This article has been transcribed without permission from The Manly Daily, Saturday, 1st July, 1995, page 120.
Manly-Warringah has signed Great Britain rugby league international Richard Goddard to play out the rest of the season at Brookvale.
Goddard is expected to board a flight from Manchester tomorrow and should be available for selection for next week's round against Parramatta. The 21-year-old Castleford centre, winger or full-back was noticed by Sea Eagles coaching director Bob Fulton during last year's Kangaroo Tour. After monitoring his progress, the Sea Eagles made their move when import deals with British players Alan Hunte and Scott Gibbs fell through.
Manly chief executive Frank Stanton said the signing of Goddard and two others shored up the Sea Eagles' playing strength. ``Richard Goddard obviously doesn't have the experience of Scott Gibbs or Alan Hunte, but he is a very talented young player and the experience of playing here will be good for him,'' Stanton said.
The Sea Eagles also lodged contracts for wingers Daniel Hopkins and Richard Kairouz with the Australian Rugby League before yesterday's deadline for player registrations expired. Kairouz played reserve grade with the Sea Eagles in 1993 before joining Eastern Suburbs. The speedster has been playing Metropolitan Cup league this year. Hopkins is a member of Manly's competition-leading Presidents Cup under-21 side.
The added player depth will be called on against Illawarra today at Brookvale Oval, as crowd-pleasing reserve grade winger Anthony Rogers has been sidelined by a torn hamstring.
Meanwhile, Manly's unbeaten first grade side is expected to take the field as named for this afternoon's clash. The Steelers have made inconsistency their trademark this season, but their demolition of Brisbane two weeks ago proved they are capable of beating any side.
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