Phil Blake 1989

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Shoe1

Journey Man
Forgive me for posting a souths-related link, but I came across this vid starting the great Phil Blake, perhaps our most electrifying local junior.

While manly was struggling in 1989 I remember being conscious of his great try scoring feats across the harbour. A real dud decision of bozo to cut him.

I can't find many of his manly tries online, too early in history I guess. But this will give younger readers a taste:

 
I've never been able to find the try of the year in the ?Amco Cup, a midweek competition in the early 80's.

It was a cracking chip and chase try and I remember he won a Volvo for it. He sold that & bought an RX7 for himself & a car for his brother Michael.

That one i'd love to see again. And the fact it was scored against the scumbags parra made it even more enjoyable.

Loved Blakey...
 
Extraordinary talent and I had forgotten elements of his play that made him such a master of the game. His kicking, his swerve, his pace, his distribution, his ability to be in the right place at the right time and his uncanny ability to wiggle out of tackles...amazing balance. He played his best football at Souths. We only saw the beginning of his brilliance in that tear away first season. Lost confidence for a time though, through a mauling Parra gave him in a semifinal that year. Fulton never seemed to recognise that.

He could have been one of Manly's all time greats but yes you're right, Fulton made a blunder letting him get away. Will we have the same regrets with Gutherson?
 
Unfortunately for Phil Blake, Bozo thought very little of his defence which (IIRC from reading Fatty's book) was a big reason in why he was let go after 1986. He was the NSWRL's equal leading try scorer that season with 13 (shared with Wests Pommy import Garry Schofield).

1987 could have been interesting if Blake was still at Manly. Remember that 1987 was when Cliffy came of age as a 5/8 having spent most of his first grade career to that point as a lock forward. I guess Bozo could have moved Des to lock with Fatty in the 2nd row with either Rambo or Crusher.
 
I've never been able to find the try of the year in the ?Amco Cup, a midweek competition in the early 80's.

It was a cracking chip and chase try and I remember he won a Volvo for it. He sold that & bought an RX7 for himself & a car for his brother Michael.

That one i'd love to see again. And the fact it was scored against the scumbags parra made it even more enjoyable.

Loved Blakey...
I've never been able to find the try of the year in the ?Amco Cup, a midweek competition in the early 80's.

It was a cracking chip and chase try and I remember he won a Volvo for it. He sold that & bought an RX7 for himself & a car for his brother Michael.

That one i'd love to see again. And the fact it was scored against the scumbags parra made it even more enjoyable.

Loved Blakey...

Here ya go

also found anotgher video with blakey and some footage of Wombat, also hard to find
 
Wow what a player . The skill to be running at pace on one angle , then chip the opposite direction , regain the ball and score : Fantastic !!! Something he repeated throughout his career. Great talent .
 
Unfortunately for Phil Blake, Bozo thought very little of his defence which (IIRC from reading Fatty's book) was a big reason in why he was let go after 1986. He was the NSWRL's equal leading try scorer that season with 13 (shared with Wests Pommy import Garry Schofield).

1987 could have been interesting if Blake was still at Manly. Remember that 1987 was when Cliffy came of age as a 5/8 having spent most of his first grade career to that point as a lock forward. I guess Bozo could have moved Des to lock with Fatty in the 2nd row with either Rambo or Crusher.
There's your answer right there. Fulton saw Cliffy there and the potential he had and made a choice. With the benefit of hindsight which of those two would you choose? In my eyes Fulton got it right.
 
Extraordinary talent and I had forgotten elements of his play that made him such a master of the game. His kicking, his swerve, his pace, his distribution, his ability to be in the right place at the right time and his uncanny ability to wiggle out of tackles...amazing balance. He played his best football at Souths. We only saw the beginning of his brilliance in that tear away first season. Lost confidence for a time though, through a mauling Parra gave him in a semifinal that year. Fulton never seemed to recognise that.

He could have been one of Manly's all time greats but yes you're right, Fulton made a blunder letting him get away. Will we have the same regrets with Gutherson?
Fulton was not happy with Blake's defensive lapses and he preferred Des Hasler from Penrith who went on to represent Australia 12 times NSW 12 times and city 8 times
Phil Blake's rep honours were NSW 1 and city 1.
From South's ( 37 tries ) Blake went on to play for Norths ( 1 try) Raiders (5 tries) Dragons ( 15 tries ) and Warriors (17 tries )without the impact that he made with the our club the Sea eagles ( 63 tries )
 
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Fulton was not happy with Blake's defensive lapses and he preferred Des Hasler from Penrith who went on to represent Australia 12 times NSW 12 times and city 8 times
Phil Blake's rep honours were NSW 1 and city 1.
From South's ( 37 tries ) Blake went on to play for Norths ( 1 try) Raiders (5 tries) Dragons ( 15 tries ) and Warriors (17 tries )without the impact that he made with the our club the Sea eagles ( 63 tries )
All true @BOZO and also what you said @HoldenV8 but I would gave kept Blakey at 7 over Des. League is about excitement for me.
 
Here ya go

also found anotgher video with blakey and some footage of Wombat, also hard to find

Thank you Shnorky, great stuff!

I always remember him leaving a few parra players clutching at thin air. Beautiful. He was a favourite of mine back then, quite devastated when they moved him on. But then we got Cliffy and a legend was Manly born!
 
All true @BOZO and also what you said @HoldenV8 but I would gave kept Blakey at 7 over Des. League is about excitement for me.
Actually the best outcome would have been cliff at 6, des and tooves at 7, Blake at fullback for the 89-92 period. He seemed to go ok at 1 for souths in the footage, and would have fitted in nicely for the years between shearer and ridge.
 
Team P W L PD Pts
3 3 0 48 6
4 3 1 28 6
3 2 1 10 6
4 2 2 39 4
3 2 1 28 4
3 2 1 15 4
3 2 1 14 4
2 1 1 13 4
2 1 1 6 4
3 2 1 -3 4
3 1 2 0 2
3 1 2 -5 2
3 1 2 -15 2
3 1 2 -22 2
3 1 2 -36 2
2 0 2 -56 2
3 0 3 -64 0
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