Monaghan "can't wait to get back to Manly that's where I belong,''
ADAM LUCIUS
25oct05
MANLY rugby league captain Michael Monaghan has revealed how he and a group of NRL players feared for their lives as hurricane Wilma threatened to destroy their makeshift shelter.
Monaghan with brother and Roosters winger Joel, Manly five-eighth Jye Mullane, new South Sydney hooker Stuart Webb and friends Simon Davies and Grant Trouville were trapped for four days as the category four storm hit the Mexican resort town of Cancun. The group stayed huddled together in pitch dark ness in a cinema as the hurricane reached its peak.
Worried the complex was going to be flattened, they shifted to a flooded underground car park to wait out the storm.
The cinema's roof was eventually blown off and the building collapsed.
After two days in the car park the group has now been shifted to safety at Cancun's Gran Costa Real Hotel.
Speaking about the terrifying ordeal for the first time, Monaghan told The Manly Daily last night he thought the hurricane was about to demolish the cinema in which they had sought refuge.
``Yeah, we were pretty worried, mate,'' he said.
``Five of the cinemas had already been evacuated because the ceilings had been blown away or were flooded and the cinema we were in didn't look like it would last much longer.
``One of the other cinemas was only evacuated about a minute before the roof blew off so at any time we were expecting ours to go.''
Describing the conditions as ``horrific'' Monaghan, dressed only in shorts for four days, said the group tried to keep spirits up by playing footy with fellow survivors in the cinema.
``We used a beach ball to play and the footy was on early the first day. We also played cards when we could find a torch,'' he said.
``We set up an Aussie embassy and tried to have a bit of fun.
``But most of the time we were just trying to stick together and not get separated.
``Once food ran out it got pretty crazy in there.''
``There were 500 people in the car park and at the end of the two days it was filthy from garbage and dirty water.
``Young kids were sleeping on top of garbage and walking in their own urine it was tough on the kids.
``People smashed windows of cars to find a place to sleep while the rest of the families slept on roofs and bonnets of cars.''
The footballers eventually escaped the car park to visit a supermarket, filling an empty suitcase with as much food as they could buy.
They then shared the groceries with fellow survivors amid reports shops were being looted and people robbed of their belongings.
With Cancun Airport closed, it's not clear when the players will be able to leave to start their journey back to Australia.
``I can't wait to get back to Manly that's where I belong,'' Monaghan said.
Sea Eagles football manager Peter Peters said the club was relieved to hear the players were safe and well and planning to return home soon.
``It's been a traumatic few days but the support network was superb,'' he said.
``Thanks to mobile phones, the families involved were able to keep in contact and get updates and find out they were OK. It sounds like hell over there and they'll be glad when they touch down at Sydney Airport.''
ADAM LUCIUS
25oct05
MANLY rugby league captain Michael Monaghan has revealed how he and a group of NRL players feared for their lives as hurricane Wilma threatened to destroy their makeshift shelter.
Monaghan with brother and Roosters winger Joel, Manly five-eighth Jye Mullane, new South Sydney hooker Stuart Webb and friends Simon Davies and Grant Trouville were trapped for four days as the category four storm hit the Mexican resort town of Cancun. The group stayed huddled together in pitch dark ness in a cinema as the hurricane reached its peak.
Worried the complex was going to be flattened, they shifted to a flooded underground car park to wait out the storm.
The cinema's roof was eventually blown off and the building collapsed.
After two days in the car park the group has now been shifted to safety at Cancun's Gran Costa Real Hotel.
Speaking about the terrifying ordeal for the first time, Monaghan told The Manly Daily last night he thought the hurricane was about to demolish the cinema in which they had sought refuge.
``Yeah, we were pretty worried, mate,'' he said.
``Five of the cinemas had already been evacuated because the ceilings had been blown away or were flooded and the cinema we were in didn't look like it would last much longer.
``One of the other cinemas was only evacuated about a minute before the roof blew off so at any time we were expecting ours to go.''
Describing the conditions as ``horrific'' Monaghan, dressed only in shorts for four days, said the group tried to keep spirits up by playing footy with fellow survivors in the cinema.
``We used a beach ball to play and the footy was on early the first day. We also played cards when we could find a torch,'' he said.
``We set up an Aussie embassy and tried to have a bit of fun.
``But most of the time we were just trying to stick together and not get separated.
``Once food ran out it got pretty crazy in there.''
``There were 500 people in the car park and at the end of the two days it was filthy from garbage and dirty water.
``Young kids were sleeping on top of garbage and walking in their own urine it was tough on the kids.
``People smashed windows of cars to find a place to sleep while the rest of the families slept on roofs and bonnets of cars.''
The footballers eventually escaped the car park to visit a supermarket, filling an empty suitcase with as much food as they could buy.
They then shared the groceries with fellow survivors amid reports shops were being looted and people robbed of their belongings.
With Cancun Airport closed, it's not clear when the players will be able to leave to start their journey back to Australia.
``I can't wait to get back to Manly that's where I belong,'' Monaghan said.
Sea Eagles football manager Peter Peters said the club was relieved to hear the players were safe and well and planning to return home soon.
``It's been a traumatic few days but the support network was superb,'' he said.
``Thanks to mobile phones, the families involved were able to keep in contact and get updates and find out they were OK. It sounds like hell over there and they'll be glad when they touch down at Sydney Airport.''
