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This appeared in the NZ Herald yesterday. On talkback radio today in NZ Peter Peters was interviewed. Much of what he said is written in nthe articvle below apart from one thing ... he said that when/if Jamie Lyons comes back to RL it could well be in a MANLY jersey due to his connection with Crusher Cleal. Peters sounded fairly confident.
Rugby League: The Manly revival
02.04.2004
A sea change is under way at a proud club, writes PETER JESSUP
The Manly Sea Eagles are riding a new wave of enthusiasm generated by a return to their roots, and legendary local players have stepped in to save the club from ignominy.
The Eagles are still paying, literally, for the disastrous Northern Eagles joint venture with long-term rivals the North Sydney Bears. Around A$450,000 ($516,000) is required to clear all debt by June.
They need class players and for that they need more money, so the new management is looking to take the club towards privatisation, and are seeking a partner with millions. Already, members have dismissed one proposal because the commercial interests providing the money wanted a controlling share in the football club.
The Sea Eagles board met this week to discuss two offers that bring more money with the promise of less demand for control. The board will outline both and put them to members, who will again vote on the club's future.
In the meantime, a junior development regime continues apace, not least in New Zealand, where the former Auckland under-20s coach, Mark Gardner, is scouting for players and conducting coaching clinics and a development programme for players from age 16 up that Manly is interested in. A $200,000 support package guaranteed for three years comes from property developer David Henderson of the Kitchener Group. Henderson is a Kiwi but a Manly supporter - the Kitchener Group is involved in property development just up the hill from the Brookvale club.
As well as former Warriors development player Dallas Rennie, Manly have signed Craig Heslop and Isaac Sopoaga from Auckland and they make no secret of trying to snatch more from the Warriors' backyard.
Manly had the biggest turnover of any NRL club in the last off-season - 19 players in, 12 out. The newcomers are all in their early 20s or younger. Six came from Parramatta's development programme with the Eels former development officer, Noel Cleal, including his son Kane, who is 20 next month.
"Kane Cleal is one of the most exciting forward prospects running around in the competition and we're sure he's going to be a top-grade regular," said club spokesman Peter Peters. "He's the sort of player we're hitching our future to."
Noel Cleal is said to have a roster of 250 scouts around Australia and in England and New Zealand, and the club is keen to bring more talent in. "What we need to bolster that youth is a couple of true class players and the deal the board will put to members will allow us to do that," Peters said.
Manly attracted 18,500 fans to its first home game of the season. Police had to tell the club to throw open the gates when 5000 people were still outside as time-on was blown against the Roosters.
"That's a symbol of how far we've come already and how far the supporters believe the club can go," Peters said. "They were turning out for local legend Des Hasler, who took over from Peter Sharp, and they were turning up because the team was putting in.
"Last season they waved the white flag. I don't blame people for not accepting that. We certainly won't be accepting it any more."
Coach Sharp was a goner mid-season and knew it; Hasler was virtually running the place towards the end. Hasler had 11 games for Penrith in 1982/83 before shifting to the northern beaches and playing 255 for Manly.
He also worked as a high school physical education teacher, and is renowned for his fanatical approach to fitness. Now 43, he does all the team drills with the players.
The club has moved to re-involve many of its other names from the past. Former five-eighth and coach Bob Fulton is adviser to Hasler. Long-serving administrator Ken Arthurson is back as chairman of the Leagues Club that provides support from poker machine and other entertainment profits.
Long-server Cliff Lyons, playing for Narraweena in the local competition, helps teams with their back play. Ex-captain Geoff Toovey is coach of the reserve-grade side. Former Australian prop Steve Roach has been taken on fulltime as forwards coach for all grades. Former captain Max Krilich and hardman Terry Randall are on the board.
The northern beaches do not have a huge juniors feeding area and the numbers of registered players are way below those in districts such as Parramatta, Penrith and Brisbane.
But for years they produced quality players who helped build an impressive record of six premiership titles, nine times runners-up: Johnny Bliss, Roy Bull, Gordon Willoughby, Frank Stanton, Ray Brown, Graham Eadie, Krilich and Randall, Alan Thompson, Nik Kosef, Toovey and Lyons.
They were strengthened by buy-ins. In the club's best days, Manly were referred to as the "silvertails" because of the upper middle-class locality, the beaches as opposed to the "fibro" of the western districts, but mostly because they kept buying players developed by other teams.
Imports such as Martin Bella, Kerry Bousted, Les Boyd, Mark Carroll, Noel Cleal, Geoff Gerard, David Gillespie, Michael O'Connor, John Ribot, Ian Roberts and others - often coming from poorer clubs such as Souths and Wests - were frequently seen as destroying those clubs' chances. And there were test stars from England, such as Mal Reilly and Kevin Ward; and from New Zealand, including Darrel Williams, the Iro brothers, former All Blacks Matthew Ridge and Craig Innes.
Former coach Graham Lowe believed Manly thrived on being the most-hated team in the competition. The club's woes now were as a result of the excesses of the past, the money paid over the odds for players. But he was sure they needed two or three genuine star players to turn their fortunes around. The genuine re-building process they were going through was the right path to recovery, Lowe said.
"They've taken a gamble on a young coach but already you can see the team has more motivation and enthusiasm thanks to Des Hasler." He coached Hasler and knows him well.
"He'll push them hard. Hasler is such a popular person at Manly, I think that his involvement had a lot to do with that bumper crowd [at the Roosters]. There's a genuine feeling of optimism in the area. But that can only go on so long. They have to start winning and to do that they need one or two special players - if they don't get them, then I think they're history."
Peters has the same view, though not so straight up. He was happy the "Manly culture" was starting to rebuild after the disaster that was the Northern Eagles. He was confident the club's 10-year business plan had them on sound footing.
There's more financial nous for a start. Paul Cummings, who won the Australian Businessman of the Year, is executive director of the leagues club and deputy chairman of the football club. Joe Cross, who is a financial adviser to Lachlan Murdoch, is on the board.
"In the mid-90s we were laced with internationals and we were the best league club in the world," Peters boasted. "That's where we want to be again."
There is some early sign of improvement. The top side, with a gutsy away win at Townsville over North Queensland its one victory so far, has "won" the second half of each of its games, out-pointing the Roosters, the Cowboys and Sharks in the second 40. So there's no shortage of guts and motivation.
IN.-
Kane Cleal, Shane Dunley, Daniel Heckenberg, Nathan Hollingsworth, Jeff Robson, Kylie Leuluai (all Parramatta), Chris Hicks (Penrith), Michael Monaghan (Canberra), Paul Stephenson (Broncos), Dallas Rennie (Warriors), Nathan Tutt and Ian Donnelly (Dragons), Jye Mullane (Cronulla), Mark Lennon (Castleford) and Andrew Walker (rugby).
OUT.-
Nathan Long and Tony Jensen (Dragons), Aaron Cannings (Eels), Luke Dorn (Roosters), Brendon Reeves (Wollongong), Mark Shipway (Salford), Ben MacDougall (Storm), Jason Ferris (Wollongong), Danny Lima (Warrington), Matt and Christian Hill (France), Alex Moore (The Entrance), Ben Walker (retired).
SEA EAGLES
Entered the competition 1947.
Six premiership titles - 1972, '73, '76, '78, '87, 1996.
Runners-up nine times - 1951, '57, '59, '68, '70, '82, '83, '95, 1997.
Minor premiers nine times, and the club has produced 59 internationals.
Rugby League: The Manly revival
02.04.2004
A sea change is under way at a proud club, writes PETER JESSUP
The Manly Sea Eagles are riding a new wave of enthusiasm generated by a return to their roots, and legendary local players have stepped in to save the club from ignominy.
The Eagles are still paying, literally, for the disastrous Northern Eagles joint venture with long-term rivals the North Sydney Bears. Around A$450,000 ($516,000) is required to clear all debt by June.
They need class players and for that they need more money, so the new management is looking to take the club towards privatisation, and are seeking a partner with millions. Already, members have dismissed one proposal because the commercial interests providing the money wanted a controlling share in the football club.
The Sea Eagles board met this week to discuss two offers that bring more money with the promise of less demand for control. The board will outline both and put them to members, who will again vote on the club's future.
In the meantime, a junior development regime continues apace, not least in New Zealand, where the former Auckland under-20s coach, Mark Gardner, is scouting for players and conducting coaching clinics and a development programme for players from age 16 up that Manly is interested in. A $200,000 support package guaranteed for three years comes from property developer David Henderson of the Kitchener Group. Henderson is a Kiwi but a Manly supporter - the Kitchener Group is involved in property development just up the hill from the Brookvale club.
As well as former Warriors development player Dallas Rennie, Manly have signed Craig Heslop and Isaac Sopoaga from Auckland and they make no secret of trying to snatch more from the Warriors' backyard.
Manly had the biggest turnover of any NRL club in the last off-season - 19 players in, 12 out. The newcomers are all in their early 20s or younger. Six came from Parramatta's development programme with the Eels former development officer, Noel Cleal, including his son Kane, who is 20 next month.
"Kane Cleal is one of the most exciting forward prospects running around in the competition and we're sure he's going to be a top-grade regular," said club spokesman Peter Peters. "He's the sort of player we're hitching our future to."
Noel Cleal is said to have a roster of 250 scouts around Australia and in England and New Zealand, and the club is keen to bring more talent in. "What we need to bolster that youth is a couple of true class players and the deal the board will put to members will allow us to do that," Peters said.
Manly attracted 18,500 fans to its first home game of the season. Police had to tell the club to throw open the gates when 5000 people were still outside as time-on was blown against the Roosters.
"That's a symbol of how far we've come already and how far the supporters believe the club can go," Peters said. "They were turning out for local legend Des Hasler, who took over from Peter Sharp, and they were turning up because the team was putting in.
"Last season they waved the white flag. I don't blame people for not accepting that. We certainly won't be accepting it any more."
Coach Sharp was a goner mid-season and knew it; Hasler was virtually running the place towards the end. Hasler had 11 games for Penrith in 1982/83 before shifting to the northern beaches and playing 255 for Manly.
He also worked as a high school physical education teacher, and is renowned for his fanatical approach to fitness. Now 43, he does all the team drills with the players.
The club has moved to re-involve many of its other names from the past. Former five-eighth and coach Bob Fulton is adviser to Hasler. Long-serving administrator Ken Arthurson is back as chairman of the Leagues Club that provides support from poker machine and other entertainment profits.
Long-server Cliff Lyons, playing for Narraweena in the local competition, helps teams with their back play. Ex-captain Geoff Toovey is coach of the reserve-grade side. Former Australian prop Steve Roach has been taken on fulltime as forwards coach for all grades. Former captain Max Krilich and hardman Terry Randall are on the board.
The northern beaches do not have a huge juniors feeding area and the numbers of registered players are way below those in districts such as Parramatta, Penrith and Brisbane.
But for years they produced quality players who helped build an impressive record of six premiership titles, nine times runners-up: Johnny Bliss, Roy Bull, Gordon Willoughby, Frank Stanton, Ray Brown, Graham Eadie, Krilich and Randall, Alan Thompson, Nik Kosef, Toovey and Lyons.
They were strengthened by buy-ins. In the club's best days, Manly were referred to as the "silvertails" because of the upper middle-class locality, the beaches as opposed to the "fibro" of the western districts, but mostly because they kept buying players developed by other teams.
Imports such as Martin Bella, Kerry Bousted, Les Boyd, Mark Carroll, Noel Cleal, Geoff Gerard, David Gillespie, Michael O'Connor, John Ribot, Ian Roberts and others - often coming from poorer clubs such as Souths and Wests - were frequently seen as destroying those clubs' chances. And there were test stars from England, such as Mal Reilly and Kevin Ward; and from New Zealand, including Darrel Williams, the Iro brothers, former All Blacks Matthew Ridge and Craig Innes.
Former coach Graham Lowe believed Manly thrived on being the most-hated team in the competition. The club's woes now were as a result of the excesses of the past, the money paid over the odds for players. But he was sure they needed two or three genuine star players to turn their fortunes around. The genuine re-building process they were going through was the right path to recovery, Lowe said.
"They've taken a gamble on a young coach but already you can see the team has more motivation and enthusiasm thanks to Des Hasler." He coached Hasler and knows him well.
"He'll push them hard. Hasler is such a popular person at Manly, I think that his involvement had a lot to do with that bumper crowd [at the Roosters]. There's a genuine feeling of optimism in the area. But that can only go on so long. They have to start winning and to do that they need one or two special players - if they don't get them, then I think they're history."
Peters has the same view, though not so straight up. He was happy the "Manly culture" was starting to rebuild after the disaster that was the Northern Eagles. He was confident the club's 10-year business plan had them on sound footing.
There's more financial nous for a start. Paul Cummings, who won the Australian Businessman of the Year, is executive director of the leagues club and deputy chairman of the football club. Joe Cross, who is a financial adviser to Lachlan Murdoch, is on the board.
"In the mid-90s we were laced with internationals and we were the best league club in the world," Peters boasted. "That's where we want to be again."
There is some early sign of improvement. The top side, with a gutsy away win at Townsville over North Queensland its one victory so far, has "won" the second half of each of its games, out-pointing the Roosters, the Cowboys and Sharks in the second 40. So there's no shortage of guts and motivation.
IN.-
Kane Cleal, Shane Dunley, Daniel Heckenberg, Nathan Hollingsworth, Jeff Robson, Kylie Leuluai (all Parramatta), Chris Hicks (Penrith), Michael Monaghan (Canberra), Paul Stephenson (Broncos), Dallas Rennie (Warriors), Nathan Tutt and Ian Donnelly (Dragons), Jye Mullane (Cronulla), Mark Lennon (Castleford) and Andrew Walker (rugby).
OUT.-
Nathan Long and Tony Jensen (Dragons), Aaron Cannings (Eels), Luke Dorn (Roosters), Brendon Reeves (Wollongong), Mark Shipway (Salford), Ben MacDougall (Storm), Jason Ferris (Wollongong), Danny Lima (Warrington), Matt and Christian Hill (France), Alex Moore (The Entrance), Ben Walker (retired).
SEA EAGLES
Entered the competition 1947.
Six premiership titles - 1972, '73, '76, '78, '87, 1996.
Runners-up nine times - 1951, '57, '59, '68, '70, '82, '83, '95, 1997.
Minor premiers nine times, and the club has produced 59 internationals.
