Manly legends Cliff Lyons and Steve Menzies to revive combo at Legends of League

Manly legend Cliff Lyons will defy father time when he plays for the Sea Eagles in the Legends of League tournament at age 57.

Steve Menzies (C) congratulates teammate Cliff Lyons (L).

• AT LAST: Bennett will return and demand answers

• WHERE: AJ wants to know where he fits

MANLY legend Cliffy Lyons was supposed to retire two decades ago.

Well that’s what his former Sea Eagles partner in crime Steve Menzies thought.

“But he can’t help himself — he still trains and plays representative touch footy twice a week,” Menzies told The Daily Telegraph.

“He just loves playing.”

On Saturday, 57-year-old Lyons will be the oldest competitor in the annual Legends of League tournament at Central Coast Stadium.

The one-day event featuring six teams and 90 league legends will partner with the Mark Hughes Foundation to raise money for brain cancer research.

Menzies can’t wait to revive his on-field connection with Lyons — the man who helped him form rugby league’s best one-two punch during the 1990s.

Cliff Lyons (L) and Steve Menzies, pictured in 1994, formed one of the most legendary ball-player, hole-runner combinations in rugby league.

However “Beaver” isn’t sure how much running his ageing body will allow.

“Sadly I fear I’ll be letting the combination down,” he grinned. “I did a bit of training about four weeks ago but I tweaked my shoulder, as you do as you get old.

“So I haven’t done anything for the past two weeks.

“But Cliffy is still doing the same training and I’ll be too old and slow to hit the gap, so I won’t be doing any hit ups.

“I’ll just be hanging around Cliffy and I just want one pass in a gap. I’ll tackle guys if they run at me but I’m just going to wait around Cliffy until he passes me a ball.”

Cliff Lyons (L) and Steve Menzies (R) after Lyons’ last game for Manly at Brookvale Oval in 1998.

Jokes aside, Menzies has the highest respect for Lyons as a player and person.

“I played with Cliffy for eight years, so it was a big part of my career,” he said. “When I first came into grade he was a massive part of the way I played, so it will be pretty cool to play with him again.

“Last year he laid on the first two tries that we scored.

“I’m not sure his diet is perfect but he does what he needs to keep playing.”

Like a fine wine, Lyons gets better with age. That said, Menzies believes father time is slowly catching up with the Manly fan favourite.

“When I spoke to Cliffy a month ago, he did say his knees were feeling a bit old,” he said.

“I thought, well it is about time. But he still has his timing and vision – it is pretty amazing.”

Every Test, ODI & T20I live, ad-break free during play and in 4K. Only on Foxtel. Get 1 month free Sport HD plus Entertainment with no lock-in contract and no iQ4 box fee. T&C apply. SIGN UP NOW!

Originally published as Manly legends Cliff Lyons and Steve Menzies to revive combo at Legends of League