Tom Mooney 1975 to 1981

Saturday, 24 February 2007 05:00

Tom Mooney came to the Sea Eagles from South Sydney in 1976. Originally from Wauchope on the mid North Coast of NSW, Mooney played 60 games for the rabbits and when he crossed the bridge he immediately cemented himself as the premier winger in the club.

Mooney was a hot headed young buck early in his career and was easily provoked by the opposition. However this did not detract from his overall game and his toughness and pace saw him become a prolific try scorer in the Maroon & White.

He was the seasons leading try scorer Tom Mooney came to the Sea Eagles from South Sydney in 1976. Originally from Wauchope on the mid North Coast of NSW, Mooney played 60 games for the rabbits and when he crossed the bridge he immediately cemented himself as the premier winger in the club.

Mooney was a hot headed young buck early in his career and was easily provoked by the opposition. However this did not detract from his overall game and his toughness and pace saw him become a prolific try scorer in the Maroon & White.

He was the seasons leading try scorer in 1976 and 1979 and he won two premierships for the club.

However possibly his most memorable achievement would have been scoring the Eagles only try in the drawn grand final against the Sharks in 1978 when he pounced on a loose ball after a huge bomb was spilled by the Sharks defenders.

To this day this try is still disputed in the shire and sharks fans claim he did not ground the ball before it hit the dead ball line and controversial referee Greg Hartley could not possibly make a fair call as he ended up flat on his back after tripping over a number of players who were scrambling for the ball.

However history shows not only did the try count but Manly went on the win the replay and the premiership in what was arguably the most memorable & heroic premiership win of all.

Tom retired after the clubs semi final loss to the Newtown Jets in 1981 and ended up being a successful publican on the far north coast where he owns hotels in Ballina, Byron Bay and Bangalow.

In a magnificent career he played 163 games for the club scoring an impressive 83 tries, amazingly despite being the competitions leading try scorer twice he never made a representative team. Mooney was named on the wing when the club named the first best ever side but failed to make the recently announced team for the 60th anniversary.

Tom Mooney a fast winger with an even faster temper

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