@Brissie Kid - forgot about Zinzan, would have loved to seen him in a Manly jersey. You could add Wally and Gene Miles to that list as well, signed and sealed by Packer until the QRL tricked them into staying in Brisbane.
What season was that? 1986? You would have to think no Cliffy Lyons legendary career if Lewis had have come.
Arko in 2011 on Manly buying players.
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/s...p/news-story/08f6f2bf89fcf4ece3f057563c3ba7b3
1 The Silvertails
WITH no salary cap in the 1980s, the rich bought champions and the poor survived on chook raffles, meat trays, juniors and cheap country imports.
Arthurson had the biggest chequebook in the ARL via a thriving leagues club and superstar Bob Fulton's close friendship with the late Kerry Packer.
In 1980 Arthurson almost destroyed the Western Suburbs Magpies by signing second-rower Les Boyd, hooker Ray Brown and fullback or centre John Dorahy in one swoop. Grudge matches between the two clubs became known as the Silvertails versus Fibros.
But even today, Arthurson still brushes off criticism of the Magpies raid. "Did it ever occur to people that Wests pinched those three blokes in the first place? Dorahy from Illawarra, Boyd from Cootamundra and Brown from the Riverina," Arthurson said.
Still, no other club could compete with them financially. They even tried to pinch Peter Sterling from Parramatta in the mid-1980s and Wally Lewis and Gene Miles from the Brisbane competition.
"I laughed at the Silvertails tag because Freddy Jones used to work on the wharf and Terry Randall drove a truck," Arthurson said. "They were as working class as you could get."