My condolences
| Marriage made in hell borders on the insane |
By MALCOLM KNOX The architects of rugby league's future are drawing up new club borders with the same wisdom as those imperial mandarins compelled by the neatness of situating Kurdistan within Turkey, Croatia within Yugoslavia, and Belfast within Britain. One of the first rules of history - civil conflicts are the bloodiest, neighbours reserving a special ferocity for each other - is sometimes ignored in the interests of neatness and convenience. League is going the same way, proposing such preposterous internecine marriages as Manly-Norths and Penrith-Parramatta. The merger business carries a fundamental contradiction. It might be simpler to force neighbours into the one house but sporting neighbours would rather die than live together. St George-Illawarra and Balmain-Wests were easy mergers. Neither are neighbours but the Saints would never merge with perfidious Cronulla, and Wests reserve too much hate and fear for Canterbury. Norths and Manly - it'll all end in tears. Doesn't the NRL understand how profoundly Norths and Manly hate each other? Think of how much everyone else hates Manly, and double it with each suburb as you near Brookvale. This stuff tears families apart. I grew up as a lone Manly supporter in a den of Bears, and it was horrible, horrible. No matter how high on the ladder Manly were, or how low Norths, the local derby always seemed to end in an upset - mine. Even when Norths could find ways to lose to any team, they could beat Manly. I still throw darts at a photograph of my brother poncing about in Norths jersey, socks, cap and scarf the day they beat us at Brookvale to stop us winning the minor premiership. My brother and I live 300 kilometres apart now, but our most common reason to telephone each other is to gloat at the other's club's misery. I grew up an outcast in my own family. They dragged me to Bear Park, my grandfather reminiscing about stealing away from North Sydney Boys' High to watch Cecil Blinkhorn and Harold Horder in the Bears' premiership teams. We'd sit on the hill squinting into the sun, seeing the Bears get trounced by Canterbury or Parramatta - but it didn't matter how badly they lost, when the PA announced that Manly were getting done at Brookvale, my family would rack it up as a victorious day. Or, if Manly won, I could nurse it as a secret triumph for the brave individual over the bullying kin. Could I support a team with Norths in it? Could my family follow a team with any colour, name or symbol associated with Manly? Impossible. Is there any natural affinity between the culture of the northern beaches and that of the North Shore? Is there any sympathy between the folks who've trudged along, defying weather and circumstance, to see Norths lose for 75 years, and the people who'll clear off to the beach at half-time if Manly are going down? Does anyone think a merger could force Norths fans to forgive Manly for stealing Herman Hamilton, Johnnie Gray, Bruce Walker, Cliff Lyons? These map-drawers understand us as scantly as Whitehall and Versailles understood the Kurds and the Croats. We may come from rugby union territory but league is the game. When I was at school, my mates and I played union but talked league, only league. Have things changed so much that everyone from Milsons Point to Woy Woy gets lumped into one club, or sacrificed to rugby union? It'll all end in tears. My brother has already bought Bears gear for his toddler sons and would sooner barrack for the red-and-black Nabiac Bears in Group 27 than have anything to do with Manly. I imagine Parramatta and Penrith supporters have similar feelings. One plus one, in this case, equals nothing. If we must die, merge us with anybody - with Souths, with Easts, goddamn it, with Brisbane - but please, not with our despised neighbours! The Northern Eagles? I have no club! |
| Norths, Manly arguing over the deckchairs |
By ROY MASTERS Officials of Manly and Norths met again yesterday morning, their joint venture a fait accompli except for a name and a coach. North Sydney officials argue the combined team should be a brand new entity, while Manly prefer Northern Eagles. Norths are lobbying for a name which picks up the coastal ethos of the two clubs Stingrays or Lighthouses, perhaps. (The Pelicans is already taken, being the name of the Central Coast division team.) The choice of coach is also an issue, recriminations from the Super League war clearly continuing. Manly are opposed to Norths' nominee, Graham Murray, who was sacked by Illawarra for taking players to meetings with News Ltd in 1995. Murray was subsequently appointed the inaugural coach of the Hunter Mariners and is now coaching Leeds in England. The Bears have signed him to a three-year contract which pays him a little over $200,000 a season. Manly argue News Ltd can continue their generosity to Murray by extending the term of his English post. In any case, the Sea Eagles are happy with their incumbent coach, Steve Sharp, while Norths contend Murray is better credentialed. While neither club will make on-the-record comments about the coaching dispute, Norths chairman Ray Beattie admits he favours a new entity. Beattie said: "We're looking at something generic, a theme that picks up our big footprint, from the Sydney Harbour Bridge to Wyong and west to Pennant Hills. "It is a region of 1.3 million people and we need to grow a new identity without losing our traditional markets. "Rugby league has changed forever. We can keep our heritage in first division and play at North Sydney Oval, but if we go belly-up we lose all that." |
If we were still the Northern Eagles I wouldn’t be supporting them or watching NRL......guaranteed. They nearly took us down with their useless board & management. All I can say is thank God we are still Manly Warringah Sea Eagles & have zero to do with the Bears or their colours! Give me Penn anytime. We are maroon & white......not black or red or whatever! The Bears are gone & I for one don’t give a $hit.
Dont forget Mark Cannon. He was another grub was doing his best to make sure it failed
| Team | P | W | L | PD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
5 | 4 | 1 | 23 | 10 |
|
5 | 4 | 1 | 14 | 10 |
|
6 | 4 | 2 | 48 | 8 |
|
6 | 4 | 2 | 28 | 8 |
|
5 | 3 | 2 | 25 | 8 |
|
5 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 8 |
|
6 | 3 | 2 | 38 | 7 |
|
6 | 3 | 2 | 21 | 7 |
|
6 | 3 | 3 | 37 | 6 |
|
6 | 3 | 3 | 16 | 6 |
|
6 | 3 | 3 | -13 | 6 |
|
5 | 2 | 3 | -15 | 6 |
|
6 | 3 | 3 | -36 | 6 |
|
6 | 2 | 4 | -5 | 4 |
|
6 | 2 | 4 | -7 | 4 |
|
5 | 0 | 5 | -86 | 2 |
|
6 | 1 | 5 | -102 | 2 |
