Manly celebrate the 10th anniversary of their 40-0 victory over archrivals Melbourne in the 2008 grand final
TEN years on from their 40-0 victory in the 2008 grand final, Manly’s heroes from that record-breaking day will meet up for a reunion.
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FORGET Newport, Narrabeen or even the picturesque Pittwater and Palm Beach, the attraction on Sydney’s northern beaches that gets the best reception from locals is a white Holden ute with a silver “40-0” sticker covering the back window.
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It is a tribute to the day the Manly Sea Eagles inflicted their finest revenge on archrivals Melbourne in the 2008 grand final — a 40-0 drubbing on the NRL’s biggest stage.
A decade on, that victory hasn’t been forgotten on the northern beaches.
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After the explosive clash between the two rivals in Melbourne in May — an all-in brawl, a sending off and four sin-binnings — the Sea Eagles have lit the fuse on this evening’s clash against the Storm at Brookvale Oval by making it the club’s official “10th Anniversary of the 40-0 Grand Final”.
It is music to the ears of ’08 premiership-winning teammates Glenn Hall and Mark Byrant.
The pair will never forget the day they sent Sea Eagles great and best buddy, Steve Menzies, out in style with a title against the Storm.
“It was awesome — I remember feeling like it was a fairytale,” Hall told The Saturday Telegraph while sitting next to Bryant.
“We were so happy to see ‘Beaver’ (Menzies) score a try in his last game and it was special to send him out that way.
“But the 40-0 score line was a shock to everybody, because no one beats Melbourne like that.
“Everyone was on a cloud after the game and no one could really believe what had happened.
“It doesn’t feel like it was 10 years ago.”
Hall and Bryant will reunite with a host of former Sea Eagles teammates this weekend to celebrate their remarkable ‘08 win over Melbourne. Their catch up started with a few beers in Manly on Friday, before a dinner at Anthony Watmough’s Lebanese restaurant in the city.
They’ll head to Brookie to watch the next generation continue the two decade-long hatred between Manly and Melbourne.
The Sea Eagles and Storm are no longer leading the NRL ladder like they did in 2007, 2008 and 2011, but their rivalry hasn’t wavered.
This was on display in round 11 this season when Melbourne’s Curtis Scott was sent off for throwing punches at Manly’s Dylan Walker.
The wild scenes raised memories of the infamous “Battle of Brookvale” between the two sides in 2011 when a minor scuffle sparked an all-in brawl and resulted in Glenn Stewart and Adam Blair being sent-off.
According to Bryant, there is something special about playing the Storm.
He believes the rivalry was ignited when Melbourne belted Manly 34-8 in 2007 grand final — a loss further soured by a huge hit on fullback Brett Stewart that left him unconscious.
“We got flogged in that game and we had a bee in our bonnet,” he recalled. “But it was never hard to get fired up for Melbourne. We were the two best teams and we wanted to beat each other. There was a bit of hatred, but there was also respect.
“You want to be the best, so every time we played Melbourne there were always fireworks.”
Hall says Manly always devoted long hours to game preparation, especially under the meticulous eye of coach Des Hasler, but the planning went to another level for Melbourne matches.
“The concentration ramped up considerably,” he said. “There wasn’t that one bloke yawning in the back of video sessions. Everyone was white-eyed, lent forward on their legs and really paid attention to every breath that came out of Dessie’s mouth.
“It was that little bit more intense for those games — because we wanted to win.”
On Saturday, Manly and Melbourne will resume their love-hate rivalry.
And while the players have changed over the years, you can expect the intensity to remain as strong as ever.
“I just think it is one of those rivalries that will always be there,” Bryant declared.
“Even all the young guys coming through know about the rivalry and they want to show pride in the jumper they are wearing as well.
“It is a rivalry that will stick around, that is for sure.”