I wouldn't be reading a lot into those statistics alone. Souths (the perennial failures) have been premiers or runners up 33 times in 103 seasons (not even taking into account the years they were out of the competition, which equates to one every 3.1 years. What makes Manly's accomplishments that much more successful is what they have done in the modern era. The old, successful clubs like Souths, St George, Balmain, etc. haven't done much in the last 30 or 40 years. Manly have been able to remain relatively successful while other clubs go up and down like yo-yos. No wooden spoons since our inception in 1947 shows that we never hit rock bottom before making a run back to the top. Canterbury have been the next most successful in the same period yet they've achieved wooden spoons between grand final appearances.
