of the residential rule. But Norths
took the view that the distance many players,
officials and supporters were forced to travel
to be part of the Bears meant that the expansion
of rugby league was suffering.
They believed that Manly's inclusion would provide
a far better platform for League to gain a hold
over Union in the area. However, while Parramatta
Council was assisting with the bid for district
club status in its area by allowing open use and
developing Cumberland Oval, the Manly Council
was still staunchly in the Union camp. Despite
increased media and community pressure towards
the Council to allow use of Manly Oval, it did
not change its stance and Manly's bid proceeded
with Brookvale Oval as its home ground.
The
NSWRL accepted Manly's application and, along
with Parramatta, they were granted admission to
the 1947 competition.
North
Sydney 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.
The
exodus of Norths players included Ray Black, Johnny
Bliss, Mackie Campbell, Ern Cannon, John Clough,
A.J. Collins, Harry Grew, Jim Hall, Len Johnson,
Reo Jones, Gus Kellock, A. Kerle, Keith Kirkwood,
Harry Luker, Reg Mullens, Kelly McMahon, Basil
Seymour, Jim Walsh, Max Whitehead and Gordon Willoughby.
The Manly Sea Eagles began its maiden premiership
season completely bereft of funds. As a new club
it had to start from scratch relying on donations
and the players which qualified by the residential
rule. There was no money to buy any players from
the bush, and if there had been money, there would
have been no time for any Sydney players to qualify
(twelve months residence being required to move
clubs). Income had to come from spectators attending
Brookvale Oval, which was well away from the Manly
township.
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 Wests at Brookvale
Oval on Saturday April 12, 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.
Despite
scoring three tries to one, the Magpies beat Manly
15-13 as Wests' Bill Keato kicked six goals on
the back of a multitude of scrum penalties awarded
by referee Aub Oxford.
By the end of May the club had failed to notch
a win from its first six matches. By the time
fellow new-starters Parramatta arrived at Brookvale
Oval for the round seven game, Manly fans were
wondering if they would ever register a win. But
it did come as Manly delivered five unconverted
tries to dispose of the Eels by 15-7.
The
season highlight without any doubt though was
the 33-0 smacking of the high-flying Newtown Bluebags
at Brookvale Oval. Somehow Manly's coach, the
great Ray Stehr, had hatched a plan to bring Newtown
down even though they were as a team and individually
miles in front of the class of the Sea Eagles.
Stehr had Manly continually kicking the ball back
to Newtown, even when they won the ball against
the feed from scrums, just so his players could
keep hitting the Bluebags players.
He also employed a tactic of kicking the ball
over the defensive line and behind where the Newtown
wingers were, just to keep wearing the team down.
The tactic worked as Manly's 18 stone centre Eric
Bathgate continually hit into and mauled Newtown's
backs, especially their star centre Len Smith.
Manly eventually ran over the tired Newtown side
by an incredible 33-0.
Though
Manly only won four games in 1947, it was one
more than Parramatta and that was enough to avoid
the wooden spoon.
The
following two seasons produced few highlights
for the club apart from the selection of local
junior Roy Bull in the Australian team for a Test
against New Zealand. His selection had wider implications
as he was able to convince fellow Test players
Kevin Schubert and Wally O'Connell (who had both
been playing in Wollongong) to make the move to
Manly for the 1950 season.
Manly
saw these two players as providing much needed
on-field direction (in the shape of five-eighth
O'Connell) and value (from the ball-winning skills
of hooker Schubert). They also saw O'Connell as
a captain-coach who could lead the young Manly
players on the field.
However
Eastern Suburbs, who had said goodbye to O'Connell
before the start of the 1949 season, claimed that
his move to Manly was a breach of the residential
rule.
The
NSWRL upheld Easts appeal despite O'Connell protesting
he had done everything properly. O'Connell felt
so betrayed by his old club that he refused to
go back to Easts and decided to sit out the 1950
season, taking on with Manly the role of non-playing
coach.
O'Connell
said that even though he felt the Manly officials
he had been negotiating with were inexperienced,
at least they had been honourable in their dealings
- he felt he could not let the young club down.
The
result was O'Connell, who had played in the nine
previous Australian teams lost his Test spot for
the coveted series against Great Britain. His
sacrifice immediately turned O'Connell into Manly's
first hero.
O'Connell did well with the Manly team and mid-season
they were bound for the semi-finals. However,
as the pressure grew towards the back end of the
season, the absence of O'Connell's on-field presence
came to the fore and the inexperienced team fell
away. However it did bode well for the 1951 season
when O'Connell would be able to take the field.
In
1951 the peninsula rode the back of an inspiring
season from O'Connell and his team that included
Gordon Willoughby, Kevin Schubert, Roy Bull, Ron
Rowles, George Hunter and Ken Arthurson. After
a very impressive regular season the Sea Eagles
pushed past Wests 37-9 and then St. George 18-8
in back-to-back semi-final wins. After only four
seasons Manly were in the Grand Final - it was
dizzy days for the club.
Unfortunately
the win over St. George came with a price as O'Connell
fractured his wrist. He toyed with the idea of
playing in the Grand Final but would have required
a pain-killing needle to do it - he chose to stand
down in favour of "thirteen fit players". But
the fatal flaw of the 1950 season returned again
as the Sea Eagles lacked direction across the
field and floundered in the face of a St. George
onslaught - losing 42-14 in a disappointing end
to what had been a magnificent season.
Manly
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