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For the love of God, please don’t let Manly win
30 Sep, 2008 11:14 AM
I HATE Manly.
There, I’ve said it.
Not the suburb as such. Manly Beach is a nice place for a paddle on summer’s day and there are some great pubs, cafes and restaurants along Manly Corso.
Kicking back at The Steyne Hotel with a scrumptious barbecue barramundi fillet ($24 with Greek salad with paw paw and ginger salsa) is a sublime epicurean experience, especially if it is washed down with copious Crown Lagers and two or three bottles of Margaret River red.
Yeah, Manly has a lot going for it and at a pinch I probably could live there if some kind multi gave me a luxury unit on the water.
How great would that be?
Not bad, except there would be the monumental problem of having to reside in the same area as those dastardly Sea Eagles.
True, a person could just act as if they didn’t exist, but that would be excruciatingly hard when people who live on The Peninsula carry on so much about the horrible team.
Let me tell you, I’m as passionate in my hatred of the Sea Eagles as any of their loathsome supporters is with their devotion of the team.
And, I detest the Sea Eagles for all the right reasons.
Not so much as they beat Cronulla in the 1973 grand final (Canterbury was the only team back then), but just that the Sea Eagles are an awful, rotten team.
They’ve been like that forever and you just have to despise them.
They’re the world’s smuggest footballers, which is frightening because they haven’t got too much to be superior or haughty about.
Same goes for the supporters, but they’re probably just a tick worse. They are probably on par with Roosters fans, although that would be worth a debate.
So what does this all mean in grand final week?
Firstly, I’ll be praying Manly gets beaten – and really, really badly beaten, possibly 30 or 40 points.
Aside from all the other obvious benefits, this will mean Steve Menzies doesn’t get anything like a fairytale end to his career.
I’m absolutely sick and tired of hearing about The Beaver. Honestly, you’d think the Channel Nine commentary team had shares in Beaver Incorporated the way they rabbit on about him.
Same goes for Matt Orford, Jamie Lyon and Brett Stewart – three players I would love to see get 40,000,000 franc contracts to play rugby union in Rwanda for the next 25 years.
On the downside, Manly getting beaten will cost Cootamundra’s Mark Bryant a premiership – and that will be a damn pity.
The only other drawback I can see to the Sea Eagles getting thumped is that it will be the Storm who will be doing the thumping.
I can’t say I totally loathe Melbourne (the footy team not the city), but it’s a close call.
The Storm are really easy to dislike – and not just because they are world champion whingers about anything and everything.
This means picking between Manly and Melbourne on Sunday is a bit like having to choose whether to have the fingernails torn out on your right or left hand.
I know I’ll end up cheering for the Storm, but it will be through clenched teeth.
That is unless I absolutely load up on the Storm on TAB Sportsbet at the fantastic price of $2.05. Now that definitely would be worth cheering about.