This article has been transcribed without permission from The Manly Daily, Wednesday, 8th February, 1995, page 40.
``Toovey picks up from the scrum base... fires a pass out to Florimo... on to Moore... he calls Elsegood inside him... Elsegood kicks over the top... Matt Seers... MATT SEERS... he'll win the race for the ball... the Sea Bears are in for another try to put the final nail in the City West Panthers' coffin!''
Ahh, perish the thought.
Manly and Norths getting together would be like putting Reba Meagher and Rocky Gattellari together on a desert island. Or inviting John Quayle and John Ribot to a candelit dinner for two at the Broncos' all-you-can-eat for $5 smorgasboard.
But that's what we would have to watch if the 20 Winfield Cup clubs hadn't torpedoed the so-called Super League. Apparently a vintage Kerry Packer performance left the chief execs in no doubt which way they would vote after a meeting with News Ltd at the league's Phillip St bunkers on Monday.
Don't those guys remember John Gray kicking a goal from the North Sydney Oval sideline to give the Bears a one-point win back in the mid-1970s? Or the 1982 major semi-final between the two clubs - the year Bear fans were convinced was going to be THE year - when Manly smashed the Grizzlies 26-3 and ensured sport's longest premiership drought would continue.
These two clubs don't just have a slight indifference to each other - it's hate with a capital H.
Go and ask a clerk from Cammeray if he'd like to see Norths and Manly hand in hand on the football field. Or if the butcher from Beacon Hill would be happy wearing his black, red, maroon and white jersey on to the hill and chanting ``Sydney North'' (clap, clap, clap). You'd have an easier time convincing the warring fans that the Spit Bridge is a terrific traffic conveyor and we would all be lost if a modern, multi-lane highway that didn't open every three minutes replaced it.
You can just imagine the arguments if the merger had gone ahead.
What color jerseys do they play in? Whose home ground would they use? Peter Louis or Bob Fulton as coach? A Bear or a Sea Eagle as mascot? Toovey or Taylor? Ridge or Seers? Lyons or Florimo?
Thank God they punted the Super League. The fans are happy, the clubs are happy, the league bosses are happy and Mr Kerry Packer is more than satisfied.
Now everything will go back to normal, right? And Rupert Murdoch will shrug his shoulders and walk away more than happy that he lost out to Kerry.
Mmmmm, on second thoughts we better not take the Sea Eagle and Bear off the endangered species list just yet.
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