Manly’s lifetime patriarch Ken Arthurson would never have let Glenn Stewart, Anthony Watmough, Daly Cherry-Evans, nor Kieren Foran go.
Not under any circumstances.
The man they reverently call ‘Arko’ was a one-club player (1950-1952) and coach (1957-1961), and a top administrator for over two decades, eating, sleeping, and drinking Manly.
Arko shared his all-round talents and communication skills with everyone who pulled on a Sea Eagles jersey. He signed players on to stay, not to leave.
Current Manly supremo Scott Penn is no Arko, not by a long shot.
Glenn Stewart’s departure was the first act of stupidity. Not only did Penn oversee the punting of a high-quality forward who has played at the highest level, but he severed the strong family bond between Glenn and his equally-talented little brother, fullback Brett.
South Sydney now have Glenn, who has shown in just two NRL games what a gem he is.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, Penn was instrumental in packing teak-tough Watmough off to Parramatta, where the Eels have welcomed his proven talent with open arms.
Ah, but there was a reason behind getting rid of Stewart and Watmough – to loosen the purse-strings so Manly could retain crack halves Cherry-Evans and Foran. That’s turned out to be just as stupid as the first two, with Cherry-Evans off to the Titans, and Foran to join Watmough at Parramatta – both movements at the end of this season.
Human nature being what it is, and no matter how professional Cherry-Evans and Foran are, or will be, there’s a pall hanging over the club, still one of the most successful in the NRL.
And they will be again this season, despite the quadruple decimation.
Not possible? Oh yes it is, because of the Manly culture that was born on Ken Arthurson’s watch. Arko and his wife Barbara live on the Gold Coast, but the Arko culture is alive and well.
And the reason for that is current coach Geoff Toovey, who played well above his weight for as a halfback for Manly, NSW, and the Kangaroos.
After a disastrous start to the season – humiliated 42-12 by Parramatta, with Watmough having a big game, and the Eels scoring seven tries to two – the doomsayers were out in force.
Then Toovey stepped up to the plate in the second round with a 24-22 win over the mighty hard-to-beat Storm at Brookvale. The Brookvale faithful must have known – they turned up in droves, and will again on Friday night when Manly takes on the Bulldogs. The Dogs of course are coached by Des Hasler – another whom Penn let go, immediately after coaching Manly to the 2011 premiership.
Seeing Toovey hasn’t been consulted over losing four top players, all he has to do is ignore mahogany row, and concentrate on what he does best – winning rugby league games for Manly.
He’s the modern day Ken Arthurson, although I venture to say there’s none and Buckley’s of Geoff Toovey ever being on mahogany row.
Bearfax
Guest
Err Haz. Yes Packer money was used to outbid Manly for Fulton in his final years to go to Easts, though that same Packer money helped Manly in the early 80's when Fulton was Manly coach. Arthurson got both Fulton and Vautin originally but Arthurson's tenure as Manly Gen Secretary ended in 1984 when he took on the role of Chairman for the Australian Rugby League and relinquished his role at Manly. Doug Daley was CEO at Manly in 1988-9 when Vautin moved to Easts
Haz
Guest
Plain and simple, that's not true. I love Arko, but don't forget: he let Fatty and Bob Fulton go to Easts for the last year or two of their careers. As a player, Hasler wasn't re-signed and went to Wests for his last season.
Bob
Guest
What's Mahogany row
Andy
Guest
although I like what this pelican is writing, in short, he is talking rubbish. How does a crowd of 10,000 at Brookie against the Storm last weekend equate to the faithful turning up in droves?.....Manly are victims of our own success, modern day player retention cannot seriously be compared with the Arko days, to even go down that path of discussion is ludicrous. We now have a chance to re-build our forward pack, which is where every Premiership of the last has been won for us. Onward and upward Manly, this is not a road block, simply a hurdle.
Kaks
Roar Guru
If you have played professionally in any sport you would understand that not all past players were cut out to coach no matter how good they are. Some of the best coaches i had never played the sport professionally, they just had a tactical mind, were exceptional communicators and knew how to motivate and instill confidence in you. A prime example that i can think of is Jose Mouinho and Alex Ferguson in football, they played a handful of professional games and yet turned out to be two of the greatest managers the game of football had ever seen. RIcky Stuart was a champion halfback yet is proving to be a terrible coach. Daniel Anderson (ex parramatta coach) never played, and yet he had a 75% win record at St Helens in the super league. Brian Smith had only played a handful of professional games and is regarded as one of the best NRL coaches.
dan
Guest
Re taking to another level, I believe forans issue may be support infrastructure at manly not so much tooves. I think there was concern around strength and conditioning and rehab given amount of games he missed last year. Manly have a top culture and heart but seem to be lagging as evidenced in last years fade out and injury toll. Just a look at g stewart this year shows the difference in quality of manlys programme to the top teams
Jimmy
Guest
Matai is my favourite Manly player . He has just the right amount of grubbiness, as well as being very very good.
Tom
Guest
I hope we go after Todd. If we could somehow coax Choc back, along with Matai, Willie Mason et al, we would have one of the grubbiest teams in the NRL! If we can't get Choc back, rumour has it that Bird is getting shopped around by the Titans, he'd be a great addition to any grub XVII. Hell, even if Choc is back, get Bird anyway.
Tony
Guest
Interesting days indeed. Better than the days that we paid $400k for Craig Field, I'd wager.
Tony
Guest
Cheers for the fact checking Bearfax. In relation to my post however I still stand by the vibe of the thing :)
Jimmy
Guest
All clubs have to make decisions about who they keep and who they let go. Have Manly handled it well? Probably not. You would think they should have resigned themselves to losing one of the halves and put it all into trying to keep the other. But who knows, they may not think $1000000 a year is a fair price for either of them. I tend to agree although DCE is very good. The only half at the moment worth that is Thurston and he may be on the way down. It is a huge amount out of your cap. I can understand the Titans paying up but Parra have a lot of good kids and the Foran deal means some of them will eventually have to go. ( yes I know Hayne has freed up a lot of the cap but the good kids will want more as they mature and I think Hoppa is a genuine star. Maybe Manly are the smart ones . Itnteresting days.
NSWelshman
Guest
So Toovey, Cliff Lyons & Andrew Johns are not good enough to improve either of these guys games.........you're kidding right?. Brad Arthur & Neil Henry are a better halves coach than either of these 3 lolol..yeah good one! What a poor excuse...........they've both gone for the money. End of story.
Renegade
Roar Guru
Planko, I think his struggling due to the expectations placed on him.... similar to Hayne after 2009- took him a while to get back to that level. I hope you are right and he does start turning it on - the backs really need to capatilize on the platform the forwards are setting up for them.
Ripper
Guest
Have to agree, think brad arthur can tell players how to be a better half than Joey....doubtful. Plenty of attraction to come to manly though.
Jake
Guest
Agree Adrian. Of course it's a move for cash. Only the gullible would believe otherwise. "Wanting to take their game to a new level" - what load of rubbish - the only "new levels ' for them will be the ones they descend to while at parramatta and the gold coast. It's not the fact that these guys want more money, it's the pathetic excuses and the expectation that people will actually believe these "reasons" are what rub people up the wrong way. Who can blame Manly fans for being fed-up cherry-evans? He publicly held Manly over a barrel til he got what he wanted. Stewart and Watmough were both moved on this money grabber to stay and in the end, he walks away anyway.
Kaks
Roar Guru
Mike - Being a good player does not necessarily mean you are a good coach
planko
Guest
Renegade what have you thought of Barba's form I think he has been going ok .. He needs some time.
planko
Guest
Well done sir.... Boot Penn I would like to see someone try that ... He owns the club ... That is right 90% of it's FPO's. He owns the club house that this club operates it's licenced premises till 2019. You my friend are a deadest comedian.
Adrian
Guest
Can I ask a question that no one in the media has addressed Is Andrew Johns still coaching and mentoring the halves at Manly?? If so do they both feel that having two former intl half-backs coaching them now no longer develops their games. I think it smells like a move for cash not becoming better players to me
Bearfax
Guest
Actually Arthurson was Manly's club secretary until the mid 1980s though he had influence until the beginning of the 90s. Yes he lost Fulton to Easts in 1977, but Fulton was well past his prime and aged almost 30. Arthusron was not running Manly when they lost Hasler (aged 36 at the time) to Wests. and Vautin (then aged 31) to Easts. The issue is losing players in the prime or approaching the prime of their careers. Hopoate, Cherry-Evans, Foran, Lussick, Warea-Hardgreaves, Whare, Hodkinson etc just in the last few years. Hasler, half the recruitment team. Certainly the cap has a lot to do with it, but Manly have been losing some of their best 'young' players in recent times, something that in the past would never happen.