Fresh off an excellent season and an eighth consecutive finals appearance, the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles proved just why they are one of the most consistent teams of the past decade this year, reaching another grand final but just falling short of a ninth Premiership.
After finishing fourth and being thrashed by Melbourne in the preliminary final last year, the Sea Eagles continued to keep their place among the NRL’s elite and for all but the opening round of the season finished each round in the top four.
After opening the season with a narrow 22-14 victory over the Broncos in Brisbane, the Sea Eagles did not have to take long to flex their premiership muscle, thrashing Newcastle at home and maintaining a clean sheet – it was this result that would catapult them into the top four, where they would remain for the remainder of the season.
Their results over the first half of the season were impressive, however, following a victory against Canberra in Round 11, they would endure a winless June, despite being one of the least affected teams by State of Origin.
In fact, only Anthony Watmough and Daly Cherry-Evans were selected for the interstate series, while Brett Stewart was out injured in June.
Despite this form slump, the Sea Eagles were able to maintain their place in the top four.
With almost all back on deck, they continued their assault at a third Premiership in six years in July, courtesy of a crushing 50-10 victory over fallen rivals Parramatta.
That kick-started a revival in form which would see them lose just once in their next nine games, that being against South Sydney (for a second time in the season) in Round 23.
They also recorded an authoritative 28-8 victory over Melbourne in the penultimate round of the regular season, before blowing a chance to finish higher than their modern-day rivals by allowing Penrith to run over the top of them in the final round.
That resulted in the Sea Eagles finishing fourth at the end of the season, and it saw them drawn against the Minor Premiers, the Sydney Roosters, in the first round of the finals series.
In what would be one of the most physical and mental games of the year, the Sea Eagles fell 4-0, though they had numerous chances, especially in the last minutes of the game, to claim victory.
The match was best remembered for the man-of-the-match performance of Peta Hiku, deputising at fullback for injured regular Brett Stewart, whose hamstring injury threatened to sabotage the Sea Eagles’ Premiership assault.
Hiku will, no doubt, be a big name to watch for at Manly in the coming years.
His impressive performance in that match against the Roosters mirrors that of Greg Inglis’ performance against the Broncos during the Storm’s 2005 finals series, when the now-Rabbitohs fullback filled in superbly for injured regular starter Billy Slater.
On that occasion, though, the Storm won that match as the Broncos’ finals curse continued. That curse ended when the Broncos beat the Storm, and Inglis (who had become a regular starter by then) in the 2006 Grand Final.
In the same manner that Inglis became a regular starter for the Storm after his cameo role eight years ago, Hiku may as well start to line-up for Manly regularly next year.
Back on topic now, and after the narrow loss to the Roosters, the Sea Eagles next faced the Sharks, who were coming off a narrow, but controversial, victory over the North Queensland Cowboys.
The class of Geoff Toovey’s men showed as the Silvertails rebounded from the defeat by the Chooks to end their southern rivals’ season and move on to the penultimate weekend of the season.
There, they would meet the South Sydney Rabbitohs, who were enjoying their most successful season since 1989 and were in the box seat to end a long Premiership drought dating back to 1971.
But somebody forgot to tell the Sea Eagles, whose recent Premiership success and experience would be their x-factor entering the preliminary final.
After being very slow to start the match, at one stage falling three tries behind in the first half, the Sea Eagles worked their way into the match as nerves and stage fright started to fail the Rabbitohs for the second consecutive year.
Taking that to their advantage, the Sea Eagles grew in confidence and it was their class which proved to be the telling factor in an eventual 30-20 victory, a masterclass second half being the catalyst.
This qualified them for yet another grand final, their fourth in seven years. This also put them in with a real shot at claiming title number nine, and tite number three in six years.
Their opponents would be the Sydney Roosters, who had already claimed a hat-trick of victories over the Sea Eagles during the year, including in the aforementioned finals tussle just three weeks prior.
It was very difficult to pick a winner with real confidence, as the Roosters had enjoyed a very successful first season under rookie coach Trent Robinson, and the Sea Eagles were the ones with the recent Premiership experience, and having featured in three grand finals since 2007.
For some parts of the decider, it appeared the Sea Eagles’ Premiership experience would come to the fore, and they looked well on track to confirm itself as one of the greatest teams of the past decade when it led 18-8 with half an hour of the game to play.
But then this is where it would all fall apart.
A fired up Roosters side ran all over the top of them in the final 30 minutes of the game, running in three tries and keeping the Sea Eagles scoreless in this period, and eventually the Sea Eagles lost 26-18.
It was the fourth time alone this year that the Sea Eagles lost to the Roosters – no team in rugby league history had lost to the same opponent four times in a single calendar year (to my knowledge).
But despite the disappointment of a grand final defeat, the Sea Eagles lost no friends or respect, and as the saying goes, they will be back bigger and better next year.
Just like they were when they thrashed Melbourne to win the 2008 Premiership 12 months after being heavily beaten by the same opposition in 2007.
But the Sea Eagles weren’t thrashed this time. They lost by just eight points, that, and a 10-point lead which was blown in the second half, showing just how close the match was.
There is some debate, though, about which team was better on the night.
Although the Roosters won where it mattered, on the scoreboard, it was Daly Cherry-Evans who picked up the Clive Churchill Medal, only the third time (and first since 1993) in which the medal went to someone from the losing side.
It could have been so much sweeter had the Sea Eagles managed to hold on.
Having now confirmed themselves as the most consistent side of the past decade, the Sea Eagles are now in the box seat to reach a tenth consecutive finals series next year and it will come just how far they have come from the failed Northern Eagles merger.
No major signings have been made for the 2014 season, but Brent Kite will be sorely missed after nine years’ service on the Northern Beaches, the entirety of during which the Sea Eagles did not miss the finals.
A serious injury also forced the retirement of Joe Galuvao, who featured in Manly’s 2011 Premiership team, along with Kite, eight years after being a key player in Penrith’s 2003 success.
Despite the two key losses, next year should still continue to be one of success for the Sea Eagles, as they restart their bid for a ninth Premiership and a tenth consecutive finals series.
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