Manly's Best Combined Premiership Team

[The Wheel]

my Team - mainly based in on performances in the Grand Final;

Eadie
Irvine
Fulton
O’connor
Robertson
Lyons
Toovey
Martin
Menzies
Randall
Kite
Jones
Ward

Special mention to Stewart brothers, Lyon, Gartner, Harvey, Denis Ward (had blinder in 72 GF), Thompson, Lowe

 

[Harvies elbow]

Just did a quick count and the teams named by ST's members are averaging over 4 locals per team, with Tooves, beaver, Igor and thrower being the most named and Chip & Chace's team having 7.
Not bad considering the caliber of players on show here from around the rugby league world.
In fact the teams from 76 and 78 had 7 or 8 local products in those teams which was at a time when we were accused of buying premierships.

 

[Chip and Chase]

Bit of love going on for Tom Mooney here.

Big body, strong runner, great finisher - he'd still cut it in today's game I reckon. One of our best wingers of all time IMO.

 

[Shoe1]

Ian Martin won 4, so surely has to be in every team?

That P. Peters from the 73 team, anyone know what became of him?

 

[HoldenV8]

I thought he played wing on that GF . You have a better memory than me mate .

Our GF wingers in 1987 were Stuart Davis and David Ronson. Rowdy was the fullback.

But I still say that the team you chose was probably one of the best ones. Rowdy was equally at home on the flank as he was at fullback or centre. That's why I put him on the bench in my team, he could cover just about the whole backline.

 

[HoldenV8]

Mighty Maxta Seaeagles!!

1 - Stewart
2 - Shearer
3 - Lyon
4 - Fulton
5 - O'Conner
6 - Lyon
7 - Foran
8 - Ward
9 - Toovey
10 - Carroll
11 - Randall
12 - Reilly
13 - Menzies

RES
14 - Ron Gibbs
15 - Roberts
16 - Cleal
17 - Watmough

A few out of position there - Rowdy, O'Connor, Foran, Toovey, Reilly and Menzies. In this exercise a player can only be in the starting lineup in the position they were selected and started in one of our winning Grand Finals. If they aren't in those positions then they have to be on the bench. e.g. you can't put Dale Shearer on the wing because he only played fullback in 1987's win.

 

[maxta]

A few out of position there - Rowdy, O'Connor, Foran, Toovey, Reilly and Menzies. In this exercise a player can only be in the starting lineup in the position they were selected and started in one of our winning Grand Finals. If they aren't in those positions then they have to be on the bench. e.g. you can't put Dale Shearer on the wing because he only played fullback in 1987's win.

Ooops - sorry Champ
This is like back in the day at school, where I read the first line and winged it...

 

[HoldenV8]

Ooops - sorry Champ
This is like back in the day at school, where I read the first line and winged it...

Either way, I like the team you named.

Damn, we could name just about any team from our winning GF sides and it would be a bloody strong side.

 

[Class of 96]

OK, lets have some fun here.

What would be your ultimate Manly Grand Final winning team from any of our 8 premierships?

Now, here are the rules:

1 - A player can not be picked out of position that they were selected and/or played in a winning Grand Final. e.g. you can't pick Wombat at fullback and then put Snake on the wing because Snake never played or was selected on the flank. If you want to pick both, one has to be at fullback, the other on the bench.

2 - If a player played in 2 different positions in separate winning GF's, they can be picked in one of them. e.g. Jamie Lyon can be selected at either 5/8 where he played in 2008 or centre where he was in 2011.

3 - Any player who was selected in a GF winning run on side can be picked on the bench, but a player selected on the bench can't be in the starting 13 unless they were in the starting side in another GF such as Cliffy Lyons who was 5/8 in 1987 but started on the bench in 1996.

4 - Each GF winning side must have at least one selection in your team.

OK, that being said, here is my team:

FB - Graham Eadie - 1972, 1973, 1976, 1978
WG - Michael Robertson - 2008, 2011
CE - Jamie Lyon - 2008, 2011
CE - Bob Fulton (c) - 1972, 1973, 1976
WG - Ken Irvine - 1972, 1973
FE - Cliff Lyons - 1987, 1996
HB - Geoff Toovey (vc) - 1996
PR - Brent Kite - 2008, 2011
HK - Max Krilich - 1976, 1978
PR - John O'Neill - 1972, 1973
SR - Steve Menzies - 1996, 2008
SR - Terry Randall - 1972, 1973, 1976, 1978
LK - Mal Reilly - 1972, 1973

Bench
Kevin Ward - 1987
Glenn Stewart - 2008, 2011
Dale Shearer - 1987
Mark Carroll - 1996

Coach - Frank Stanton - 1976, 1978

OK Silvertails, what is your best combined Premiership winning side?

I cannot for the life of me find any fault in that team, so I’m with you V8. I would be very close though to swapping Robbo for Mooney.

 

[Harvies elbow]

Ian Martin won 4, so surely has to be in every team?

That P. Peters from the 73 team, anyone know what became of him?

Not much...

 

[StuBoot]

1. Snake
2. Mooney
3. Lyon
4. Bozo
5. Wolfy
6. Cliffy
7. DCE
8. Kite
9. Ballin
10. Randall
11. Beaver
12. Choc
13. Ian Martin

Bench
Tooves
Hasler
Ward
Gifty

Can't believe how hard that was - no room for Snoz, Robbo, Krilich, Wombat etc

Can only go on who I've seen and I would want playing for my life.

 

[Class of 96]

Also an honorable mention to Johnny Gibbs, who if he had not had his career cut short by injury, would’ve be a front runner for the halfback spot.

 

[BOZO]

Our GF wingers in 1987 were Stuart Davis and David Ronson. Rowdy was the fullback.

But I still say that the team you chose was probably one of the best ones. Rowdy was equally at home on the flank as he was at fullback or centre. That's why I put him on the bench in my team, he could cover just about the whole backline.

You are right there . He did play fullback , wing , centre and even 5/8 during his great NRL career .
What a speed machine Rowdy was . Give him a gap and he would give you a try
A Legend off the field as well .

 

[mickqld]

Class of 2019 premiership.

1. T Trebojivic
2. J Taufua
3. B Kelly
4. D Walker
5. J Anderson
6. K Elgey
7. DCE
8. AFB
9. Api
10. M Taupau
11. J Thompson
12. C Sironen
13. J Trebojivic

 

[StuBoot]

Ian Martin won 4, so surely has to be in every team?

Yep, funny how he is not held in higher regard in our folklore maybe because he was one of the first utility players,
I was too young to remember 72-73 but definitely was a fave in 76-78, he made it hard to decide what number to put on my jersey.
Held his own as a centre, 5/8 & lock, started in all 4 GF’s in the 70’s.

 

[HoldenV8]

I cannot for the life of me find any fault in that team, so I’m with you V8. I would be very close though to swapping Robbo for Mooney.

The hardest part was who to leave out. I mean, some of those names I did leave out are legends not only at Manly but in the game of rugby league. Brett Stewart, Michael O'Connor, Ian Martin, Bill Hamilton, Anthony Watmough, Paul Vautin, Noel Cleal, David Gillespie, Russel Gartner, Daniel Gartner, Terry Hill, Matthew Ridge, Daly Cherry-Evans. The list goes on and on.

The hardest to leave out for me was Snake. He and Wombat are easily (so far) the best fullbacks we've ever had. Our top point scorer and top try scorer (well, officially. I still count Beavers 180 tries as our best even if the NRL refuses to). And both were very different style of players with what they brought to the teams they played in. Wombat was a power fullback while Snake had freakish skills and pace to burn.

For the record, I did go for Rowdy over Snake as the back on the bench only because Snake was really a specialist fullback. Rowdy could play anywhere in the backline other than halfback. He even played a few games at 5/8 for Qld showing just how good he really was. Not saying Snake couldn't have played anywhere in the backline, because his skills and speed suggest he would have been great wherever his position was. But other than the game against Canberra at Brookie where he played half the game on the wing (scoring his 100th try in the process), we only ever saw him at fullback for Manly.

But any of the 88 players who have won a first grade premiership at Manly would be worthy of a place in a best ever Manly GF winning team.

 

[HoldenV8]

You are right there . He did play fullback , wing , centre and even 5/8 during his great NRL career .
What a speed machine Rowdy was . Give him a gap and he would give you a try
A Legend off the field as well .

Last night I watched the 3rd Australia vs NZ test from 1993 at Lang Park that someone has uploaded to YouTube. Rowdy played his final test that night at fullback and his speed even made the Kangaroos wingers Michael Hancock and Willie Carne look slow. The only Kangaroo I saw running anywhere near as quick on that video was Ettingshausen. And this was only a few weeks after Rowdy had run down a flying ET during the Origin series.

About 2 months ago on Facebook, Rowdy actually said that his biggest regret in football was leaving Manly. He wishes he had stayed a Sea Eagle for his whole career.

 

[Shoe1]

Yep, funny how he is not held in higher regard in our folklore maybe because he was one of the first utility players,
I was too young to remember 72-73 but definitely was a fave in 76-78, he made it hard to decide what number to put on my jersey.
Held his own as a centre, 5/8 & lock, started in all 4 GF’s in the 70’s.

Watching all 4 games on dvd, he does a tonne of work in defence and attack for 80 mins.

 

[StuBoot]

Watching all 4 games on dvd, he does a tonne of work in defence and attack for 80 mins.

He was one of only three players that played in all four 70's GF wins along with Wombat and Randall, that is some achievement but he is not revered like them plus he played in the 1970 GF that we lost.

 

[Woodsie]

The hardest part was who to leave out. I mean, some of those names I did leave out are legends not only at Manly but in the game of rugby league. Brett Stewart, Michael O'Connor, Ian Martin, Bill Hamilton, Anthony Watmough, Paul Vautin, Noel Cleal, David Gillespie, Russel Gartner, Daniel Gartner, Terry Hill, Matthew Ridge, Daly Cherry-Evans. The list goes on and on.

The hardest to leave out for me was Snake. He and Wombat are easily (so far) the best fullbacks we've ever had. Our top point scorer and top try scorer (well, officially. I still count Beavers 180 tries as our best even if the NRL refuses to). And both were very different style of players with what they brought to the teams they played in. Wombat was a power fullback while Snake had freakish skills and pace to burn.

For the record, I did go for Rowdy over Snake as the back on the bench only because Snake was really a specialist fullback. Rowdy could play anywhere in the backline other than halfback. He even played a few games at 5/8 for Qld showing just how good he really was. Not saying Snake couldn't have played anywhere in the backline, because his skills and speed suggest he would have been great wherever his position was. But other than the game against Canberra at Brookie where he played half the game on the wing (scoring his 100th try in the process), we only ever saw him at fullback for Manly.

But any of the 88 players who have won a first grade premiership at Manly would be worthy of a place in a best ever Manly GF winning team.

Excellent well presented and in my opinion a very accurate summation ...