How the Manly-Cronulla feud began

[Terence Zarsoff]

[/quote]

It makes me proud to know that they are resentful and never forget that day against the sharks at the SGC for our first premiership.
what makes me even prouder of upsetting the Rabbitts,Magpies,Eels,Sharks is that we can add Dogs,Knights,Storm and cowboys to the list.In fact i think we can Easts because of fatty and Bozo.
Bring back the adelaide rams so thye can hate us too.
Go Manly
[/quote]

The first premiership win was in 1972 versus Easts.

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

Clubs tend to build special dislikes for teams who beat them in grand finals. That is why there are so many fans from other clubs that claim to hate Manly. Other factors also play a part, which accounts for the feelings of Wests and Norths fans. Conversely, most Manly fans wouldn't like Saints, Souths, Newcastle, Eels, Storm, and Dogs.

 

[ManlyBacker]

I can't find it on the net but as far as I'm concerned the rivalry goes way back. Back to when the Sharkies were financially shot and asked us to bail them out. Which we did. Was it repayed? Hell no! They owe us in so many ways but will never admit it. "Shire - forever in our shadow" haha

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

... ''They just had that extra bit of talent; I still hate the bastard,'' laughs Watson. ''We managed to get Mal Reilly off - we should have taken Fulton out instead. It could have been a better result.''

Haha, Cliff is right about Fulton.

NRL 360 tonight had a segment on the '73 grand final and had Cliff discussing the violence. They showed some clips, including: from a scrum, ball out to Eadie who bumps off a couple, passes over the top to Fulton doubling around, Fulton hits the accelerator and it's all over, in a flash he burns the fullback and the cover (young speedster Steve Rogers) to score in the corner. An absolutely scintillating run.

Poor Sharks, lol.

 

[Go manly]

The first game i ever attended at the Fortress was
Manly V Sharks May 19, 1967. We snuck in at half time for free. Hence the username. Manly 39 Sharks 5. We lived nearby. I was hooked. The ground was an OVAL. for cricket.
Les Hanigan scored the 5 try club record that day. Bozo set up some tries for Les, with Tenant, Pounder, Stanton.

But i can barely remember anyone but Hanigan. Tall, willowy, coudn't really tackle or catch. People in the crowd were laughing at him. But what he could do was run. Like the wind! They stopped laughing and were staggered at HOW FAST he was. Those who remember Larry Corowa, gives you the idea.

Actually these days, after the tough year they've had, i have a certain empathy for the Sharkies. But only a little.
Manly by 16 on Friday.

Eagle 67
I have a beer with Les and his wife and watch the footy at our local bowling club when ever manly have a daytime game on a saturday.He still loves the mighty manly warringah sea eagles and a very good judge of players and how the team is travelling.
Would be chuffed that someone is still talking about that game 40 years on-Well done
[attachment=650][attachment=651]

 

[Bearfax]

The first game i ever attended at the Fortress was
Manly V Sharks May 19, 1967. We snuck in at half time for free. Hence the username. Manly 39 Sharks 5. We lived nearby. I was hooked. The ground was an OVAL. for cricket.
Les Hanigan scored the 5 try club record that day. Bozo set up some tries for Les, with Tenant, Pounder, Stanton.

But i can barely remember anyone but Hanigan. Tall, willowy, coudn't really tackle or catch. People in the crowd were laughing at him. But what he could do was run. Like the wind! They stopped laughing and were staggered at HOW FAST he was. Those who remember Larry Corowa, gives you the idea.

Actually these days, after the tough year they've had, i have a certain empathy for the Sharkies. But only a little.
Manly by 16 on Friday.

Eagle 67
I have a beer with Les and his wife and watch the footy at our local bowling club when ever manly have a daytime game on a saturday.He still loves the mighty manly warringah sea eagles and a very good judge of players and how the team is travelling.
Would be chuffed that someone is still talking about that game 40 years on-Well done

I remember it well and still recall his battles also with Ken Irvine, one in particular at Brookie when Irvine seemed to want to prove a point and was a little rough on Les. In fact I recall the first trial match he played down on a soggy ground at Narrabeen Fitness Camp when he and a clever young indigenous winger called Bryant first played for Manly. Wonder if he recalls that one. I was there watching as a teenager with my dad and brother. Yes he was damned fast.

I wonder how he would have fared against Manly's other early speedster Johnny Bliss, also called 'Blistering' or just 'The Clown' because he often goofed around. Les replaced two of our favourite sons Nick and Fred Yakich, who were also pretty quick. Nick was particularly fast though I think Les was faster. Still think of you Les and enjoyed that five try effort sitting on the hill...in fact I think you scored them all or most of them in the first half and we wondered how many more you would score that day.

---

Also had the good fortune of meeting a couple of times at dinner parties, a later speedster called Rod 'Rocket' Jackson. He owns a small group of businesses these days and is still looking as fit as he did all those years ago.

 

[Go manly]

The first game i ever attended at the Fortress was
Manly V Sharks May 19, 1967. We snuck in at half time for free. Hence the username. Manly 39 Sharks 5. We lived nearby. I was hooked. The ground was an OVAL. for cricket.
Les Hanigan scored the 5 try club record that day. Bozo set up some tries for Les, with Tenant, Pounder, Stanton.

But i can barely remember anyone but Hanigan. Tall, willowy, coudn't really tackle or catch. People in the crowd were laughing at him. But what he could do was run. Like the wind! They stopped laughing and were staggered at HOW FAST he was. Those who remember Larry Corowa, gives you the idea.

Actually these days, after the tough year they've had, i have a certain empathy for the Sharkies. But only a little.
Manly by 16 on Friday.

Eagle 67
I have a beer with Les and his wife and watch the footy at our local bowling club when ever manly have a daytime game on a saturday.He still loves the mighty manly warringah sea eagles and a very good judge of players and how the team is travelling.
Would be chuffed that someone is still talking about that game 40 years on-Well done

I remember it well and still recall his battles also with Ken Irvine, one in particular at Brookie when Irvine seemed to want to prove a point and was a little rough on Les. In fact I recall the first trial match he played down on a soggy ground at Narrabeen Fitness Camp when he and a clever young indigenous winger called Bryant first played for Manly. Wonder if he recalls that one. I was there watching as a teenager with my dad and brother. Yes he was damned fast.

I wonder how he would have fared against Manly's other early speedster Johnny Bliss, also called 'Blistering' or just 'The Clown' because he often goofed around. Les replaced two of our favourite sons Nick and Fred Yakich, who were also pretty quick. Nick was particularly fast though I think Les was faster. Still think of you Les and enjoyed that five try effort sitting on the hill...in fact I think you scored them all or most of them in the first half and we wondered how many more you would score that day.

---

Also had the good fortune of meeting a couple of times at dinner parties, a later speedster called Rod 'Rocket' Jackson. He owns a small group of businesses these days and is still looking as fit as he did all those years ago.

---

I will ask him about the day.He is a very unassuming person and does not publicise his achievents.Toured with kangarroos in 67,68 and was originally a pro runner from the gong.

 

[Shoe1]

To me there is no feud with the Sharks. I hate most teams, but find it hard to be anything but indifferent to cronulla, they arouse zero interest.

Thanks for the good posts here on memorable old games - I read with interest. The first season I remember with any clarity is 74, so I have no 1st hand memories of our 1st two GF victories.

 

[Chip and Chase]

The only thing I enjoy more than beating Cronulla, is beating Parra.

Except of course when it comes to finals football and the opportunity of beating Cronulla and eliminating them. To lay waste to another season for them and continue the almost 50 year drought on Silverware down the Shire, Is there a better feeling ? I love the smugness I can channel as I let loose with the "enjoy your Mad Monday......again !!" sledge on the poor Hobbit folk as they trudge empty handed from yet another finals campaign.

Looking forward to it.

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

We are blessed this year. We get to knock out the Sharks, then Souths, then Roosters or Storm or Knights.

 

[Terry Zarsoff]

That player Bryant you mentioned Gm was a teacher at Wakehurst Public School around that time. I was in the very lovely Miss Susie Hughes' 3B and he took 3C next door, way back in 1969. He was a pretty strict disciplinarian.

Wakehurst was of course Tooves's old school.

 

[1947]

Clubs tend to build special dislikes for teams who beat them in grand finals. That is why there are so many fans from other clubs that claim to hate Manly. Other factors also play a part, which accounts for the feelings of Wests and Norths fans. Conversely, most Manly fans wouldn't like Saints, Souths, Newcastle, Eels, Storm, and Dogs.

Bit off topic but from the Roosters forum most are supporting us due to the NRL piggybacking Soffs - who they dislike, and us and them being the most penalised sides in the comp - the ole common ground syndrome.

Good mate, die hard Roosters life long supporter and he and his friends are rootin for us if they bomb out.

Nice to know.

 

[driftout]

By Peter Peters

It took a rising Immortal of the game to emerge like a beacon from the brawling and mayhem of the 1973 grand final between the Cronulla Sharks and Manly Sea Eagles at the Sydney Cricket Ground.


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The 1970 World Cup final between Great Britain and Australia at Leeds is easily the most brutal game I've seen. I still remember it like yesterday .It leaves the 1973 Grand Final well and truly in the shade. Quite a few players were involved in both matches including Fulton , O'Neill , Reilly , Branighan , Watson and Turner.

The incident between Ron Turner and Mal Reilly in the 1973 Grand Final was actually a square up for an incident between Reilly and another Sharks' player in a previous match. Big Mal got his revenge during a scrum at Endeavour Field the following year according to a teammate I spoke to quite a few years ago.