Manly: we're loveable
MANLY players have called on Sydneysiders to do what previously would have been unthinkable - end 35 years of deep, dark hatred and support them in Sunday's grand final against Melbourne.
Sea Eagles players and officials are hoping Sydney's long-time rivalry with Melbourne will overshadow the average punter's dislike of the club, ensuring the majority of support at Telstra Stadium. And what's more, they believe it will happen, giving hope for world peace.
"I've no doubt there's an absolute truckload of people out there that still absolutely hate Manly, but I think that when it comes down to a NSW versus Victoria game, there'll be a lot of people who will have to change sides or change allegiances," chief executive Grant Mayer said.
"If you're a New South Welshman, do the right thing and support Manly."
The Sea Eagles have been despised ever since they were perceived to have bought premierships throughout the 1970s. The disdain surfaced again during their success in the 1990s.
But remarkably, Mayer claimed the Sea Eagles were no longer silvertails - the phrase coined by Herald columnist and former Western Suburbs coach Roy Masters - but were now the "strugglers".
"It's been 10 years since we've been involved in a grand final, and it's been at least five years since the Northern Eagles debacle," Mayer said.
"I think there's a new generation of fans out there who have put a lot of that behind them. We're the strugglers now. We struggled to get back to where we belong - at the top of the competition.
"I think people can really relate to what we've gone through. It's no longer the old chequebook mentality. This is about building a side over the last three or four years, and people can really understand that good old Des, the working-class man from Penrith, has done a great job building this club. I think people can identify that
and I think they'll jump on board."
Good old Des is Des Hasler, the Manly coach, who admitted the adage of fans having two teams - their own and the team playing Manly - still rang true, but with one exception
unless you're playing Melbourne in a grand final. "I still think Manly will always be the side people love to hate," Hasler said. "It's a part of rugby league folklore. But I think we'll have a good support out there."
Prop Jason King offered: "I can't imagine too many Sydneysiders wanting Victoria to win anything. Even though you hate Manly, it's better that Manly wins than a Melbourne-based team."
It would be remarkable - and a clear sign hostilities between fans and Manly remain bitter - if Melbourne were to enjoy the majority of support on Sunday. But the fact that no Sydney teams contested the grand final last year may also work in the club's favour.
"A lot of people I've spoken to over the last few days are diehard Tigers or Parramatta supporters, and they're going, 'All right' - kicking and screaming admittedly, but they're certainly happy to jump on board, particularly after the drought last year of Brisbane and Melbourne," Manly co-owner Scott Penn said. "I think we'll get the support that we deserve."
But there has been a footnote - importantly, from the player who would know more than anyone else whether the bitterness towards Manly still exists, 15-season veteran Steve Menzies.
"I have been at Manly too long to believe that just because you live in Sydney you would go for us," he said. "Being Manly in the grand final, I think you will still get a few people who will go for Melbourne
I think the crowd will be split about 50-50."
The younger players can't fathom the anti-Sea Eagles sentiment. Anthony Watmough believed, sincerely, that the newer generation of supporters was ignorant of the Manly hatred.
"In the past weeks, everywhere I've been on the other side of the bridge there is another generation of supporters who have been told of the old love to hate Manly stuff but they haven't embraced that," he said. "A lot of people I've spoken to have Manly as their second team. A friend of mine is an avid Tigers fan, and she never goes to any other matches but she came along the other day and paid big money to watch us in the semi-final, and she now says she is bitten with the Manly bug."
Halfback Matt Orford reckoned being on the dark side wasn't so bad. "Being the only Sydney team [in the final], I would like to think everyone loves Manly at the moment," he said. "You are either with Manly or against Manly, but we have had good support this year. We have roped a few others to come to the dark side. We can't complain."
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