News - July 1996
28 Jul 1996: Easy win over Newcastle
For the second week in succession, Manly have
emphasised what a gap there is between them and
other teams near the top of the ladder, coasting
to a 28-12 win over Newcastle.
A small Brookvale crowd saw the Eagles race
to a 20-0 half time lead before easing off
in the second half. Manly's best were Geoff Toovey,
Jack Elsegood and Matthew Ridge.
The Sea Eagles' next challenge are the unpredictable
Cronulla Sharks. The game is scheduled for next
Monday night at Caltex Field.
23 Jul 1996: Can they be stopped?
Manly have thrown down a firm challenge to the
other 19 teams in the Optus Cup: catch us if you can.
Last night in front of 37,000 fans, the Eagles
tore apart the second placed Sydney City Roosters
34-6 in a near perfect display of rugby league.
Ahead 10-6 at the break, Manly ran in four unanswered
second half tries. Every Manly player shone, but best were
Matt Ridge (who kicked seven from seven), Nik Kosef, Daniel
Gartner, Neil Tierney and Craig Innes.
Manly now lead the competition by four points, and would have to
lose three of their remaining six games to miss out on
the minor premiership. Their next game will be on Saturday
afternoon at Brookvale against the Newcastle Knights.
18 Jul 1996: Goodbye, Ian
Ian Roberts has been released by the Manly club,
despite 18 months still remaining
on his contract. He has signed with
the Cowboys for the 1997 season.
17 Jul 1996: Exodus to Townsville?
Jack Elsegood's manager has scotched rumours that
the Manly winger will be playing for North Queensland
next season. Although Elsegood comes off contract
with Manly at the end of the season, he is keen
to re-sign with his local club. Even if he departs
next year, Elsegood's ARL loyalty contract makes it
unlikely that he would link up with the Super League
aligned Cowboys. Craig Hancock, who it was also suggested
would play in Townsville next season, is contracted
to Manly until the end of 1998.
17 Jul 1996: Hancock in doubt
Winger Craig Hancock may be out for the season after
jarring his troublesome shoulder during a brief
first grade run-on against Parramatta on the weekend.
Meanwhile, Sydney City have been given 7.5 points
start in FootyTAB in their clash with the Sea Eagles
on Monday night.
14 Jul 1996: Eels thrashed
Manly racked up a big big win earlier this afternoon
when they steamrolled Parramatta 44-0 in front of
a vocal Brookvale crowd. Jim Serdaris put in
his finest game of the season, making ground all over
the paddock, and Craig Innes showed good pace to
pick up three tries. The Eagles have a tough assignment
next week - a Monday night outing to the Football
Stadium to face up to the in-form Sydney City Roosters.
09 Jul 1996: Back in the winners' circle
The Sea Eagles thankfully returned to a semblance of
form on Sunday when they defeated Illawarra 16-8 in
Wollongong. Manly did enough to win comfortably, and
retained their 2 point lead at the top of the table.
Geoff Toovey starred for Manly, scoring one try and setting up
another. The Eagles' next game is against the
old enemy, Parramatta, on Sunday at Brookvale.
01 Jul 1996: Manly lose
Manly crashed to the Western Reds 11-8 yesterday.
It was a very poor performance at the water-logged WACA,
with terrible handling and disorganised play a feature.
I was at the game, and trust me, the less said about
this debacle, the better.
Earlier stories: [Mar 96 |
Apr 96 |
May 96 |
Jun 96 ]
Back to the Sea Eagles home page.
28-Jul-1996
Bryan Gaensler
bgaensler@dunlap.utoronto.ca