My 50 Years with MWSE

[EagleFromMay1967]

Well here it comes . . . this weekend. ! Makes me feel old ? Not really. 50 years ago i attended my first match @ Brooky: Manly v Sharks Round 5, 1967. I was 8 yrs old, and my brother and i used to sneak in for free. This is back in the day ehen Brookvale Oval WAS an oval. (for cricket). The Sharks were a new club, and they weren't very good that day. On the other hand we WERE good, and we had this new 18 yr old rising star Bob Fulton. He was such a gun. Of course he set up most of Lanky Les's 5 tries. Still the club record ! Akula got close the other day.
I could wax on about our great players, our Premierships, WCC's, our club spirit, our "ethos". Best if i don't make this too long.
But after all this time i do want to say "i'm glad it was Manly" ! and not some other rubbish~culture club (eg the Eels).
A few things really stand out, and here they are in no particular order :
Our first premiership ~1972.
Our 1978 invincibles.
The coaching of Ron Willey, Frank Stanton, Des Hasler. The Fulton /Arko defence against the Super League.
Our 40~0 GF.
Before i have to wait another 50 years i want see:
1. Brooky get its long long awaited upgrade. I will never refer to it as Lol~land. The eastern side upgrade was first talked about in approx 1990 !

2. gambling and TV networks reduce the influence they have in the running of the NRL.
3.TV networks should not be allowed to own Nrl clubs ~ it is a conflict of interest. NewsLtd THIS MEANS YOU.
4. I want to see us continue to be successful and win another 8 premierships before i kark it.!!
I hope rugby league survives (i mention this because the current long term trends dont look too good). Its still better to watch than soccer, AFL, in my opinion ~ but beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Lastly i do also want to see a return to a more harmoniously run MWSE club where its about the fans not about ego & power.

All the best to all of you Silvertails posters, "keep the ball alive with a quick offload".

 

[globaleagle]

Ha Ha, you're so old!

lol

Just kidding! Well done on supporting an amazing club for so long and seeing some great 'stuff.'

 

[manlyfan76]

Congrats mate. I hope that the Many Warringah Sea Eagles exceed all of your hopes.

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

1963 for me, but didn't get to a game until the early 70's as I lived in the country.

To be honest , I claim 1963 ( I was 8) but that's only because it was my first jersey in junior league, so I instantly became a Manly fan, but it really wasn't until my early teens that I started listening to the ABC radio when we occasionally got a live game that I was hooked.

Congratulations on a " true" 50 years.

 

[Supreme Leader]

I became a Manly fan - age 5 in 1966 after my mum went to shop at Warringah Mall and I ran into a crowd finding out what was on the other side. It was the Manly side doing a meet and greet and I was being trampled by the crowd and the then Manly Fullback came down into the crowd, picked me up and put me on the stage so I could see and let my mum take a photo. These days the players would probably charge me for the photo.

Not to sure what TV has done to the game, remember having to sit on my dad's shoulders just to see a game , the crowds used to be awesome. The feel of it is just not the same. Having said that the neighbours 3 doors up know when Manly score a try, or the ref makes a crappy decision.

Mark, well done on your 50, welcome to the club!

 

[Wombat64]

Thanks. You make me feel so young. Only 42 years following the Eagles for me .......

 

[Andrew..]

Well here it comes . . . this weekend. ! Makes me feel old ? Not really. 50 years ago i attended my first match @ Brooky: Manly v Sharks Round 5, 1967. I was 8 yrs old, and my brother and i used to sneak in for free. This is back in the day ehen Brookvale Oval WAS an oval. (for cricket). The Sharks were a new club, and they weren't very good that day. On the other hand we WERE good, and we had this new 18 yr old rising star Bob Fulton. He was such a gun. Of course he set up most of Lanky Les's 5 tries. Still the club record ! Akula got close the other day.


I could wax on about our great players, our Premierships, WCC's, our club spirit, our "ethos". Best if i don't make this too long.
But after all this time i do want to say "i'm glad it was Manly" ! and not some other rubbish~culture club (eg the Eels).
A few things really stand out, and here they are in no particular order :
Our first premiership ~1972.
Our 1978 invincibles.
The coaching of Ron Willey, Frank Stanton, Des Hasler. The Fulton /Arko defence against the Super League.
Our 40~0 GF.
Before i have to wait another 50 years i want see:
1. Brooky get its long long awaited upgrade. I will never refer to it as Lol~land. The eastern side upgrade was first talked about in approx 1990 !

2. gambling and TV networks reduce the influence they have in the running of the NRL.
3.TV networks should not be allowed to own Nrl clubs ~ it is a conflict of interest. NewsLtd THIS MEANS YOU.
4. I want to see us continue to be successful and win another 8 premierships before i kark it.!!
I hope rugby league survives (i mention this because the current long term trends dont look too good). Its still better to watch than soccer, AFL, in my opinion ~ but beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Lastly i do also want to see a return to a more harmoniously run MWSE club where its about the fans not about ego & power.

All the best to all of you Silvertails posters, "keep the ball alive with a quick offload".

I'm in this vintage and there's so many great memories.
Thank you for making this post.

 

[BOZO]

Great post . Congratulations
There is no such thing as a harmoniously run club when the passions run high and where there is passion there is fire .
Without passion nothing is achieved . Without passion we may as well be dead .That is my view .
We are the most successful club in the modern era having won premierships in every decade .
Proud to be a Manly Sea eagle supporter .

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

Can we change the name of the Title to " Old Farts Reminiscing Thread".

Highlights for me,

All the GF's we won
Beavers try in the 76th minute, what an absolute fairytale.

Lowlights

All the GF's we lost ( and yes I went to them to), but none other than 1997 has really scarred me, 95 went close but that 97 one......FMD I still get nightmares from it.

 

[Supreme Leader]

Highlight for me was wagging school for the Grand Final replay with 3 other mates against Cronulla, all good except for the fact we got sprung by the Deputy Principal sitting 2 rows behind us. Still remember getting the cane the next morning. Wasn't sure whether it was for the wagging, or the fact he was pissed because he was a Cronulla fan?

 

[Rusty Cage]

1963 for me, but didn't get to a game until the early 70's as I lived in the country.

To be honest , I claim 1963 ( I was 8) but that's only because it was my first jersey in junior league, so I instantly became a Manly fan, but it really wasn't until my early teens that I started listening to the ABC radio when we occasionally got a live game that I was hooked.

Congratulations on a " true" 50 years.

Really not sure why I started supporting Manly, from the country as well. Maybe it was just Crusher and Cliffy!
Definitely wasn't the local teams jersey colours, being that of the mighty Quirindi Grasshoppers!

 

[bob dylan]

No place for me here.

I can smell moth balls.

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

Really not sure why I started supporting Manly, from the country as well. Maybe it was just Crusher and Cliffy!
Definitely wasn't the local teams jersey colours, being that of the mighty Quirindi Grasshoppers!

Moree Boars for me!!

 

[The '47ers]

1987 for me. Grew up as a kid in Sarina NQ, where Rowdy came from. Seeing an actual person who played in Sydney blew my little mind. I had that iconic RLW 87 GF cover "The Champs!" on my wall for years. Plus it was fun everyone hating Manly, and it still is today!!

 

[EagleFromMay1967]

 

[Fluffy]

1951 for me

which is weird given I wasn't born until the 70's but such is my love for Manly it started way back when

 

[brad]

Really not sure why I started supporting Manly, from the country as well. Maybe it was just Crusher and Cliffy!
Definitely wasn't the local teams jersey colours, being that of the mighty Quirindi Grasshoppers!

Gee rusty second division mate..

 

[brad]

1976 for me and a GF year as well. First game i attended was manly v wests at brookie with mum and dad . Great memories as an 8 year old , Graham eadie's last home game for a 44 / 10 smacking. Wombat and boustead carved them up .

 

[brad]

Sorry and that year was 1984.

 

[Little Grubber Kick]

Absolutely fabulous post EagleFromMay1967, you are almost my clone.

It was right about then, May 1967, that I as a nearly 4 year old was told by my older brother (St.G) and sister (Rabbits) that they had decided I was an Eels fan! (Of course the Eels were running last or thereabouts!). Well I said shove that I'm going for the team that has that blonde guy on the back page of the paper, that's right Bobby Fulton, so yeah 50 years for me as well.

All your fantastic memories are shared, along with wagging school to get to the 1978 replay (no deputy principle in the Noble Stand, and still no idea how we snuck into the Noble Stand!).

EagleFromMay1967, congratulations and your wish list is spot on.