Under-rated manly sides - 1982

[Shoe1]

While researching for the "Who's fastest" thread I have dredged up lots of 1982 memories.

Despite making the GF I don't think this team gets the plaudits it deserves, and Ray Ritchie lost his job despite getting the team to the GF. They played some of the best ad-lib attacking footy ever - check out this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ym15L1vuFq0

Two matches stick in my head - beating Parra 31-14 in round 19 at Brookie, then flogging Canberra 61-20 the following week at Brookie again.

I still can't believe we lost that GF, as we looked invincible in many games that year. I know the 83 team was better and were minor premiers, but I feel the 82 side had something special - they went for miracle tries.

 

[Alan]

Agree great team shoe. I fear Ray was always only a one year plan to fill in til Bozo returned, he deserved better.

 

[Chip and Chase]

Manly side for the '82 GF was

1. Graham EADIE
2. John RIBOT DE BRESAC
3. Chris CLOSE
4. Michael BLAKE
5. Phil CAREY
6. Alan THOMPSON (c)
7. Phil BLAKE
8. Paul McCABE
14. Les BOYD
10. Paul VAUTIN
11. Terry RANDALL
12. Ray BROWN
13. Geoff GERARD

9. Bruce WALKER
15. Max KRILICH
18. Ian THOMSON

Simon Booth and Mike Eden played a lot of that season as did Mark Broadhurst.

Pretty handy side, but you'd have to say the Parra side we were up against were one of the great club sides.

'82 was a heart wrenching GF. Up until that point as a young fan I was working on the theory that Manly won every Grand Final they made.

 

[Shoe1]

me too c&c, utterly devastated at 82 and 83 results. My behaviour as a fan was formed by the 70s wins in lots of ways. Surely we can't lose ...

I regard myself as quite easy going and fair minded in most areas of life, but, when it comes to watching manly, no win is quite good enough & I can't handle losses. 20 points in front isn't enough, I watch the clock when we are ahead and wish it was the 79th minute. The rest of me grew up but the manly fan part remains a child, a spoilt child at that.

 

[Peter C]

Fairly certain that Ritchie didn't want to coach beyond 1982, he was also coach in 1981.

 

[The Indian]

Great post - this was the team I remember above all others my from my youth - 1982 ...in names as good a team as we ever had ....played a horror in the GF but such a great team overall.

McCabe, Brown , Ribot were under appreciated players for us ...plenty more to this team was star studded.


Good stuff.

 

[KOMORI]

Great post - this was the team I remember above all others my from my youth - 1982 ...in names as good a team as we ever had ....played a horror in the GF but such a great team overall.

McCabe, Brown , Ribot were under appreciated players for us ...plenty more to this team was star studded.


Good stuff.

Hmmmmm my dad hated John Ribot so much he named one our cats after him

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

Damn these bye rounds. :dodgy:

 

[eagle66]

1991 team. Little spoken about this team except for the loss to Canberra in the semi and the game against Canberra in Canberra where Cliff Lyons ran amock in the first half. This team came second in the season proper and probably a surprise to many with a forward pack consisting, Grieve, White, Russell,Jones and Dunford during the season. I recall that the reserves went through the season not winning a game (well done Max Krilich).

 

[HoldenV8]

Des Hasler played lock for most of the 1991 season IIRC. Plus we had Marty Bella and Ian Roberts so we didn't have a bad pack. John Jones and Matt Dunford were very underrated players IMO. Didn't we get the nickname Maori Warringah in 1991 under Lowe because of all the Kiwis we had (Iro brothers, Williams, Ridge)?

We had a good team in 1982, but Parramatta were better I guess, though they weren't when we beat them 20-0 in the semis. Still a mystery how Fatty missed selection for the 1982 Kangaroo tour though. Phil Blake probably should have toured also.

 

[EagleFromMay1967]

. . . .. Still a mystery how Fatty missed selection for the 1982 Kangaroo tour though. Phil Blake probably should have toured also.

No mystery, Phil Blake missed selection to tour because he had well known defensive problems _ he just couldn't or wouldn't tackle.
Fatty missed because he had red hair and played for Manly.

 

[niccipops]

Nice blast form the past.
I would have been one of the midgets running for the corner post at those games.
What great Manly talent. I remember having a Phil Blake poster in my bedroom. He was only 17 back then I think. Manly's Justin Bieber - sorry for the insult Phil.
One thing that struck me watching that film was the crowds. Back then there was no Friday or Monday night football. No foxtel, no internet , iPods, iPads, iEverythings, Instagram or Twitter.
People did real things for entertainment and that included sitting on the hill, usually on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, yelling your lungs out for your team.
It's no wonder that the crowd for the Knights was dismal. I don't know what the answer is 'cause the iEverythings aren't going away but it would be fantastic to see crowds like that at Brookie again.
The talent's available to watch.

 

[Shoe1]

. . . .. Still a mystery how Fatty missed selection for the 1982 Kangaroo tour though. Phil Blake probably should have toured also.

No mystery, Phil Blake missed selection to tour because he had well known defensive problems _ he just couldn't or wouldn't tackle.
Fatty missed because he had red hair and played for Manly.

I think the bigger surprise was fatty missing the 86 squad. He would have been a smoky at best for 82. Phil Blake came off the bench in lots of 82 games so he was not really in contention. I recall Michael Blake was being talked up as a possible centre for that tour. He had an amazing season, but didn't really kick on under bozo.

 

[HoldenV8]

IIRC Fatty spent most of 1986 on the sidelines with a broken arm so he really wasn't considered for the Kangaroo tour that year (though his comeback just before the finals didn't get anywhere near the publicity golden boy Wayne Pearce got for his rehab from an ACL injury).

Vautin made his Origin and test debut in 1982 but wasn't selected to tour (why was Ian Schubert selected? The guy hadn't played a test since 1975 and hadn't played rep footy since the 1978 Kangaroo tour). Strange thing was though that Fatty was straight back into the test team for the NZ series in 1983 and also won that years Dally M Second Rower of the Year. Guess he had a point to prove in `83.

I can take the point about Phil Blake. The bloke could attack like not may at the time could, but his defence sucked which is a big part of why he didn't kick on with us under Bozo.

 

[Fluffy]

great video, beautiful angles through the middle in a lot of those tries

 

[eagles2win]

I can't see how this side was underrated when the Australian captain was on the bench

 

[Shoe1]

I can't see how this side was underrated when the Australian captain was on the bench

I meant under-rated by manly fans & largely forgotten by historians. We often talk of the 70s sides, the 96 team, the 2008 team / current team etc.

Because the 82 team didn't win it is rarely mentioned. Their style of play and some key personnel changed in 83.

 

[Peter C]

. . . .. Still a mystery how Fatty missed selection for the 1982 Kangaroo tour though. Phil Blake probably should have toured also.

No mystery, Phil Blake missed selection to tour because he had well known defensive problems _ he just couldn't or wouldn't tackle.
Fatty missed because he had red hair and played for Manly.

I think the bigger surprise was fatty missing the 86 squad. He would have been a smoky at best for 82. Phil Blake came off the bench in lots of 82 games so he was not really in contention. I recall Michael Blake was being talked up as a possible centre for that tour. He had an amazing season, but didn't really kick on under bozo.

Michael Blake was not fast enough as a back, and not big enough for a forward.

 

[Las Vegas Blvd]

Manly side for the '82 GF was

1. Graham EADIE
2. John RIBOT DE BRESAC
3. Chris CLOSE
4. Michael BLAKE
5. Phil CAREY
6. Alan THOMPSON (c)
7. Phil BLAKE
8. Paul McCABE
14. Les BOYD
10. Paul VAUTIN
11. Terry RANDALL
12. Ray BROWN
13. Geoff GERARD

9. Bruce WALKER
15. Max KRILICH
18. Ian THOMSON

Simon Booth and Mike Eden played a lot of that season as did Mark Broadhurst.

Pretty handy side, but you'd have to say the Parra side we were up against were one of the great club sides.

'82 was a heart wrenching GF. Up until that point as a young fan I was working on the theory that Manly won every Grand Final they made.

Tough side with skill flair and raw power

 

[Manly To Win!]

A lot will probably disagree on this, but how about the 2002 Northern Eagles side - was probably one of the weakest teams ever fielded by the club, but nearly made the finals