Phil Blake 1989

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Show turbo some Simon Booth footage or Johnny Gibbs, both look great prospects

Lo and behold he might say
The game was being played before 2000

Really do like you but turbo

Need more young punks willing to be hated for supporting the goodies and loving it
 
Fulton was not happy with Blake's defensive lapses and he preferred Des Hasler from Penrith who went on to represent Australia 12 times NSW 12 times and city 8 times
Phil Blake's rep honours were NSW 1 and city 1.
From South's ( 37 tries ) Blake went on to play for Norths ( 1 try) Raiders (5 tries) Dragons ( 15 tries ) and Warriors (17 tries )without the impact that he made with the our club the Sea eagles ( 63 tries )

No reason they couldnt have both. Des played most of his career at half or lock. Blake was a 5/8 when at his best
 
Thank you Shnorky, great stuff!

I always remember him leaving a few parra players clutching at thin air. Beautiful. He was a favourite of mine back then, quite devastated when they moved him on. But then we got Cliffy and a legend was Manly born!


Ah the action behind the scenes. We only got Cliffy because the door was shut on us in getting Lewis. Again having Cliff wouldnt stop Blake playing centre. There's always a way to fit in champions.
 
No reason they couldnt have both. Des played most of his career at half or lock. Blake was a 5/8 when at his best
A champion player is one that not only can score tries but also one that is a competent defender that can save tries as well
 
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A champion player is one that not only can score tries but also one that is a competent defender that can save tries as well


The thing is much is made of Blake's defence problems but it didnt seem to affect his play as he developed. In fact the South Sydney side in 1989 that won the minor premiership, in which he was five eighth, streeted all others in the number of games won and in defensive qualities during the year with an almost no name back line outside of Blake and Coleman. Manly in the meantime with Hasler, Shearer, O'Connor, Lyons in the backline came in 12th with a defence almost 140 points poorer than Souths. I dont think Blake's defence was found wanting. Canberra who finally won the 1989 title had Belcher, Daley, Meninga and Stuart in their backline, but finished the main season well behind the Rabbitos...
 
The thing is much is made of Blake's defence problems but it didnt seem to affect his play as he developed. In fact the South Sydney side in 1989 that won the minor premiership, in which he was five eighth, streeted all others in the number of games won and in defensive qualities during the year with an almost no name back line outside of Blake and Coleman. Manly in the meantime with Hasler, Shearer, O'Connor, Lyons in the backline came in 12th with a defence almost 140 points poorer than Souths. I dont think Blake's defence was found wanting. Canberra who finally won the 1989 title had Belcher, Daley, Meninga and Stuart in their backline, but finished the main season well behind the Rabbitos...
In finals footy Defence wins comps and that is why Souths and Blaky never went on with it .
The facts feathered friend ......
Blake played for Souths from 1987 - 1990

1987 the year he was released from Manly we won the comp and souths came 5th
1988 Manly 4th Souths 8th
1989 Souths were minor premiers and then choked in the finals and we came 12th
1990 Manly 4th Souths ( last) 16th and a wooden spoon for Blake and the rabbits
 
In finals footy Defence wins comps and that is why Souths and Blaky never went on with it .
The facts feathered friend ......
Blake played for Souths from 1987 - 1990

1987 the year he was released from Manly we won the comp and souths came 5th
1988 Manly 4th Souths 8th
1989 Souths were minor premiers and then choked in the finals and we came 12th
1990 Manly 4th Souths ( last) 16th and a wooden spoon for Blake and the rabbits


Totally missed the point Bozo. Fact was Blake and Coleman had virtually no other recognised player of worth in their backline. Manly had one of the best backlines in the competition in 1987-1990 including it being the first year of Toovey's reign and Tony Iro on the wing in 1990. Manly had also pinched Souths best forward in Ian Roberts. Souths had added Terry Hill in his first season but he only played 9 games and was still raw.

If Blake had been in the Manly side, say alongside O'Connor with Lyons and Toovey inside and Hasler at lock, Manly could well have won the 1990 premiership. Souths had a good forward line up during those years you've mentioned but little other than Coleman and Blake in the backline, and yet other than 1990, they were up there amongst the top half of the comp.

And you forgot to mention Manly with a top backline came in 12th in 1989 and 'choked' in the 1988 finals with almost the same team that won the 1987 premiership.

By the way he was training with Manly again in 1998 and almost signed to return but then decided he'd had enough and retired to start coaching where he took Manly RU to the grandfinal
 
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Totally missed the point Bozo. Fact was Blake and Coleman had virtually no other recognised player of worth in their backline. Manly had one of the best backlines in the competition in 1987-1990 including it being the first year of Toovey's reign and Tony Iro on the wing in 1990. Manly had also pinched Souths best forward in Ian Roberts. Souths had added Terry Hill in his first season but he only played 9 games and was still raw.

If Blake had been in the Manly side, say alongside O'Connor with Lyons and Toovey inside and Hasler at lock, Manly could well have won the 1990 premiership. Souths had a good forward line up during those years you've mentioned but little other than Coleman and Blake in the backline, and yet other than 1990, they were up there amongst the top half of the comp.

And you forgot to mention Manly with a top backline came in 12th in 1989 and 'chocked' in the 1988 finals with almost the same team that won the 1987 premiership
At the end of the day Blake was not a great defender as that is why he was not considered ahead of other halves centres and fullbacks for representative selection . We will agree to disagree :)
 
At the end of the day Blake was not a great defender as that is why he was not considered ahead of other halves centres and fullbacks for representative selection . We will agree to disagree :)


He could have been better
 
He could have been better
Did Blake play in 86 in the same team as Cliffy? I think I remember being at a semi in 1986 where Cliffy and Phil played in the same team against the Tigers. We lost, I think it was Blake's last game with us.
 
1986 was a strange year. Had some really good players with Close and Gibbs in the centres, Boustead on the wing. But they had Blake on the wing throughout the year and from round 9 Lyons was brought through to play lock throughout the year. They seemed to think the Mitchell Cox-Des Hasler halves combination was best. Fulton decided after 1983 that Blake had defence problems and continuously shifted him about from half to five eighth to centre to wing. Yet he was twice the top try scorer in the comp between 1982-1986 and was rookie of the year 1982.

An interesting stat shows Blake scored 0.68 tries per match with Manly only bettered by Stewart 0.70. Fulton was only 0.59, Boustead only 0.46
 
Cliff Lyons is God. The best magician the world has ever seen with a football in his hand. And whilst he was rarely found wanting. Not even I would say Cliffy was a great defender. I know the official line is defence is the reason PHIL BLAKE got the boot, but PHIL in his prime for a relatively unknown Cliffy. For DEfence! I'm thinking a personality clash sounds much more likely.
 
Who cares what his defence was like, most entertaining attacking footballer I've ever seen, every time he got the ball the whole crowd stood with anticipation
 
Who cares what his defence was like, most entertaining attacking footballer I've ever seen, every time he got the ball the whole crowd stood with anticipation
I used to watch all 3 grades and loved watching a player evolve into a first grader.
Michael Blake came up to reserves and we thought he looked nippy. He went onto first grade and held his own :nod:

Then Phil started in U23s - took only a few weeks to know that he left his big brother for dead. :D

Much like now watching Turbo v Jake, if Jake was playing as a back :dashsymbol:

Love a chip and chase play, we should bring it back in Retro Round :lightbulb:
 
I would never suggest Lyons was in any way inferior to Phil Blake. Lyons is my second favourite Sea Eagles player after Fulton and deserved to be Manly's five eighth in the 80s and 90s. But imagine if you wil Phil Blake playing off Lyons in the centre, somewhat like Menzies. Lyons was the master distributor, Blake the master spontaneous attacker. Together they could have set Manly on fire
 

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