This article has been transcribed without permission from The Manly Daily, Tuesday, 6th June, 1995, page 23-24.
Manly skipper Geoff Toovey praised his side's ``14th man'' as the Sea Eagles tried to play down talk of an undefeated season following a comprehensive 23-4 defeat of Brisbane at Brookvale Oval on Sunday.
The support of the Brookie faithful, who crammed the ground, lifted the home team at vital stages of the game and made for an intimidating atmosphere for the bumbling Broncos. Forget the noise coming from over Sydney Airport's third runway. That was nothing compared to the fanatical support from the 24,549 inside Manly's revamped headquarters and Toovey was quick to recognise the ``extra'' player.
``I came down before reserve grade kicked off and I couldn't believe it. There were cars lined up down the street and most of the hill was already full,'' he said in a boisterous Manly dressing room. ``It was great to see. I noticed the chant went up half-way through the second half and that really helps to lift a side. The weather wasn't all that promising today and to get that sort of support is fantastic. The players are really appreciative and hopefully the fans will keep coming to see us.''
With seven home games in the last 11 rounds, there will be no need to send out gold-lettered invitations to get the punters racing through the Brookie turnstiles. More of the same will do even the harshest Eagles supporter as talk of going through the season unbeaten intensifies. Not since the great St George side of 1959 has a team managed to go the distance with a big zero in the loss column, but with a fairly favourable draw for the rest of the season, Bob Fulton's men are certainly capable of breaking the 36-year drought.
Just don't try to tell a Manly player that.
``Going through undefeated is a hard thing to do and I think that's putting a bit too much pressure on the boys,'' Toovey said. ``There's enough of that week in, week out without trying to worry about going through the year without a loss. It's good that some people are showing that sort of confidence in us, but we're taking all the talk with a grain of salt.''
Despite the reluctance to talk about winning runs, it's hard to see Manly getting beaten if it maintains its current form. It would be easier to chisel your way through the Great Wall of China with a toothpick than to cross the Sea Eagles' tryline, while their ability to attack - if at times disjointed against Brisbane - is at its brilliant best. Fulton takes just as much interest in his side's for and against as he does the competition points tally - and his players are following suit.
``One on one, I think we have the best individual defence in the competition,'' he said. ``Carroll, Gillespie, Roberts and Menzies are all great defenders, Cunningham's a good defender, Hasler's great, Toovey's good - there are good individual defenders right throughout the side. They're dead-set committed to defence which I think is very, very important if you wish to go anywhere in this comp.''
Manly had plenty of heroes in the three tries to one win, but none better than a couple of veterans and a rookie. Des Hasler, who took long service leave from the Winfield Cup last year, and David ``Cement'' Gillespie have turned the clock back, reworked the springs and given the cogs a spruce-up. Hasler covered more mileage than the handful of Brisbane supporters who were unfortunate enough to make the pilgrimage south, while Gillespie proved unstoppable every time he tucked the Steeden under his wing.
And talking of unstoppable objects, youngster John Hopoate just steam-rolled anything in a maroon and yellow jersey. Fulton called for the Tongan Terror to be retained in the NSW State-of-Origin side despite his unahppy debut in the loss at the MCG last week. Seventeen Queenslanders would be very happy Fulton's plea was ignored by the State selectors yesterday.
Marty Gurr's reserve grade side will be hoping Sunday's impressive 20-14 win over Brisbane will kick-start a climb away from the competition cellar.
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