67th Year - Manly All Time Best

[SeaEagleRock8]

. . . Ben Kennedy should probably be replaced with his prototype Anthony Watmough.

Prototype? ... or protégé :idea:

 

[mickqld]

Defensively Wombat and Snake are on a par. Attacking wise Eadie was just blockbusting making line breaks from fullback runs whereas Snake is speed and agility. Having watched a lot of both of them I'd say Eadie shades Snake but not by much.
Jamie Lyon is streets ahead of Ray Brannigan. Ray's best day were at Souths not so much Manly from what i remember.

 

[Cliffy4PM]

Did you think Ridge was far behind these guys? Defensively he was fantastic. Organized the whole team from the back.

 

[Phantar]

Defensively Wombat and Snake are on a par. Attacking wise Eadie was just blockbusting making line breaks from fullback runs whereas Snake is speed and agility. Having watched a lot of both of them I'd say Eadie shades Snake but not by much.
Jamie Lyon is streets ahead of Ray Brannigan. Ray's best day were at Souths not so much Manly from what i remember.

Branighan had 4 1/2 excellent seasons with Manly before his career was partially derailed after a (legal) Mark Harris tackle at the SCG in 1976. His absence opened the way for Russel Gartner to cement his spot in first grade.

Branighan really only cemented his spot at Souths in 1970. So I think Manly saw more of his best than Souths did. He came back from that injury and still managed two pretty solid seasons in 77 and 78 - including a stint as captain in the former.

However, I agree that Jamie Jimbo Lyon has now gone past him.

And Wombat definitely has it over Snake. Great as the latter is.

 

[Kiwi Eagle]

Branighan is selected on the wing in our best ever side so it isn't him Lyon is contending with

Lyon v O'Connor should be the debate, and I only saw O'Connor for a year or 2

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

O'Connor was a brilliant attacking player of rare class. He was a dual international who also played well at Origin level and was an excellent goalkicker.

It is no shame at all to O'Connor that Lyon is better. Lyon is simply outstanding.

As for the fullbacks, there isn't much in it but I would still go for Wombat. If Brett's career hadn't been interrupted with serious injury he may have got ahead. He still might! They are both absolutely top drawer.

 

[Phantar]

Branighan is selected on the wing in our best ever side so it isn't him Lyon is contending with

Lyon v O'Connor should be the debate, and I only saw O'Connor for a year or 2

F-ck yeah...I forgot that. Well as I've said on these forums before, Lyon has gone well past O'Connor. Although some might argue that O'Connor might still be in front by a nose...nyuk, nyuk.

 

[Ramrod]

This team is ridiculous. It selects players OUT OF POSITION

1. G. Eadie. * (Snake or Wombat, very tough question - however, the Wombat played in 6 GF for Manly. Awesome defender too).
2. K. Irvine.
3. J. Lyon.
4. R. Fulton. *

5. R. Branighan. (Snoz was the other contender).

Neither of these two played wing. They both regularly played Centre for Manly. Ok Snoz played wing for the Kangaroos. But we are talking club football.

U cant let yourselves 'off the hook' cause Manly have had a plethora of good centres, and a perceived lack of great wingers. And this perception is rubbish.
Apart from Irvine, there's been Tom Mooney (mentioned by no one), Kerry Boustead, Max Brown, and Michael Robertson. We've also had Steven Knight, Dale Shearer.

Branigan does NOT deserve this placement. He was injured all the time, was not a great goal kicker, played along side Fulton. Was as slow as a wet weekend.

I completely agree with you EagleFromMay. I saw a lot of games Branigan played for Manly and he was very average.

Ray Branighan played in 5 winning Grand Finals.
Ray was a winger in Souths' 1970 and 1971 premierships.
Ray also replaced Simon Booth in Manly's 1978 GF replay.

Although mainly a centre, Snoz has played wing for NSW & Australia.
If he's good enough for NSW and Australia on the wing, he's good enough for Manly on the wing.

The other contender would be Dale Shearer. He played wing for QLD. Again, he was Manly's fullback, and that may not sit well with you. Boustead would also be great on the wing.

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- Marty Gurr - Maybe even Marty on the Wing?

How does Marty Gurr get a start in the Manly best foreigners side ?? He was Australina born and bred was he not ??

LOL. You're right!
I always thought he was a Kiwi.
Apologies to all.

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[Stevo]

Ben Kennedy should probably be replaced with his prototype Anthony Watmough.

Prototype? ... or protégé :idea:

lol. I did mean Prototype. As in prototype for a new model. As in Watmough was the new model of Kennedy. That's just a technicians mind at play. But protege works too. lol

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

I started supporting the Eagles in 1963, but to be honest I was 8 at the time and that was just the junior footy jersy I was given.

My real support started when I was in my mid teens, so about 1970 on.

And the reason for this quick history is to lead to the next part, which is,

What a 40 or so years it has been for me as a supporter, and how many great players have I seen in that time!!

Just look at those names....have we not been blessed with some of the most remarkable players in the games history, which continues to this very day!!

Dropping players out (a la Fatty) due to what he may have said just won't happen.

The team chosen will be the one from 2006 with some ommisions and replacements from the 2006-2016 period.

SO, I can only see two changes and these are listed below...Snake is a try scoring machine but anyone who saw the Wombat play will remember what he was and still deserves to be there regardless of how great Snakie is.

I then drop BK to fit in Choccy, other than that all stays the same.

Graham Eadie
Ken Irvine
Ray Branighan
Bob Fulton
Michael O'Connor (Jamie Lyon)
Wally O'Connell
Geoff Toovey

Roy Bull
Max Krilich
John O'Neill
Steve Menzies
Terry Randall
Malcolm Reilly

Des Hasler
Ben Kennedy (Anthony Watmough)
Cliff Lyons
Paul Vautin

 

[EagleFromMay1967]

This team is ridiculous. It selects players OUT OF POSITION

1. G. Eadie. * (Snake or Wombat, very tough question - however, the Wombat played in 6 GF for Manly. Awesome defender too).
2. K. Irvine.
3. J. Lyon.
4. R. Fulton. *

5. R. Branighan. (Snoz was the other contender).

Neither of these two played wing. They both regularly played Centre for Manly. Ok Snoz played wing for the Kangaroos. But we are talking club football.

U cant let yourselves 'off the hook' cause Manly have had a plethora of good centres, and a perceived lack of great wingers. And this perception is rubbish.
Apart from Irvine, there's been Tom Mooney (mentioned by no one), Kerry Boustead, Max Brown, and Michael Robertson. We've also had Steven Knight, Dale Shearer.

Branigan does NOT deserve this placement. He was injured all the time, was not a great goal kicker, played along side Fulton. Was as slow as a wet weekend.

I completely agree with you EagleFromMay. I saw a lot of games Branigan played for Manly and he was very average.

Ray Branighan played in 5 winning Grand Finals.
Ray was a winger in Souths' 1970 and 1971 premierships.
Ray also replaced Simon Booth in Manly's 1978 GF replay.

Although mainly a centre, Snoz has played wing for NSW & Australia.
If he's good enough for NSW and Australia on the wing, he's good enough for Manly on the wing.

The other contender would be Dale Shearer. He played wing for QLD. Again, he was Manly's fullback, and that may not sit well with you. Boustead would also be great on the wing.

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As a "winger", with the occasional Kangaroos game, against weak opposition, eg England, France in those days, .. . . how can you possibly rate Michael O'Connor with the week in-week out, year after year, proven track record of Tom Mooney. ??
This just doesnt' stack up.

Players should be selected for Manly's greatest ever side in the positions they played FOR MANLY, and the standard they achieved FOR MANLY. Not what they did elsewhere.

The backline should therefore be:
Graham Eadie
Ken Irvine
Bob Fulton
Jamie Lyon
Tom Mooney (83 tries in 7 seasons) or Michael Robertson.
Wally O'Connell or Cliff Lyons
Geoff Toovey

I saw all of the Branigan years, including what he did for Souths. He was good on his day, in patches. He was not a winger for Manly. Generally esp after 1972, his first year with Manly i found most of his performances frustrating.
Jamie Lyon is streets ahead in just about every respect.

 

[Ramrod]

This team is ridiculous. It selects players OUT OF POSITION

1. G. Eadie. * (Snake or Wombat, very tough question - however, the Wombat played in 6 GF for Manly. Awesome defender too).
2. K. Irvine.
3. J. Lyon.
4. R. Fulton. *

5. R. Branighan. (Snoz was the other contender).

Neither of these two played wing. They both regularly played Centre for Manly. Ok Snoz played wing for the Kangaroos. But we are talking club football.

U cant let yourselves 'off the hook' cause Manly have had a plethora of good centres, and a perceived lack of great wingers. And this perception is rubbish.
Apart from Irvine, there's been Tom Mooney (mentioned by no one), Kerry Boustead, Max Brown, and Michael Robertson. We've also had Steven Knight, Dale Shearer.

Branigan does NOT deserve this placement. He was injured all the time, was not a great goal kicker, played along side Fulton. Was as slow as a wet weekend.

I completely agree with you EagleFromMay. I saw a lot of games Branigan played for Manly and he was very average.

Ray Branighan played in 5 winning Grand Finals.
Ray was a winger in Souths' 1970 and 1971 premierships.
Ray also replaced Simon Booth in Manly's 1978 GF replay.

Although mainly a centre, Snoz has played wing for NSW & Australia.
If he's good enough for NSW and Australia on the wing, he's good enough for Manly on the wing.

The other contender would be Dale Shearer. He played wing for QLD. Again, he was Manly's fullback, and that may not sit well with you. Boustead would also be great on the wing.

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As a "winger", with the occasional Kangaroos game, against weak opposition, eg England, France in those days, .. . . how can you possibly rate Michael O'Connor with the week in-week out, year after year, proven track record of Tom Mooney. ??
This just doesnt' stack up.

Players should be selected for Manly's greatest ever side in the positions they played FOR MANLY, and the standard they achieved FOR MANLY. Not what they did elsewhere.

The backline should therefore be:
Graham Eadie
Ken Irvine
Bob Fulton
Jamie Lyon
Tom Mooney (83 tries in 7 seasons) or Michael Robertson.
Wally O'Connell or Cliff Lyons
Geoff Toovey

I saw all of the Branigan years, including what he did for Souths. He was good on his day, in patches. He was not a winger for Manly. Generally esp after 1972, his first year with Manly i found most of his performances frustrating.
Jamie Lyon is streets ahead in just about every respect.

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OK. Fair call on the Wing selection.
Tom Mooney was a great player and specialist winger.
I would stick Lyon in the 3 jersey (what he currently wears) and Fulton in the 4 (a jersey Bob had worn before).

I was fortunate to have met Wally and got a copy of his book, autographed. Wally is even smaller than Tooves. Wally agreed to come across the bridge to captain coach Manly, which cost him a Test jersey because he sat out the 1950 season (out of principle) due to a block by Easts.

Arko has big wraps on Wally O'Connell. Arko told me something about how Wally had a trick short kick off. Wally took us to our first grand final in '51. I can't say how great he was because I never saw him play.

The O'Connell brothers are the only 3 brothers to have all captained Manly. Not sure if any other clubs have had 3 brothers captain their club.
Wally is still around and I think Barry is too. I believe Ron is no longer with us. Again, I'm fortunate to have met all 3.

Now, Cliffy could be mesmerizing and he could also do the odd errors.
Cliffy had more great moments than not. That's why I chose him.
If I ever seen magic, it was Cliffy's. Some things he did on the field was unbelievably brilliant.
One funny moment when he called out "Sticky" to Ricky Stuart and Stuart passed the ball to him which Cliffy ran away with the ball to score.

O'Connor has uncanny ability to side step his opposition.
I don't think there're many that can defend O'Connor one on one.
I've seen him step passed two defenders like they weren't even there.

Jamie Lyon has to be in our greatest team. The 2011 season belongs to him. We won't have reached the GF let alone win it if it wasn't for Jamie.
His competitiveness is awesome.

 

[Shoe1]

Anyone who puts Kennedy in and not Roberts needs their head read.

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Kenny irvine is a borderline immortal, but do his 2 years at manly give him a start in our best ever? Mooney scored many more tries for us, even hoppa and wolfman could get a look in I reckon. Hancock played more games and got more tries.

 

[AshfieldBazza]

Irvine played 3 years for Manly so I can see what you say about him not being there very long and is he worthy? Same could be said about O'Neill who only had 3 years at Manly also. This is the same debate as what goes on with BK in relation to this all time team selection. For me both the players I've mentioned get in but not BK.

I know the great things O'Connell did at Manly but still can't understand how he he beats Cliffy into the team?? Played for all the rep teams and a dual premiership player ( 4 GF appearanaces also )and CC Medalist also. I just can't see how he can be left out of the all time Manly team!

Watmough and Lyon being added in 16 i agree with for Branighan and BK. Unfortunately no room at the moment for Stewart Brothers but their still is 3 years to selection so you don't know what can happen?

Just as a side note Watmough equals Toovey's 7th place on all time appearance list with 238 games for Manly this weekend after matching Graham Eadie's 237 last week against Tigers. Next on list in 6th place is Fred Jones with 241. He may catch Hasler with 255 for 4th spot if he has a injury free season like i hope. These are Manly numbers not counting any Northern Eagles games

 

[Shoe1]

You might be on to something with that AshfieldBazza - start with the 200 game life members for the first cut. Not all may make it, but it's a good start!

 

[Masked Eagle]

Does this mean the club is openly embracing the Northern Eagles era or not? If they are they should be doing their damdest to get the NRL to officially recognise the careers of players like Toovs and Beaver as one club players.

Also on whether Ben Kennedy should be in the team or not. People say he had a good influence on the team. How do you judge that and by the same token, you downplay influence other players have had in their time? When you are judging teams like this for me, you have to include things like games played, premierships won, etc. Not saying he didn't play a role but for someone who played less than 50 games and not winning a final, I find it very hard to rank him higher than guys in the premiership winning and 200+ games list.

 

[Chip and Chase]

If I was naming the side

Wombat
Snoz
Killer
Frogs Eyes
Snake (has to get a jersey somewhere)

Cliffy
Phil Blake

Cement
Tooves
Igor
Beaver
Chimp
Gift

Rambo
OJ
Kosef
Sorry

Coach: Bozo

Not the best ever, but my team of favourite players.

 

[BOZO]

How about "meanest pack" -
Spud
Freddie Jones
Cement
Reilly
Randall
Rambo
Interchange
O'Neill
Ian Roberts

I did not see him play but they reckon The Moose was one mean mother . Very Tough man .

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If I was naming the side

Wombat
Snoz
Killer
Frogs Eyes
Snake (has to get a jersey somewhere)

Cliffy
Phil Blake

Cement
Tooves
Igor
Beaver
Chimp
Gift

Rambo
OJ
Kosef
Sorry

Not the best ever, but my team of favourite players.

Brother , how can the most explosive, unpredictable and devastating player in the history of our game Bob Fulton not excite you ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

 

[firechild]

I'd have the following in contention and am absolutely glad I'm not the one that will have to make final decisions:

FB:
Eadie, Stewart

Wing:
Irvine, Branighan, Robertson

Centre:
Bozo, Lyon, Hill, O'Conner

5/8th:
Lyons, O'Connell

Halfback:
Toovey, Hasler

Prop:
Bull, O'Neill, Carroll, Roberts, Gillespie

Hooker:
Krillich, Ballin

2nd row/lock:
Menzies, Randall, Reilly, Kosef, Stewart, Kennedy, Watmough, Vautin

In bold are my starting 13. Bench is tough but I'd probably find room for Watmough, Hasler, Bull and Gillespie.

I never saw O'Connell play but IMO Cliffy's contribution over a significantly longer period has him well on top.

 

[Chip and Chase]

Brother , how can the most explosive, unpredictable and devastating player in the history of our game Bob Fulton not excite you ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

He excites me, but to be honest I never really saw Bozo play. I can just remember the 78 GF, so most of my proper memories of Manly players were from that point on. I have no doubt that Bozo is one of the greatest ever, as is probably Mal Reilly, Moose, O'Neill etc, but I don't have any personal experience to draw on there. The team was just my team of favourite Manly players, by no means an attempt at naming the best ever side.

I could have named him coach I suppose, as he is probably my favourite coach. What he did with that 90's side was phenomenal. As a side/era that 95-97 side was probably the best ever IMO. Current team will give that a shake if we win another title this year.