News - May 1997
29 May 1997: Toovey stars
Manly and NSW captain Geoff Toovey was man of the match in
last night's win by the Blues in State of Origin I. Toovey received
the same award in the corresponding match last year. Meanwhile,
teams for Saturday's clash with Balmain are:
Manly: Hancock, Moore, Innes, Hill, Hunter, Toovey (c), Field,
Kosef, Hopoate, Menzies, Carroll, Serdaris, Tierney. Res: Weepu,
Fulton, Lyons, Gillespie.
Balmain: Brasher, Langaloa, Kennedy, Webber, Withers, Gillett,
Jolly, Morrison, Stimson, Hanley, Sironen (c), Senter, Starr.
Res: Smith, O'Neill, Walker, Milford.
25 May 1997: What price compromise?
The media continue to speculate on a compromise between the
ARL and Super League. As has long been suggested
(see ``Bears And Eagles Together?''), a
joint competition could well mean forced mergers, including a
marrying together of old rivals Manly-Warringah and North Sydney.
It's my opinion that us die-hard Eagle supporters are
just going to have to bite the bullet and accept change. But how does the
thought of the Manly Bears make you feel? Feel free to leave your
comments.
20 May 1997: Tooves leads the Blues
Geoff Toovey has been named as captain of the NSW Blues for
State of Origin I next week. Other Manly players picked for
NSW are Terry Hill, Nik Kosef, Steve Menzies and Mark Carroll.
Danny Moore and Neil Tierney have made the Queensland side.
19 May 1997: Victory over the Rabbits
Manly have finally won a game, coming from behind to defeat South Sydney
at the SFS yesterday. The boys in maroon trailed 16-8 at half
time, but four unanswered tries (three to Steve Menzies) saw them
finish winners 30-16. Terry Hill scored his tenth try for the season,
making him the leading ARL try scorer (two head of fellow centre
Craig Innes).
Despite some hiccups in recent weeks, the Eagles are three points ahead
of North Sydney at the top of the ladder. Although it would be nice
to see the convincing performances we have grown used to, the seven team
finals series means that fans shouldn't be too concerned about how a
couple of poor games might affect Manly's premiership chances. The split
round means that the team now has a week off before playing Balmain
at Brookvale in a fortnight.
16 May 1997: O'Neill goes to Souths
Manly have decided not to negotiate with errant fullback Julian O'Neill.
O'Neill has consequently signed with South Sydney,
and will front up against the Sea Eagles on Sunday.
11 May 1997: Another draw!
Manly made another late comeback this afternoon, scoring two tries at
the death to finish 26-26 against the Gold Coast. The game ended with
Craig Field missing a conversion from the sideline in the rain, which
would have given the Eagles victory. Earlier in the game, the Chargers
were awarded a try for which replays showed the ball was lost over the
line.
So what is wrong with Manly? The boys are still on top of the table,
but some ordinary performances in the last month have left them looking
like anything but premiership contenders. Next Sunday must surely
bring a win, when they travel to the SFS to play the lowly-placed
South Sydney.
05 May 1997: A great game
Manly have just one point to show after two successive weeks of
superb rugby league, after a 34-34 draw with Illawarra yesterday.
Yet again the Sea Eagles let the opposition get away from them,
trailing 34-22 with just six minutes to go. But after an Illawarra
player was sent off, and another sin-binned, Manly managed to engineer
two late tries to Terry Hill to level the scores. The game was the
highest scoring draw in the history of the ARL.
The Eagles are still 3 points clear of Newcastle and Sydney City at
the top of the ARL ladder. Next Sunday it's back to Brookvale to
take on the Gold Coast.
Earlier stories: [Jan 97 |
Feb 97 | Mar 97
| Apr 97]
Back to the Sea Eagles home page.
29-May-1997
Bryan Gaensler
bgaensler@dunlap.utoronto.ca