HAPPY BIRTHDAY SILVERTAILS

[Mark from Brisbane]

That's correct @Bradza BUT there was one before that , and I was a part of that as well. Run by young Australian of the year ( I think he won that. ) Bryan Gaensler , it just prior to and during the NE days. Bryan was ( is ) a scientist and did a stint in the US and closed his site down , Aaron's OEE came after that .

 

[globaleagle]

Thank goodness Penrith smashed us that night in 2004 or we might not be here celebrating 10 years!

It's a great thing you have done Dan - bloody legend.

The loss to Penrith that year has been brought up and addressed previously in this thread to say that it couldn't have been the loss to Penrith that initiated the birth of Alternate Eagles (Silvertails).

The 72 - 12 flogging that Penrith gave us was on 7/8/2004. Alternate Eagles was already up and running for 23 days prior to that according to the joining date (15/7/04) of the original members in the member's list.

Prior to 15/7/2004, we had a loss 56 - 12 against the Knights on 27/6/2004, another loss against the Dogs 50 - 32 on 4/7/2004 and a win against the Tigers 26 - 18 on 11/7/2004 so going by those results, it would have to have been either the Knights or the Dogs who we would have to thank.

http://stats.rleague.com/rl/teams/manly/manly_by.html#2004

wow, you guys sucked back then. Glad I arrived and fixed everything.

 

[Bradza]

You're right Jethro, the seeds were already sown but the Penrith loss was the downpour that caused the floodgates to open resulting in a torrent of defecting posters.

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

And @Jethro and @Chip and Chase I probably have you two to thank for being here still, yes I could have almost been an early casualty of the " smite " system.

These days I am far more internet savvy!!

Certainly been some fun times in my 6 years

 

[Jethro]

That's correct @Bradza BUT there was one before that , and I was a part of that as well. Run by young Australian of the year ( I think he won that. ) Bryan Gaensler , it just prior to and during the NE days. Bryan was ( is ) a scientist and did a stint in the US and closed his site down , Aaron's OEE came after that .

@"Mark from Brisbane"

Bryan Gaensler's website can still be found here:

http://www.physics.usyd.edu.au/~bmg/manly.html

and the comments here:

http://www.physics.usyd.edu.au/~bmg/manly/comments.html

If you scroll down to the 8th comment you will find the following:

"Unfortunately I could not make it Brookie on Sunday to farewell that grand old gentleman Sir Cliff Lyons. Yes that's what I reckon they should add to his title, drop the Mr & add "Sir".

It is almost impossible to imagine a Manly game without Cliffy there setting up trys for Beaver Menzies (I just wonder how many of his career 88 trys were scored.....Lyons to Menzies who scores???????? ....it would be interesting to know?) And what about his efforts in the 1987 and all the 90's Grand Final's (hope there is one more there for you Cliff), truely unforgetable.

I watched from afar on Sunday and Foxtel did not show any of the post game celebrations and despite the wet weather I hope everyone at the game gave him the sendoff he deserves. Look I know everyone is sad to seem him go, and so am I, and yes perhaps he would have been a great fresh reserve for another couple of years but the game must go on as does life.

To Sir Cliff, you have been the heart and soul of the Eagles for the last 13 years, good luck in your retirement (but it's ok for you to play in the UK) and most of all,

"Thanks for the memories"
Mark from Moree"

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

My favourite all time player, and managed to catch up with him for a beer ( or two) in Round 1 this year, what a legend !!

---

@Jethro and thanks for the memories mate a real " blast from the past ".

 

[Dan]

In actual fact the site started sometime in Early June or late May 2004 however we lost the original start date in forum moves and pruning of threads that had to be done back then, before the web realised pruning content was dumb.

I still remember trying to sell the idea of starting the site to my then girlfriend who was an accountant.

The site had been up a fair while before the Penrith game, as I was sitting at the Steyne with Ryan and Chuckwood during that game, and I met both of them through this site, so it had been up long enough to forge a friendship with them.

My guess is that the actual date that Silvertails started was actually a fair bit sooner to when we generally accept its birthday.

More or less the site started because of the Oracle basically running riot on OEE and haig and Aaron being unable to do much to stop him, at the same time MWSE was controlled by one group of guys who really had a disliking for us, for whatever reason and we had no where else to go. So a few of us decided to start the site, I had the technical know-how or was learning at any rate and the guys had the passion.

We went through some great times together on the hill even during the dark days, and we also copped a lot of ****, from other fans and some club officials, we stuck together and pulled through many attempts to shut us down.

We have outlasted many of the club officials that repeatedly tried to silence us and who directly accused me of many things including accusing me of hacking the MWSE site, hilarious, since the actual issue was a crashed database on their site, and my persecution came from pointing out the bleeding obvious of what had happened and referred them to articles on the specific topic I had researched after seeing it had broken. Quite amusing really and I never forgave those two people at the club for that ****, nor the fans who instigated it.

However it was that kind of stuff that spurred me on and made me determined to make the site successful even despite those obstacles and in fact to spite them.

I knew deep down I could make a better product than the club website and the alternatives and feel that i have been successful in that. There are always areas the site can improve in and my complete and utter lack of design skills certainly have made it difficult but I think overall we have a pretty complete site with great custom features that many don't have

 

[Clint]

I still remember trying to sell the idea of starting the site to my then girlfriend who was an accountant.

Pffftt. Accountants, what would they know...

 

[Dan]

I still remember trying to sell the idea of starting the site to my then girlfriend who was an accountant.

Pffftt. Accountants, what would they know...

Worst still she was a Auditor at the time for EY so trying to sneak anything past her was impossible. However my finances were in a significantly better state than they are now

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

I still remember trying to sell the idea of starting the site to my then girlfriend who was an accountant.

Pffftt. Accountants, what would they know...

A ....LOT.... If you get the right one , happen to know any @Clint .....lol

---

I remember some of those " dark days " you had @Dan , as you know I have always been a peace maker, tried my hardest back then as well, sometimes to no avail!!

Sadly some people seem to forget we are all Manly supporters , simple as that !!

 

[byso]

Dan

Your long term commitment is outstanding, while others including myself have moved on.

Great work buddy.

 

[Dan]

I still remember trying to sell the idea of starting the site to my then girlfriend who was an accountant.

Pffftt. Accountants, what would they know...

A ....LOT.... If you get the right one , happen to know any @Clint .....lol

---

I remember some of those " dark days " you had @Dan , as you know I have always been a peace maker, tried my hardest back then as well, sometimes to no avail!!

Sadly some people seem to forget we are all Manly supporters , simple as that !!

---

proof is in the pudding who was right I guess too

haha
Though there have been many occasions where I thought about selling the website or just closing it down and have come very very close to flicking that switch on at least two occasions.

I couldnt sell it however unless i knew it was going to be continued to be run by Manly fans for Manly fans rather than just some commercial entity trying to make money out of it.

I actually have to start putting plans in place in case I die, particularly with all the work travel I do as you never know and I need to make sure the site exists after me when that day eventually comes.

Either that or eventually someone will offer me enough money for the site that I may just take it

 

[ManlyBacker]

Dan

Your long term commitment is outstanding, while others including myself have moved on.

Great work buddy.

Onya Byso. Glad to see you pop in for the 10 year anniversary. Miss your cheerleader and game pics. You must be thrilled with the political situation (all those who remember Byso will know what that means), especially CW who might have taken up the opposite side LOL I miss a lot of the first joiners who took the time to meet up at the game and after at the club. I'll be down for the Panthers game so hope to catch up with lots of mates then!

 

[simon64]

I remember whenever someone complained about being smited they would quickly cop a 100 more smites!

haha exactly, all part of the fun

Sadly I only arrived a few years ago and missed out on the opportunity to be smited.

Somehow, life just doesn't seem complete.

In all seriousness, a great job Dan.

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

Sadly I only arrived a few years ago and missed out on the opportunity to be smited.

Well consider yourself smited, unofficially.
(No, no need to thank me)

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

Unlike the MWTS who get together regularly , I find it strange that Silvetails members are largely not known to each other on a face to face basis.

Through the MWTS I have met many on here, and at MWTS functions I ran made a point of introducing Silvertsilers to each other.

Personally I'd like to see an annual get together, name tags ( Silvertails and real name) as knowing people personally adds very much to the experience .

Impossible for Dan to organise as he now lives in the Netherlands, but there's enough on here to do it.

Obviously for a game and a home game would get the most numbers.

Been discussed before but to my knowledge never happened.

 

[RiverEagle]

Terrific to read all the backwash there guys.

Better late than never for those like me, I say!

One very minor Q, or piece of constructive criticism @Dan I guess...There could be a better range of default avatars available mate.

I was surprised when i found them that there are so few eagle options and not a lot of eye-catching options.

I love @Ralphie's but there are obviously very few actually adopted by the punters.

That's all. Not much to complain about (and it's not really a complaint anyways).

Party on (as global says!)

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

Oh come on mine gives you a Pizza!!

 

[Dan]

Just something I've never bothered with you can upload any that you want but we have to careful about int property if I upload them

 

[RiverEagle]

Just something I've never bothered with you can upload any that you want but we have to careful about int property if I upload them

Yeah I thought that would be a consideration mate. No biggie, and did somebody say, '' Pizza''?!

I just might go crazy and order a pizza tonight in honour of Mark's avatar (AND Silvertails Birthday of course)