Is Manly the most successful club of the past decade ? If we use finals appearances and titles won, it would be hard to argue otherwise. As far as titles go, Manly have 2 and Brisbane, Penrith, Wests Tigers and St George each have 1. The Scum have 1 officially and the 2 that were stripped, although how long does it take for the effects of such rorting of the cap to really disappear ? In my book, they're still a few years off. The De$dogs have one in 2004 but again, hard on the back of cheating. In terms of finals appearances the list goes, 9 - Brisbane, Scum 8 - Manly 7 - St George Illawarra 6 - Canberra, De$dogs 5 - Warriors, Nth Qld 4 - Roosters, Parramatta, Newcastle 3 - Cronulla, Wests Tigers, Penrith 2 - Souths, Gold Coast As an aside, this makes Souths the least successful club given the Tits have only been around since 2007. (Stick that up your 20 premierships) You can't include the Scum (serial cheats). And the fact we have 2 premierships over the Broncs 1, makes Manly the most successful club of the past decade. [Edit - fixed up St George Illawarra ; St George as a club died in 1998 - I would have accepted "St Merge" by the way - C&C]
That's why I really want us to we this year we can cement ourselves as the team if this era. IMO our current sides 2007 - now are the best the club has had since the 70s
The Bulldogs are on track for their third wooden spoon since 2002 so they'd come close also I would think. The family club truly is the benchmark that all other clubs aspire to match.
I'm just thankful to follow a club that prides itself on success and does so with integrity. Last 10 years? Without a doubt we have been the best. Since 2003 we have turned wildest dreams into reality. Here's hoping we don't fade this year as we could potentially have a stronger season than we did in 2011.
What I find most impressive is that we have lost our coach and more than half the team from the 19 man squad named for the 2008 GF (according to http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/manly-and-melbourne-teams-for-2008-grand-final/story-e6frexnr-1111117627105). We have actually already been through a rebuilding phase since 2008, but we haven't skipped a beat!! Still here Brett Stewart Steve Matai David Williams Jamie Lyon Brent Kite Matt Ballin Anthony Watmough Glenn Stewart Jason King Gone Michael Robertson Steve Bell Matt Orford (capt) Josh Perry Glenn Hall Heath L'Estrange Mark Bryant Steve Menzies Adam Cuthbertson Luke Williamson Des Hasler
We've lost plenty more on top of that since 2008, not the least of which was Chris Bailey. It'd be interesting to compare our player turnover with Melbourne's since 2008.
Re: RE: Most success in the last 10 years ? No one contributed like Chris Bailey did. We will remember him always.
Thanks for correcting me C and C. I kept Ralphie happy by giving the Scum their true name but neglected to do the same with the dragqueens.
