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Of all the ritual humiliations I’ve suffered as a Canberra Raiders fan in recent years, none are seared so deep into my retinas as the events that transpired at Brookvale Oval in Round 8, 2014.
Considering I flew across the Tasman to watch Shaun Johnson and Manu Vatuvei rack up hat tricks in the Warriors’ 50-16 rout of the Green Machine in 2013 – and that just a month after sticking it out at the pub until 62-0 when the Storm ran riot at Bruce Stadium – this is no mean feat.
This isn’t a story about blindly following a lovable but hapless bunch of plodders, but an admission that, via some form of subconscious osmosis, I’ve become a secret admirer of the Manly Sea Eagles.
It didn’t begin on that fateful Sunday afternoon in April, as the Sea Eagles backline ignored drizzly conditions to run through dazzling training drills which pierced the Raiders defence like a laser pointer through a soccer goalie’s soul.
As the 2013 NRL finals series unfolded and the good guys – the good guys being teams not from New South Wales – kept getting themselves eliminated, the casual fan had to jump on someone. Taking sides in a Roosters versus Sea Eagles season decider is a choice no rugby league fan should be forced to make, but it was the fashion in which Manly fought their way through to the first Sunday in October which had me wishing the Roosters would be the team receiving runners-up medallions.
The Sea Eagles can play tough. Anthony Watmough is a heads-down, bum-up workhorse who storms into opposition defensive lines with the force of a thousand suns. Matt Ballin is an old-school hooker in the body of an extra from 300. Tom Symonds is the irrepressible redhead every back row needs.
Meanwhile, out wide, Steve Matai pulls out of every second tackle clutching his shoulder in such a state that the only way forward appears to be immediate amputation, yet inevitably pulls himself together and gets on with it.
But it’s in attack where the Sea Eagles have this lifetime hater nodding with grudging admiration. Admittedly there wasn’t much admiration in the first half of the match, in which they consigned my beloved Raiders to the 2014 scrapheap, with my wingman for the day kindly updating me on the margin between points scored and time elapsed as they hit 42-4 by halftime.
Then this happened.
And I just had to shake my head and laugh as I headed for the warmth of an hour-long bus ride home.
Phil Gould recently lamented that “if all teams played in the same coloured jerseys, it would be hard to tell them apart”, so similar are their attacking structures. Gould noted the New Zealand Warriors as an exception, and I agree – they play with such freestyle flair that they either drag opposition teams up to their level (see recent games against the Rabbitohs and Broncos, who both emerged victorious) or blow them apart (the Raiders, naturally).
Regardless of the result, their games are mostly a pleasure to watch.
Gould also noted Manly, who aren’t far behind the Warriors in the excitement stakes. When the Sea Eagles machine got humming in their 40-8 flogging of the Tigers, there was a joie-de-vivre in the interplay between Daly Cherry-Evans, Kieran Foran and Brett Stewart that’s unmatched in the competition.
Peta Hiku and Jorge Taufua stroll over in the corner with such monotonous ease you’d swear they were Darius Boyd running off Greg Inglis in a Queensland jersey. If Jamie Lyon rediscovers the dynamic running and silky ball skills he exhibited as 2013 drew to a close, the Sea Eagles will be at short odds to go one better this year.
And the entertainment doesn’t end at full time, with coach Geoff Toovey proving himself as one of rugby league’s greatest showmen week in, week out in his post-match pressers.
In short, any rugby league fan who can’t nod begrudgingly in admiration as Manly work their magic is no rugby league fan at all. If the rumours that have this squad on the brink of dismantling itself carry any weight, grand final day 2014 might be the last chance we get to see them in action.
Which means a Raiders fan can return to Brookvale next year with some hope.
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