Hey rhino, Bella was a favourite for me too not just because he was effective, but there was a real appeal in him being so bloody unfashionable. Love the eccentric. An optometrist rugby league player? The thrust of what I wrote was from fond memory but had to check out specific details on wikipedia, so probably made me look a lot more knowledgeable than I am. Â Where I realised his nicknames seem to give a clue that he might have created some quite tender moments for opponents.
Yeah, there's been some bad blood between the Bulldogs and Manly fans, at least with this Manly fan. Â True their fans have been the worst in the league for violence. Â Gangs of racial groups actively sought fights with opposing fans reminiscent of European football hooligans. Â But that's mostly history now and it has mostly settled down. Â In 1995 we totally dominated all season, but they stole the grand final from us with crucial dodgy refereeing decisions from Bill "Cement Truck" Harrigan, who has hated Manly for decades. Bulldogs and the Broncos were the prime cause of Rupert Murdoch being able to take over Rugby League here, for which they'll never be forgotten. Â The game here took a decade to start recovering and it is permanently hobbled by being a subsidiary of News Ltd. And their boss Peter Bullfrog Moore schemed to make this happen when he was a senior executive of the ARL, using his inside knowledge and trust to betray his colleagues and the game, a charge he denied, but nothing happened at the club without his fingerprints all over them, IMO. He was the godfather of the family.
The arrogance of the Bulldogs was exemplified in the year you beat them in the WCC when they were investigated for gang rape of a young lady. Â The club "investigated" the alleged rape by having all players actively collaborate on their accounts, by having the players refuse to give details to police including whether they had sex, consensual or otherwise, and by having players all turn up to police investigations days later through the media throng in their ghetto-style casual gear, thumbing their noses at the game, the community and the police. The examples of their arrogance are too many to name. Â But they've got a new CEO now, reputably the best in the game (alongside arguably Meyer who we've just curiously dumped), they cleaned out players, their culture has changed dramatically and the arrogance is gone - and with that they've gone from last to first in one season. Getting harder and harder to hate them now, respect's taking over.
Steve Menzies is a legend and his influence goes way past what he does on the field. Â It is no coincidence that Manly ran into troubles this year only after he'd left.
All the best to you rhino and to the Rhinos. Hope we meet again in the WCC. Â Enjoy playing against class, win or lose.
