Adrian Toole was a great player

Jesus would have played for the Bears so no he never would of worn a Manly jersey.

This was Women in League round, it had nothing to do with Gay Pride. Pride is a different cause so put it on a different week after consulting players. Well done to the marketing department here for ruining the clubs shot at finals. Des has done the best he can, clearly there’s a cynical marketing team looking to exploit who ever or what ever they can to get dollars.
This was women in League round, not LGBT round if they felt so strongly about that cause they should of done it on a different date.

Hmmm, when the review committee comes up with a plan to be more like North QLD, the Bronco’s, Newcastle and Penrith whom collectively have won 1 premiership in the last 10 years and less like the Storm, Roosters and Manly (who don’t contribute any significant juniors into the NRL) you have to wonder why we are talking about Brad Arthur as the problem and not the review committe or thosde who appointed the review committee?
Poor old Parra will not challenge for a Premiership until the Empereor is no more, until then I will keep turning up to watch them play, the occasional win, the very occasional finals series and a whole lot of naval gazzing remembering the 80’s when Parramatta district produced a once in a lifetime team that was enhanced by a couple of fantastic outsiders. Thanks review committee for giving me another decade of disappointment.

To say that injury had nothing to do with on field performance might be a stretch. When you go through the list of players without injury this year there are only 4 or 5 from the starting line up but, is that bad luck or bad preparation. Who knows?
Losing Semi was also a huge blow, then to lose Beau Scott was another huge blow. The under performance of players like Bevan French who made just 9 meters in 1 game with only 1 touch of the ball and the consistent lack of effort from players like Michael Jennings who said he would rather see his brother have a great game than himself shows he has no hunger for the game.
Despite all that though reality is Parra can’t protect or look after their players off the field. Whilst Cam Smith openly gets paid for testimonial games and lunches in a year that is not his last, North QLD players are implicated in getting houses and there is no further investigation at the Bronco’s of a mysterious $300k appeared on their books but, the investigation was closed. However at Parra there is an investigation over electricity bill subsidy’s because a former employee has made allegations. The salary cap scandal re-surfaced time and time again as whistle blowers lined up to testify against the club. Semi left the country after allegations of domestic violence from his partner, he then returned to be found innocent of the charges but, had signed a contract with French Rugby. Junior Paulo and Corey Norman were photographed with known criminals which got a bad wrap in the papers they were both fined & Paulo left the club shortly after (he now returns being paid overs by the club because they have to in order to get him back). Ken Edwards again need we say more but, are other clubs able to cover these things up?
Parra for a journo is the club that keeps on giving. Even for Manly it took a police investigation to make serious accusations and ask serious questions before the NRL took action but at Parra Jarryd Hayne was found to have been paid $250k which was included in the salary cap for that year (despite not being in the country at the time nor playing for the club upon his return to the country). Parra sponsors were even reported to police by the NRL for their affiliation with the club.
All of this leaves you to ask why would you play for, work for or sponsor Parra? and that is the reason for yet another spoon.

This debate has thrown light on the fact that the local Manly district is to small to support an NRL franchise with only 265k people. The district is to weak to support an NRL franchise so they now bus kids in from Blacktown where they have their reserve grade. They have no money as their Leagues club was just sold from under them. The ground they play at is council owned and will never be upgraded as it has been completely written off the books as an asset. There is no transport into the area nor is there any interest in the area (crowds at Lottoland have consistently been falling for the last 40 years). The Penns though have shown this franchise where their future lies by taking at least 1 game every year to Brisbane.
Bearfax makes a lot of sense when he says both clubs should still exist side by side. Both clubs should play 2 games per year at their traditional home grounds of North Sydney & Lottoland whilst then the Bears play their remainder on the Central Coast and of coarse Manly (combining with Manly Whynum) could survive if it were to play it’s remaining matches in Brisbane. By doing this both clubs expand and hold onto their heartlands and Rugby League expands massively so nobody loses.

Sammy I am not sure I understand your comment the the Northern Beaches & Northshore are one geographic area as this morning it took me 2 hours to get from Hornsby to Brookvale, yesterday morning on the other hand it took me 45 minutes from Hornsby to Gosford the previous morning. The fact is that there is also a train line connecting the Northshore to the Central Coast. When soccer looked to expand it’s market from the Central Coast it took 3 games to it’s natural closest market North Sydney. The issue Manly has is it’s isolated and 265k people is not enough to support an NRL franchise.

That is not true, the most inflated numbers ever put forward was they were $3.2m in debt. That figure was found to have been dramatically over inflated and the club traded out of it’s voluntary receivership status that it never should have been in originally.
The $8m you refer to is the amount Manly received from the NRL, the Bears and government incentives for it to move to and remain in Gosford as the Northern Eagles. Norths Leagues put several million into the franchise before it collapsed.

Lottoland average crowd attendance this year is 10,226.

With Manly Leagues demise in 2019 and the decline of crowds at Lottoland since the 70’s the club has struggled financially for 30 years. The Peninsula does not have the population nor the infrastructure to support a team in the NRL in the modern era. It is difficult for fans to get to, the ground is poor and there is little local interest resulting in the club now drawing players for it’s local teams and it’s reserve grade from Blacktown. Without players, without money and without fans Manly will continue on it’s slow demise, lets just hope the local district club is able to survive and not be damaged any further.
However it’s important that Rugby League keeps a presence in the North of Sydney. With a state of the art stadium at Gosford and locals that love Rugby League it’s the perfect family environment to promote and love Rugby League at in a growing area. To support that Thursday and Friday games to be played at a ground in a highly urbanised cosmopolitan area with transport and a local population of people who would come back to the game just to see what it was all about or to remember what was. Add a well financed Leagues club a few interested financially well healed backers and the possible support of the Central Coast Leagues and you have the recipe for success. With opposition clubs so close average crowd numbers will be 17 to 18k every week should this be permitted to happen.
The fate of Manly is sealed, that franchise can no longer survive, it’s just what comes next is the question.

I grew up in the Norths district and followed Parra. I still live in the Bears district and support Parra. Let me tell you what I get for my almost 40 years of loyal support. The only district in Sydney without an NRL team and this means I get to watch soccer and VFL grow and thrive all around me plus I get the added satisfaction of 30 years without a Premiership for the Eels, gaining a few wooden spoons, being fined and humiliated for cheating whilst gaining those spoons and all the while that district convinces kids to play Rugby League in massive numbers from ages 4 and up to watch them go and win premierships for the Roosters, Manly and Melbourne. Those 3 clubs could not field a team from their own junior ranks but are 3 of the 4 most successful clubs over the last 20 years. This is simply wrong and brings questions about what the future of the game holds.
So David when it is said that you can’t know where you are going unless you know where you have been, rugby league is a prime example as our crowd figures show (which have not grown significantly for about 20 years).

They do bargain very hard and some might say in an unsportsmanlike manner. For example they sacked their last coach who was a club legend when they hit a 2015 form slump. The coach had taken them to a grand final and two finals campaigns in previous seasons yet he was fired, their own fans were not happy about that but, it seemed like they wanted to take things in another direction.
The coach before that won them a grand final and then asked several times for a pay rise, it was refused several times but, when a rival club offered him double Manly then came back and said they would equal the offer.
Manly just always seem to have been ruthless business people even when it was just a sportsman’s environment and they were very good at it. However in this day and age things have become far more business like, the ability to manipulate a favour from a mate at the top has become less and less and therefore Manly find themselves in the predicament that they are in today. That is a club used to winning but, without the edge that they once had and so on a level playing field with everyone trying to drive a hard bargain now who wants to do a favor with the club that’s screwed you for the last 70 years.

I don’t think anyone feels sorry for Manly fans. They have never got the spoon, they’ve won the premiership every complete decade since their conception, crowd numbers have declined for them since the 70’s at their home ground, they have no 2nd (NSW cup) or 3rd division team (Ron Massey cup) and they even bus juniors in to play. What that says is that there really are not that many fans or people in that area who support Rugby League.
If the districts most competitive local side is 4th grade (Sydney Shield) and their Leagues club has just merged with the local bowling club in order to survive then it tells us they have no money or community behind them to ensure that they survive. With the pending exit of Lottoland from Australia due to legislation changes the writing is on the wall for this franchise and the writting is move to the Central Coast or leave the NRL because there is no future for you where you are.

I don’t think anyone feels sorry for Manly fans. They have never got the spoon, they’ve won the premiership every complete decade since their conception, crowd numbers have declined for them since the 70’s at their home ground, they have no 2nd (NSW cup) or 3rd division team (Ron Massey cup) and they even bus juniors in to play. What that says is that there really are not that many fans or people in that area who support Rugby League.
If the districts most competitive local side is 4th grade (Sydney Shield) and their Leagues club has just merged with the local bowling club in order to survive then it tells us they have no money or community behind them to ensure that they survive. With the pending exit of Lottoland from Australia due to legislation changes the writing is on the wall for this franchise and the writting is move to the Central Coast or leave the NRL because there is no future for you where you are..

Hang on, as you don’t like reporting on Rugby League why don’t you get a job where you don’t have to report on Rugby League? The ABC has a great line up of Rugby League commentators but, the problem here is the same as we see all over the media and that is that there are reporters and commentators hanging onto the the game but, the game does not need them.
If you earn your living from Rugby League but, you don’t like it then find another job, don’t bag the sport that gives you a living in the mean time. As for the ABC well they can just keep considering Rugby League fans “bogans” I could not care less, as long as they do not take Andrew Moore an Matthew Elliot off the radio.

Luke you say “I support the rule crackdown from the NRL. Let’s be honest: if they stop now, they will just look weak. It’s short-term pain for what will be long-term gain, but only if they stick at it”.
The thing is that you can’t contradict yourself by saying enforce the rules strictly then allow them to be bent in certain circumstances to an advantage but, ensure that advantage is strictly enforced to be objective even though by definition it’s going to be subjective.

Typical NRL game, it’s 100 to 1. 100 people who love the game walk away unhappy whilst 1 person in an area that has no love for the game but, saw it once thinks that’s nice when they hear Melbourne won on the radio.

Diving is such a bad look for the game and Slater needs to be named and shamed for this pattern of behaviour.

Parra fans for the most part are not to worried about Hayne and the kids love him. If he does not workout then we know who Wentworthville’s top try scorer will be and Parra fans will accept that as the decision made by BA.

So now you’ve listed a heap of things that we want less than a new stadium (and put chickens on the endangered species list LOL) can we please have our stadium?

ANZ stadium needs to be a rectangle cause it’s crap for viewing most events that happen there.

Mushi is correct the Roosters are a one club team. They take one promising player from every districts junior system whilst it’s local crowd go next door to watch VFL. However I like Crank at the Eels cause a player like that can create positive media coverage for the game in the heart of league country that every other code desperately want to get into.

Bwahahahaaa! This is actually pretty funny, a good read. I loved it.

Ok, so it looks like everyone has had their say so, let me just tell you how it is (there is no need to respond because if you do you are wrong). The Bears is the only ongoing option for a GC franchise to have unless NEWS allow changes (they won’t) which will include 2 home games in Gosford against Newcastle and probably the tigers. Both games will get 20K + & will attract sponsorship $ plus huge match day ground payments. After this there will be the match vs Moanly in heritage round or retro round at North Sydney Oval, again this will get 20k+ (based on historical crowd #’s).
As the NRL prop up GC at the moment you would think they are safe but, as it’s clear they will not be able to pay the clubs what Grant advised them they would the reality is the money is not there. This means that it is GC Bears with 3 games played in NSW or nothing & the GC fold.
For those Bear fans who think NS can make it alone, get out of the way or get on board, it does not matter who u r or what your link to NS is because I assure you that mine is just as good as yours, do not play that card here.

I’m not sure why the author has not taken into account a few realities:
1. Allowing the Bears to play 3 games against Newcastle, Manly, Souths, Tigers or several others in NSW will increase crowd attendance to those games by more than 20k
2. Both locations allow for far greater sponsorship opportunities.
3. Not specifically mentioned but, reality is NEWS will never allow another team in Brisbane so for GC this is a potential fix for the NRL if this is a stunt to attract another pruchaser and it fails then it’s a way to stop bleeding money.
4. AFL has taken over the Northshore and is biting into the Central Coast, this is a way to counter that.
5. Many QLD people liked the Bears because of players like Billy Moore who was a life long Bear but came to symbolize the courage of QLD.