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The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles have copped a whacking from internet trolls over the past few days.
Lurking behind every bush is a feral fan of a failed footy side just itching to unload some jealousy-fuelled scorn and rage on a side that’s still running around on the training paddock and not propping up a Bali bar.
And don’t the men in maroon and white and their ‘army’ of fans provide a wide target.
On field, they play rough and tough. They really seem to hate their opponents, especially if that opponent has been receiving any sort of positive coverage in the media or, horror of horrors, they’ve been deemed to be favourites for the upcoming match.
Players like Anthony Watmough, Steve Matai, Jason King and Glenn Stewart seem to play with smouldering contempt written on their faces.
They take genuine offence at being tackled and prefer to run hard into the gaps a between defender’s outstretched arms than into the gaps between defenders, surging and trampling whatever is in their way.
In other words they love the physical stuff and they play with a cold arrogance as close to the limits of the law as they can, and often leave that limit behind.
It’s what makes them so hard to beat and easy to dislike.
Their fans are easy to think of as being a collective extension of this implacable disregard for any team or footy fan who doesn’t follow Manly.
They carry banners to games that proclaim “Everyone Hates Us But We Don’t Care”, or “We Hate You Too”, or “No, Really, We Actually Hate You, So There”.
Stirring stuff!
On the web and in conversation, they circle the wagons around their boys’ performances and reputations. This is true of fans of every club of course but no one seems to invite and cultivate the sense of us-against-the-world mentality of a Sea Eagles supporter.
Is it a hangover of the bad old days when Manly had a reputation for attempting to buy premierships by poaching the best of the west?
Is it the lingering stench of dubious on-field calls by referees in Manly’s favour during big matches? Greg Hartley is a name still cursed by Cronulla-Sutherland fans.
One would think a generational change might have blown through the competition and carried the stink of suspect refereeing away on the breeze.
Sadly the men in pink dropped their guts inside the elevator of the semi-final and as we all know, that’s just not funny.
I’m glad that Sea Eagles fans don’t care what others think because they’ve got a problem or three to grapple with regardless of their professed indifference.
Firstly, their team isn’t getting the credit it deserves for the win over the Cowboys. All anyone is talking about is the refereeing standards in general and during this match in particular.
It’s not the players’ fault of course. However, Geoff Toovey hasn’t been shy about unloading on the officials this season following losses and leading into matches.
In a hyper-critical climate, his team’s win is being solely attributed to poor decisions.
Speculating for a second, the referees might be under extra pressure not to be seen to favour Manly which is not clearly going to help their cause in Melbourne.
Secondly, a new generation of fans now has their own reason to ‘hate’ the team from the Northern Beaches.
The Cowboys have never won a title and they were high on most fans’ “If Not Your Club Then Who Would You Like To Win The Title” list.
A meal of sentimental favourites going out at the hands of a traditionally hated team with a side-order of incompetent refereeing has given the majority of NRL fans (which is all of them minus 16,000) some bad indigestion.
Lastly, the fans themselves must do something to fix this problem of refusing to attend matches that aren’t at Brookvale Oval.
Understandably, the Cowboys obviously don’t draw a big crowd in Sydney because their fans are at the extreme end of a large continent, two thousand kilometres away.
Evidently, so are Manly’s fans.
The turnout on the night was embarrassing. Credit to those who did show and cheer their team and I exempt those fans who were getting married or buried on the night.
But here’s a hint: finals matches in Sydney are home games for you guys. Cross the bridge.
“We don’t care what you think of us” a banner probably shrieks in the white-knuckled grip of a Manly supporter.
Maybe this message is really for your players?
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