Northern Eagles fall and Sea Eagles re-emerging

[bcziff]

I’d like to preface this by saying that I’m 17, so I wasn’t around when the Super League war broke, and when I was born (2005) the Sea Eagles were back to their stand-alone form (fortunately).

I’m a fanatic Manly fan and I’m also a massive league fan in general, and lately I’ve decided to educate myself more in depth on the league’s history — as well as Manly’s, of course.

I’ve found plenty of material on Manly’s foundation, their history from 1946 to 1999, on the Super League War, the merger debacle, the relationship between the Bears and Sea Eagles (pre-merger), but I’m struggling to find material about those 3 years in which the club was a merged entity. I guess part of it is because no one wants to remember such a dark time/boneheaded merger, still, I believe that if I’m to learn Manly’s history in full, I should have a broader knowledge of 2000-02 and what happened to cause the Bears fallout and the Sea Eagles re-emerging as a stand-alone entity.

Most places (who just hates us) just want to blame everything on a maligne architected plan from Bozo and Arko to put an end to the Bears (which I believe to be ludicrous) and I truly believe there’s way more to this story. Just today i’ve read a four-piece article on the Daily Telegraph about the 90s Bears and they barely touch on how exactly Norths folded, the only mention is that they were in a $4 million debth and Arko would do anything to make their lives worse.

So if anyone has any articles/videos/books to recommend me about the subject, it would be gladly appreciated

 

[Woodsie]

I’d like to preface this by saying that I’m 17, so I wasn’t around when the Super League war broke, and when I was born (2005) the Sea Eagles were back to their stand-alone form (fortunately).

I’m a fanatic Manly fan and I’m also a massive league fan in general, and lately I’ve decided to educate myself more in depth on the league’s history — as well as Manly’s, of course.

I’ve found plenty of material on Manly’s foundation, their history from 1946 to 1999, on the Super League War, the merger debacle, the relationship between the Bears and Sea Eagles (pre-merger), but I’m struggling to find material about those 3 years in which the club was a merged entity. I guess part of it is because no one wants to remember such a dark time/boneheaded merger, still, I believe that if I’m to learn Manly’s history in full, I should have a broader knowledge of 2000-02 and what happened to cause the Bears fallout and the Sea Eagles re-emerging as a stand-alone entity.

Most places (who just hates us) just want to blame everything on a maligne architected plan from Bozo and Arko to put an end to the Bears (which I believe to be ludicrous) and I truly believe there’s way more to this story. Just today i’ve read a four-piece article on the Daily Telegraph about the 90s Bears and they barely touch on how exactly Norths folded, the only mention is that they were in a $4 million debth and Arko would do anything to make their lives worse.

So if anyone has any articles/videos/books to recommend me about the subject, it would be gladly appreciated

Good luck mate .. for a youngster you compose an impressive letter.

Try contacting Peter Peters.. he was in the thick of the action ... however you will only get one side of the story and a fairly jaundiced one at that ..

 

[lsz]

This is well worth a listen

‎The Rugby League Digest: Manly case study with Rod Quinn on Apple Podcasts

‎Show The Rugby League Digest, Ep Manly case study with Rod Quinn - 26 Apr 2021

podcasts.apple.com

 

[bcziff]

I love the pod!
With all their distate for Manly, they keep praising Arko all throughout the seasons, which just speaks of what a great character he was. I assume they’ll be back to cover the 1997 season? Because the last season covered was the 1996 and they haven’t yet entered the Super League/ARL separated ones and i’m really looking forward to it, specially when they get to the mergers.