Manly v Norths: the 60-year feud lives on

[Guest]

Jake Lingard will carry Manly's hopes. P

IT’S a rivalry that stretches back over 60 years when the Sea Eagles were desperately trying to force their way into top-flight rugby league.

Manly eventually knocked down the door in 1947, giving young footballers on the northern beaches a crack at the big time.

At the same time, it denied North Sydney a significant catchment area.

It was the start of a bitter feud between the two clubs that has lasted more than six decades and peaked during the disastrous Northern Eagles merger.

While the two clubs no longer battle each other in the national competition, the intense rivalry is still very much alive.

And it will continue on Friday night as Manly’s Toyota Cup speedster Jake Lingard and the Bears’ Ricky Morris battle players from seven other NRL clubs to find the fastest man in rugby league.

The race is part of the inaugural $30,000 Ken Irvine Gift meeting at North Sydney Oval.

“I don’t want to lose to anyone let alone (Norths runner Ricky Morris),” Lingard said at North Sydney Oval yesterday.

“I would like to win the whole thing to be honest but don’t think I’m that quick.

“It (the Sea Eagles-Bears) rivalry was a bit before my time.

“Growing up my old man supported Manly, so I knew a bit about it.”

But someone who knows a lot more about the rivalry is former Bears five-eighth and current club chief executive Greg Florimo.

“I didn’t identify with it so much when I was playing, it was something that was played out more by coaches and officials,” Florimo said.

“But since I’ve become an administrator of the club I’ve seen how much it means.

“Especially with the fans, they’re still very passionate about it.

“There’s always a lot of interest between Manly and Norths and I think this will be the same.

“Hopefully it will be neck and neck all the way but we’ll pip (Lingard) at the post.”

The league player’s race will be held over 91m (100 yards), the distance in which Irvine broke the world record as a professional in 1963.

It is one of the three feature events on the night. A professional men’s and women’s race will be also held over 110m.

Races commence from 6.30pm.

Lets hope that there is an all in brawl like the old days.

 

[DSM5]

Like I said in another post, Irvine eventually saw the light, wanted premiership glory, and got it at Manly.  Staying on at the Bears would have seen one of the best wingers ever without a premiership which would have been sad.  About as sad as the Bears really. 

 

[The Wheel]

Flo is really living in the past if he still feels the rivalary - just something for Greg to ponder - Norths are not in the comp, there is no rivalary any more

 

[Fro]

Theres no rivalry left, its more pity, and thats only among Manly fans who shold know better.

 

[Cameron]

**** the bear scum

 

[Fro]

I was trying to be subtle cliffy, but your method works for me

 

[DSM5]

Fro, did you get out of the bed the wrong side today.  To feel pity for Norths is not to say there's any love there, or even like.  It's akin to the pity one has for the beggar in India that one steps on to get across the road.  Or the hand of a drowning storm supporter that you'd never reach for.  Fleeting and soon forgotten.   

 

[Fro]

Nah mate, its all good.

the beggar may have no choice to be a beggar.

the storm supporter may not have a choice to be a loser

but the norths supporter always has a choice, whether or not to watch a replay of this years GF actually last years Reggies would be better, when they got beaten at the last tick of the clock.

And I would reach for the storm supporter, to hnd him a copy of this years Grand final scorecard

And then I'd tread on his head

 

[DSM5]

Excellent.

 

[Dan]

Any way you look at it Manly won. We still exist in the NRL

 

[SilentBob]

F**k the bear scum

Beat me to it.

 

[byso]

Must be struggling for crowd numbers if they need a poor story like this to create interest for a 3rd rate race.

 

[Matabele]

Oh please.  you can only have a feud when there's competition.  The Bears are just lamentable and a blight.  They steal good oxygen that could be used by winners. 

 

[Canteen Worker]

I see from Yesterday's herald page that Mata has the same regard for Norths as he does for Paris Hilton.

 

[Canteen Worker]

Article from:
    The Daily Telegraph

Don't put the Bears in Gosford

By Nick Walshaw | December 11, 2008 12:00am

EVEN poor ol' Matt wants to get rid of his sock. Signed by Jason Taylor, it sits among a sorry eBay collection of Northern Eagles merchandise, memorabilia and musty used clothes.

There's the team poster set for $3.99. A plush mascot for eight bucks. Two beanies, two caps and a range of other knick-knacks all waiting around like ugly callgirls on a rainy, Tuesday night.

And then there's the sock.

Go on, have a look. It'll still be there today. Tomorrow too. The one JT signed To Matt some six years ago now being offered up for $49. Good luck.

Because up on the Central Coast at least, the Northern Eagles remain a dirtier phrase than "Attention CityRail passengers ...''

Here by Brisbane Water, the Beagles will always be a farce. A joke. Greatest con since The Crying Game. Because here was a club which sold itself as a Central Coast team. This despite working out of Manly, training out of Hornsby and wearing more colours than a Passion Pop hurl.

Like a pesky Avon lady, simply appearing every couple of months to ring your doorbell and take your cash. And now you Sydneysiders want to put this sick joke on us Coasties all over again. For almost a month now, talk has been building around a supposed push to move the North Sydney Bears up the F3 to Central Coast Stadium.

Suggesting that when NRL boss David Gallop again talks expansion - something he recently refused to do in the foreseeable future - it should be the Bears.

Put simply, shifting the Bears to Gosford would be a toxic dumping of Hazmat proportions. So bad, dreadlocked women would start chaining themselves to those Central Coast Stadium palm trees by their underarm hair.

Why? Because there is just no mystical love affair between the Bears and the Central Coast. Up here Norths are simply the bumbling mess who've won ... NOTHING in 86 years. Who tried to come here - twice - and still botched it up.

So c'mon, why stop with the Bears, Sydney? Why not send us Parramatta Road traffic snarls. Or George Street glassings. Hell, maybe you could ship us that dodgy Leichhardt Oval toilet block with Corey Worthington inside.

Or how's this for an idea? If the Central Coast truly deserves an NRL team, why not just give us one? Name, colours, drunk superstars, the lot.

Like when the Northern Spirit soccer club folded in 2004, coach Lawrie McKinna and nine of his players moving to the Central Coast for a new start. Moving with no money. No connections. Nothing.

"And if we'd stuck with a name like Northern Spirit,'' says Central Mariners boss Lyle Gorman, "we'd still be struggling.''

Four years on and the Mariners now boast the support of Sheffield United owner Kevin McCabe, a database of 60,000 players and plans for a new $60million training complex at Tuggerah. Acting global, thinking local.

It's why every Monday they're still in schools. Every Tuesday conducting clinics at one of the Coast's 22 clubs. So committed, the running joke suggests that if your school fete only attracts three people, you can be sure one of them is a Mariner.

This is about refusing to take your community for granted. Like McKinna hosting fan barbecues in his backyard or Gorman conducting studies into the disproportionate youth suicide rate. Why, when an alcohol company recently offered $1.3million as front-of-jersey sponsor, they said no.

Because take the tip, the Central Coast isn't part of North Sydney. Ben Ikin never skated at Froggy's. Gary Larson never ate Wombi Whoppers. And we're pretty sure the late, great Ken Irvine never hurled a can of VB at Dieter Brummer inside Club Troppo.

Which isn't to suggest Bears legend Greg Florimo shouldn't continue his push to have an NRL team on the Coast. He should.

Get Singo involved. Appoint Dave Fairleigh as coach. Then rediscover that next wave of Mark O'Meleys, Matt Orfords and Ian Hendersons.

They should even buy Matt's sock off eBay ... keep it as a permanent reminder of what doesn't work up here.

 

[Matabele]

I see from Yesterday's herald page that Mata has the same regard for Norths as he does for Paris Hilton.

Oh did they publish that did they? LOL

 

[Matabele]

Article from:
    The Daily Telegraph

Don't put the Bears in Gosford

I told you Gould was the kiss of death.  News Ltd are marshalling the troops

 

[clontaago]

That was a great article. Quite amusing.

 

[Bradza]

Quote:
But someone who knows a lot more about the rivalry is former Bears five-eighth and current club chief executive Greg Florimo.

“I didn’t identify with it so much when I was playing, it was something that was played out more by coaches and officials,” Florimo said.

“But since I’ve become an administrator of the club I’ve seen how much it means.


Who is Florimo kidding saying he didn't notice the rivalry when he was playing! I used to coach a cricket team that his younger brother played in. The whole family were Bears tragics and typically bitter and twisted when it came to Manly. They were like the Qld Reds with the Waratahs, it didn't matter if they lost every other game in the season, a win against Manly made their pathetic little existence a "suckcess"!

 

[Cameron]

i think florimo is a wanker
anyone with the nickname flo must be a queer