Listing the greatest Manly Sea Eagles players since 1980
In our series on your team’s Top 20 since 1980, we rank some of the great names from the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles. And two names are straight to the top of his list.
Opinion
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Whittling four decades of success down to just 20 names was never going to be an easy task – but at the top of the tree, only two names were ever going to feature.
Cliff Lyons and Steve Menzies formed the best one-two punch of the 1990s, and will forever have their names indelibly linked.
You could easily make an argument for them being 1a and 1b, but that is not how such definitive lists work.
As the only team to have won competitions in the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s and 2010s, finding the right balance for the Sea Eagles was always likely to be tricky – so it’s no surprise that some big names cruelly missed the cut.
Club champions Max Krilich and Terry Randall are rugby league icons but their best football - and all their premiership success - came in the 1970s, and both were gone after 1983.
Preference was of course given to players who helped win titles, and representative honours were secondary to feats performed for Manly.
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Of the current generation, the Trbojevic brothers were desperately unlucky – and should their careers continue on the current trajectory, both will soar up the rankings.
Tom Trbojevic in particular stands out as a controversial omission. But if he retired tomorrow, would his numbers stack up against those of Michael O’Connor? With just one finals game to his name, he’s got more to achieve for the Sea Eagles in order to stand alongside the club’s other great fullbacks.
And then there’s Phil Blake, a freakishly talented halfback who burst onto the scene like few before or since – scoring an incredible 27 tries in his second season, which remains a club record.
But he could never reproduce that brilliance, and left Manly before their 1987 title win to sit just outside this list.
1. CLIFF LYONS
The purest ballplayer to ever don the maroon and white, Lyons spun his magic for 14 years with an effortless style that made time slow down. His partnership with Steve Menzies was the backbone of the Manly attack in the mid-90s – making the two forever linked, so much so that they almost deserve to share top spot. But Lyons gets the edge thanks to his two Dally M medals and man-of-the-match performance in the 1987 grand final. He’s approaching 60, but could still find gaps in NRL defences if given the chance.
2. STEVE MENZIES
The other half of Manly’s dynamic duo, Menzies ran the perfect lines for Lyons’ perfect passes – and ended up with an almighty 180 tries by the end of his 349-game career. No other forward in history comes close. But it’s not as if Menzies was simply a tryscoring machine … Manly’s favourite son was also a defensive powerhouse with terrific durability. Was the face of the vibrant 90s backrow alongside Nik Kosef and Daniel Gartner. Started strong, finished strong. There’ll never be another.
3. BRETT STEWART
Speaking of tryscoring freaks, here’s the Prince of Brookvale – the linchpin of Manly’s 2008 and 2011 titles and a playmaking star in his own right. Stewart’s 163 tries ranks him sixth all time. But to simply call him one of rugby league’s great finishers does the talented No.1 a huge disservice. He’s one of the best ballplaying fullbacks of the modern era and awfully underrated defensively.
4. GEOFF TOOVEY
No one has bled more for the cause than the consensus pound-for-pound toughest to play the game, Geoff Toovey. Appeared as a baby-faced halfback with surfie hair, and spent the next 15 years barking at referees, tackling blokes literally twice his size and tearing defences to shreds. Walked away with no hair, a Clive Churchill medal and a face full of battle scars.
5. JAMIE LYON
A truly outstanding player and all-time Sea Eagles great, who captained the team to two premierships in two positions. A four-time Dally M centre of the year, and two-time captain of the year, Lyon arrived at Manly the finished product and ensured they were a bona fide powerhouse from the moment his feet touched the Brookie turf. Silky ball skills and deceptive speed and strength made him the total package.
6. ANTHONY WATMOUGH
Left the club in acrimonious circumstances, and burnt a few bridges on the way out, but time heals all wounds – even those Watmough inflicted on the opposition during his damaging 10-year stint at the club. Watmough was an angry ball of muscle who was a ferocious runner of the football and was twice named second-rower of the year, earning him 16 appearances for Australia and 14 for NSW. More than that, The Army of One was that little bit of crazy that gave Manly its hard edge.
7. GLENN STEWART
Didn’t soak up the adulation quite like his younger, flashier brother, but don’t sleep on Gifty. Tougher than old boots, this Stewart had the instincts of a halfback and could match the workload of the best forwards of his era. A relentless tackler and fearsome competitor who played a vital role as a secondary five-eighth, Stewart enjoyed his crowning glory when awarded the Clive Churchill medal in the 2011 grand final win over the Warriors.
8. PAUL VAUTIN
Manly to his core, Vautin was a rugged, wholehearted competitor who squeezed every ounce from his ability and gave it all to Manly and Queensland. For the best part of a decade Vautin WAS Manly. His modern-day persona as the buffooning TV host should not cloud his on-field reputation as a courageous workaholic and inspirational leader – he was crowned captain of the year when Manly won the 1987 premiership. That he bowed out of rugby league with two lacklustre years at the Sydney Roosters, after a falling out with management, was a sad end to a fine career.
9. IAN ROBERTS
As tough as any hombre to have graced the turf at Brookvale Oval, Roberts was a 21st century backrower unleashed a decade before anyone was ready for him. Tall, broad and fast, he was a physical specimen and more than a handful for defences – as well as being unforgiving and uncompromising when the opposition had the ball. Struggled with a groin injury during the back half of his days with Manly, but still no one wanted to run anywhere near the bone-crushing right shoulder of the bruising enforcer. Left Manly before the 1996 premiership but was as vital to their emergence as a force in the early 1990s.
10. BRENT KITE
One of the key planks of the side that claimed twin titles, Kite signed on with Manly at a low ebb – and helped revive a weary pack. Despite having played Origin the year prior to joining, it was during his nine-year stint with Manly that Kite played his best footy. And it is a testament to his influence that the Sea Eagles never finished outside the top 8 during his time at the club. Produced the game of his life – and landed the Clive Churchill medal – in the 40-nil thrashing of Melbourne in 2008.
11. MATT ORFORD
A nuggety halfback with a head for leadership and a crafty kicking game while pulling the strings for a well-oiled attack, Orford rarely gets the credit he deserves for his contribution during a hugely important four-year stint. But his legacy should never be overlooked. As captain he led Manly to the most lopsided grand final win in history, and in doing so became the first player to do the Dally M medal-premiership double since Peter Sterling in 1986.
12. MATTHEW RIDGE
Because of the strength of fullbacks in Manly’s history, it gets forgotten just how bloody terrific Ridge was. Make no mistake this was a serious footballer. An All Black in his early years, Ridge was a ruthless competitor and a tremendous goalkicker – who once racked up a personal haul of 30 points against a hapless Western Suburbs, and still owns the record for most points in a season for the Sea Eagles (257 in 1995). Set the standard for defensive fullbacks.
13. DALY CHERRY-EVANS
It all came so easily for DCE, who earned rookie-of-the-year honours and steered the Sea Eagles to their eighth premiership in his debut season – and tried to hold it all together as that champion side fell apart around him. Endured the highs and lows as a Sea Eagle quicker than most, to become captain and now lead the club out of the doldrums. With 21 field goals, Cherry-Evans has proven Manly’s matchwinner time and time again.
14. MICHAEL O’CONNOR
As silky as they come, with electric speed and a dead-eye for goal, O’Connor arrived at Manly having already starred for the Wallabies and St George. But he stepped it up another notch for Manly, where he was the missing link in an already talented backline. In his first season with the club, O’Connor starred en route to the 1987 grand final, where his personal haul of 14 points sealed the title. Had a knack for stepping up in pivotal moments, and etched himself into Origin folklore with a sideline conversion in the dying seconds in driving rain to seal game 2 of the 1991 series for NSW.
15. NIK KOSEF
Oh what could’ve been … Kosef had all the traits of the modern-day lock, matching sublime ball-playing ability with an all-day work ethic and a ruthless defensive approach. A prodigious junior talent, he was meant to be Manly’s answer to Bradley Clyde – and might well have been had his knees not failed him repeatedly throughout his career. Kosef was among Manly’s best in the 1995 and 1996 grand finals. But four knee surgeries took their toll and Kosef was gone 10 years later. A Manly champion who should’ve been an all-time great.
16. NOEL CLEAL
With his wild bushranger beard and imposing frame, the mere sight of Noel Cleal was enough to rattle his rivals at his peak. A centre who was switched to the backrow upon his arrival at Manly, Cleal never looked back and became the prototype of attacking second-rowers in the 1980s. Forever willing to cart the ball up, Cleal was central to Manly’s 1987 triumph and later helped rebuild the club in his role as a recruitment guru.
17. DES HASLER
Versatile and dependable, Hasler is also probably the hardest trainer the northern beaches have ever seen. Not necessarily blessed with natural talent, Hasler made a career out of two traits: being fitter and smarter than his opponent. And it carried him a mighty long way. Hasler was nearly lost to rugby league after two uninspiring seasons with Penrith, before a successful trial with Manly led to a glorious partnership which has brought two titles as player – and two more as a coach. Now, let’s just not mention those Canterbury years …
18. GRAHAM EADIE
It seems mad that Eadie is this low in any Manly list, but his true glory years came in a mighty stretch during the 1970s and the all-time great played just four seasons post 1980 – by which point his Australian career had come to an end. Post-1980 Graham Eadie might not have been the destructive force from the back that his younger self was, but his final years were still played at an excellent level. The deadly goalkicker and brilliant attacker’s football farewell culminated in a surge to the 1983 grand final and a tough-to-swallow defeat to fierce rivals Parramatta.
19. STEVE MATAI
Played the role of hitman – and lord knows he hit harder than a Mike Tyson uppercut – but was so much more than that as a player. An underrated attacking force, Matai’s 91 tries leaves him fourth overall in the club’s history. He was also a selfless teammate who sacrificed his body and targeted opposition forwards with the same ferocity as he would his opposing centre.
20. BEN KENNEDY
In just two seasons, this bald-headed Sea Eagle made such an impact that his legacy ultimately turned into two premierships. Was considered past his best when swooped up in 2005 by Manly, who had been a rabble for more than half a decade prior to his arrival. Kennedy instilled a hardness that had faded, and in mentoring the likes of Watmough and Glenn Stewart, helped lay the foundations for one of the club’s great premiership sides.
Honourable mentions: Max Krilich, Phil Blake, Mark Carroll, Matt Ballin, David Gillespie, John Hopoate, Terry Hill, Kieran Foran, Dale Shearer, Tom Trbojevic, Jake Trbojevic, Les Boyd, Ronnie Gibbs, Daniel Gartner, Chris Close.
Originally published as Listing the greatest Manly Sea Eagles players since 1980