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Opinion
The Parramatta Eels and the Manly Sea Eagles both entered the NSWRL in 1947 and have been traditional rivals ever since.
Clubs that have been around as long as these two have not only seen a lot of players come and go, but also a lot of coaches, many of them great players in their own right. So how would a showdown pan out between the best players to have coached these clubs?
The only selection criteria are that those selected must have coached the club for at least ten games, and if they coached both clubs, the club they coached for the most games takes precedence.
Here are the teams (references to premierships won are for NSWRL, ARL and NRL competitions).
1. Ken Thornett (Coached 37 games) – Played 12 tests and 2 games for NSW.
2. Cec Fifield (Coached 18 games) – Played 4 tests and 10 games for NSW.
3. Mick Cronin (Coached 88 games) – Won 4 premierships, played 35 tests and 25 games for NSW.
4. Michael Hagan (Coached 51 games) – Won 2 premierships and played 5 games for QLD.
5. Ron Boden (Coached 18 games) – Played 3 tests and 7 interstate matches.
6. Vic Hey (Coached 108 games) – Won 1 premiership, played 9 tests and 22 interstate matches.
7. Ricky Stuart (Coached 24 games) – Won 3 premierships, played 9 tests and 14 games for NSW.
8. Ron Hilditch (Coached 65 games) – Won 1 premiership, played 3 tests and 4 games for NSW.
9. Ian Walsh (Coached 45 games) – Won 4 premierships, played 27 tests and 19 games for NSW.
10. Brian Hambly (Coached 22 games) – Played 23 tests and 9 games for NSW.
11. Norm Provan (C) (Coached 27 games) – Won 10 premierships, played 18 tests and 23 games for NSW.
12. Stephen Kearney (Coached 42 games) – Won 1 premiership and played 45 tests.
13. Ron Lynch (Coached 22 games) – Played 12 tests and 17 games for NSW.
That’s quite a line up with a top class spine, some excellent outside backs, a great goal kicker in Cronin and a formidable pack of forwards who wouldn’t take any prisoners.
(Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Images)
The big game experience in the forwards of Hambly, Walsh, Provan and Kearney would be telling. Between them, the Parramatta squad have won 25 premierships, played 200 tests and 157 interstate matches.
1. Ron Willey (Coached 150 games) – Played 3 games for NSW and 2 games for QLD.
2. Russ Pepperell (Coached 36 games) – Played 4 tests for England.
3. Pat Devery (Coached 37 games) – Won 3 premierships, played 3 tests and 8 games for NSW.
4. Bob Fulton (C) (Coached 305 games) – Won 3 premierships, played 37 tests and 17 games for NSW. Rugby league immortal.
5. Ray Ritchie (Coached 53 games) – Played 1 tests and 2 games for NSW.
6. Trent Barrett (Coached 73 games) – Played 15 tests and 11 games for NSW.
7. Frank Stanton (Coached 123 games) – Played 2 games for NSW.
8. Roy Bull (Coached 18 games) – Played 25 tests and 28 games for NSW.
9. Geoff Toovey (Coached 106 games) – Won 1 premiership, played 12 tests and 15 games for NSW.
10. Ray Stehr (Coached 31 games) – Won 4 premierships, played 11 tests and 41 games for NSW.
11. Allan Thomson (Coached 22 games) – Won 1 premiership, played 3 tests and 9 games for NSW.
12. George Hunter (Coached 48 games) – Played 1 game for NSW.
13. Des Hasler (Coached 305 games) – Won 2 premierships, played 12 tests and 12 games for NSW.
The Manly squad are somewhat down on big game experience compared to their Parramatta rivals with just 14 premierships, 123 tests and 151 state games between them.
Trent Barrett (Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)
The spine is solid, without being outstanding, but they do have a wild card in Bob Fulton. The Manly forwards will rely heavily on their two great front rowers in Roy Bull and Ray Stehr to match it with the Parramatta pack.
The Parramatta team look to have the better spine and a slight edge in both the outside backs, Bob Fulton excepted, and the forwards. For me, it’s Parramatta to win by 8 points.
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