PARRAMATTA v MANLY
at PARRAMATTA STADIUM
7.30pm Friday
HEAD TO HEAD
Played: 119 (1947-2007) Manly 73, Parramatta 42, draws 4
First clash: Manly 15 beat Parramatta 7 at Brookvale, 1947 (Rd 8)
Grand Final clashes:
1976 – Manly 13 beat Parramatta 10
1982 – Parramatta 21 beat Manly 8
1983 – Parramatta 18 beat Manly 6
THE JERSEYS
Both clubs will wear replicas of their original jerseys worn in 1947. Parramatta: blue with a gold bar on the chest and sleeves. Manly: maroon with thick white vee.
THE RIVALRY
The last match played at Cumberland Oval was between Parramatta and Manly, in the last round of 1981, a 20-all draw before a crowd of 18,499.
Peter Sterling made his run-on first grade debut against Manly in the semi-final replay of 1977 – at fullback.
Geoff Gerard played for Parramatta in two lost grand finals in 1976 (against Manly) and 1978 then for the losing Manly side in two losing grand finals to Parramatta in 1982-83.
THE HISTORY
PARRAMATTA
Entered competition: 1947
Premierships: Four (1981, 1982, 1983 and 1986)
Most games: Brett Kenny – 265
Most points: Michael Cronin – 1,971
Most tries: Brett Kenny – 110
KEY EVENTS
1946 The NSWRL General Committee decides on November 4 to admit Parramatta to the premiership – nine years earlier, its bid to seek independence from the Western Suburbs territory had been rejected.
1947 Parramatta are beaten 34-12 by Newtown at Parramatta Oval in the club’s debut match, on April 12.
1949 Centre Ian Johnston becomes Parramatta’s first international, playing a Test against New Zealand.
1962 The arrival of legendary St George coach Ken Kearney elevates Parramatta to the finals for the first time.
1964 Parramatta’s third-grade side claims the club’s first title.
1975 Captained by five-eighth Denis Pittard, the Eels claim an 11-5 victory over Manly in the pre-season Wills Cup final, the club’s first top grade title.
1976 In their 30th premiership season, the Eels reach their first grand final but are narrowly beaten, 13–10, by Manly.
1977 Parramatta and St George make history in the first drawn grand final (9–all). A week later, the Eels fall 22–0 in the replay.
1978 Centre Mick Cronin breaks the world record for most points in a season, scoring 547 points for Parramatta, City, NSW and Australia.
1981 The arrival of coach Jack Gibson helps deliver the Eels their first premiership title. The grand final is won 20–11 over Newtown.
1981 Fans burn down Cumberland Oval during grand final celebrations, forcing the team to play at Belmore Sports Ground for four years until the rebuilt stadium was completed.
1983 The Eels become the first club to win a hat-trick of premierships since the great St George sides of 1956–66. Five-eighth Brett Kenny achieves the unique feat of scoring a try double in three successive grand finals.
1986 Legendary players Mick Cronin and Ray Price retire on the highest possible note, following a 4–2 grand final victory over Canterbury, the first in history not to produce a try. Halfback Peter Sterling wins the inaugural Clive Churchill Medal.
2001 The Eels break premiership records for most tries and most points in a season on their way to a minor premiership title, but are beaten 30–24 by Newcastle in the grand final.
2006 Brian Smith, the club’s longest serving coach in history, is told his 10th season will be his last, before a ball is kicked. He controversially resigns midway through the year with the Eels in a form slump. Jason Taylor takes over and becomes the first interim coach in history to take a side to the finals.
DID YOU KNOW
Ray Price is the only player to have played all seven of Parramatta’s grand finals in the 70s and 80s – 1976, 1977, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984 and 1986. He won four.
Parramatta’s first international was Ian Johnston, who joined the club from Newcastle in 1947. He played for Australia in 1949.
The Eels picked their ‘Legends’ line-up in 2002. The Legends team is: Ken Thornett, Neville Glover, Michael Cronin, Steve Ella, Eric Grothe, Brett Kenny, Peter Sterling, Bob O’Reilly, Steve Edge, Dean Pay, Dick Thornett, Peter Wynn, Ray Price.
MANLY-WARRINGAH
Entered competition: 1947
Premierships: Six (1972, 1973, 1976, 1978, 1987 and 1996)
Most games: Cliff Lyons – 309
Most points: Graham Eadie – 1,917
Most tries: Steve Menzies – 138
KEY EVENTS
1932 Manly-Warringah Junior League is founded.
1947 The NSWRL includes Manly in the premiership. The new club is based at Brookvale Showground (Oval), winning its first game there in round 7 against Parramatta.
1951 Manly reach their first grand final but lose to Souths. Future club secretary and ARL chairman Ken Arthurson is the team’s halfback.
1972 Tagged as ‘premiership bridesmaids’ after five grand final defeats, the Sea Eagles’ 19–14 victory over Easts brings unbounded delight to the club and its fans.
1973 Despite the rugged tactics thrown at them, a Bob Fulton inspired Manly down Cronulla 10–7 to claim back-to-back titles. Fulton scored the team’s only two tries.
1976 The Manly juggernaut of the ’70s rolls on, with Parramatta added to the list of vanquished grand final opponents.
1978 The gutsiest of all premiership campaigns: a battered and weary Sea Eagles play six matches in 16 days (including two replays), culminating in a 16-0 win over Cronulla in the grand final replay.
1983 After losing the 1982 decider to Parramatta, Manly bolt to the 1983 minor premiership, losing just four games. Grand final day, though, was a case of déjà vu, with the Eels again finishing on top.
1987 A team of rare talent, Manly cast aside all challengers to claim their fifth premiership crown with an 18–8 disposal of Canberra.
1995 The Sea Eagles are the season’s pacesetters, losing just two games in reaching the grand final against Canterbury, but go down in a shock loss to the side that finished sixth on the ladder.
1996 Manly reign supreme over the 19 other clubs, including grand final opponents St George, humbled 20–8. They lost only four matches all season and had an extraordinary for and against record of 609-213.
1997 In a grand final celebrated as the ‘game that saved rugby league’, it takes a last-minute Newcastle try by Darren Albert to thwart the Sea Eagles, meaning they win just one of three successive grand finals despite being the dominant team of the era.
2007 Celebrating their 60th anniversary, Manly qualify for their 16th grand final. Despite the loss to Melbourne, the season marks the resurrection of the Sea Eagles as a powerhouse club.
DID YOU KNOW?
Captain of the first Manly side of 1947, Max Whitehead, later became an iconic figure as ‘Chesty Bond’ in the television and press advertisements for Bonds singlets.
Many of the early Manly players were also established surf lifesaving competitors who took to the waves to keep fit in winter. Among them were Roy Bull, Johnny Bliss and Rex Mossop.
Three players who played in losing grand finals for Manly were to return to become their only premiership winning coaches. Ron Willey, fullback in the 1957 and ’59 losses to St George, coached the victorious 1972-73 side. Frank Stanton, who lost to Souths in 1968, won titles as coach in 1976 and ’78, while Bob Fulton, a loser in 1968 and ’70 to Souths (and a winner in 1972,73, 76) coached the 1987 and 1996 winning teams.
Forwards Doug and Phil Daley are one of two father and son combinations to have played in grand finals for the Eagles. Doug played in 1957 and Phil in 1987, when Doug was club secretary. Bob and Scott Fulton were the other; Bob played in five grand finals for Manly (1968, 1970, 1972, 1973 and 1976), while Scott appeared as a replacement in 1997.
Brookvale Oval is the longest reigning home ground of any NRL club – used every season since 1947 (Northern Eagles also used the Central Coast Stadium in 2000-02).
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