Sea Eagles: On This Day - March 24

Author: Wayne Cousins
Timestamp: Tue 24 Mar 2020, 03:50 PM

Let’s take a look at what happened 'On This Day' - March 24 as part of the ‘On This Day’ series.

Rd 2, 1985

Hard running centre Chris Close scored three tries in Manly’s 30-10 win over Western Suburbs at Lidcombe Oval in round two of the 1985 competition.

‘Choppy’ was unstoppable that day against a Magpies side that trailed the Sea Eagles 12-2 at half-time.

Winger Kerry Boustead and prop Richie Poulsen also scored for the Sea Eagles while five-eighth Tony Melrose on song with the boot, kicking five from six goals.

The match also marked the club debut of centre Darren Rodgers for the Sea Eagles after playing two seasons at North Sydney. It was one of nine games Rodgers played for Manly in 1985.

The Sea Eagles finished the regular season in sixth place before being knocked out in the playoffs with a 10-7 loss to Penrith.

Rd 2, 1991

Half-back Des Hasler gave the Sea Eagles faithful plenty to cheer about at home with a two-try effort in the 26-8 win over the Gold Coast Seagulls.

Centre Grant Doorey and winger Tony Iro also scored four pointers.

It was a fine day too for the Sea Eagles goal-kickers with full-back Matthew Ridge kicking three from three and centre David Ronson two from two.

Rd 3, 1995

A crowd of more than 20,000 crammed into North Sydney Oval for another much anticipated ‘local derby’ between the Sea Eagles and the Bears.

Both team went into the game undefeated after easily winning their opening two rounds. The Bears had piled on 94 points and conceded 20 from their first two wins with Manly racking up 70 points in attack and just 26 points against.

However, this Friday night match was all one way traffic with the Sea Eagles piling on five tries in an impressive 30-0 thumping of the Bears. The score was 18-0 at half-time.

Des Hasler, John Hopoate, Cliff Lyons, Steve Menzies and Geoff Toovey crossed for the Sea Eagles while sharp-shooting goal-kicking Matthew Ridge was on target, kicking five goals from as many attempts.

Manly repeated the dose in round 12 with a crushing 36-6 win at home to the delight of happy Sea Eagles fans.

Rd 1, 1996

Manly ground announcer, the late Grant Goldman, certainly had a field day with his famous ‘Beaver’ chant after the great Steve Menzies scored four tries in the 44-6 thrashing of South Sydney Rabbitohs.

A home crowd of just over 6,000 saw the magical display by Menzies on a day that centre Craig Innes bagged a double and a try each to Jack Elsegood and Shannon Nevin.

Elsegood showed his talent with the boot, kicking four from five goals with Nevin landing two goals from three attempts after coming off the bench.