Manly Warringah Sea Eagles won its fifth first grade premiership 35 years ago today.
Today - September 27 - marks 35 years to the day since the Sea Eagles won the 1987 premiership under Coach Bob Fulton.
Captained by Paul Vautin, the Sea Eagles beat Canberra Raiders 18 - 8 in the last rugby league grand final played at the historic Sydney Cricket Ground.
Manly dominated the 1987 season to finish minor premiers with the Sea Eagles recording a 12 game winning streak from rounds 9 to 21.
The Sea Eagles then beat Eastern Suburbs Roosters 10-6 in the major semi-final before overcoming the Raiders to win title number five after tasting success in 1972, 1973, 1976, and 1978.
Since 1987, Manly have won first grade premierships in 1996, 2008, and 2011 to make it eight major titles.
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Manly Sea Eagles
1 Dale Shearer 2 David Ronson 3 Darrell Williams 4 Michael O’Connor 5 Stuart Davis 6 Cliff Lyons 7 Des Hasler 8 Paul Vautin (Captain) 9 Noel Cleal, 10 Ron Gibbs, 11 Kevin Ward, 12 Mal Cochrane 13 Phil Daley, replacements: 20 Paul Shaw, 24 Mark Pocock. Coach: Bob Fulton
Canberra Raiders
1 Gary Belcher 2 Chris Kinna 3 Peter Jackson 4 Mal Meninga 5 Matthew Corkery 6 Chris O’Sullivan 7 Ivan Henjak 8 Dean Lance (Captain), 9 Ashley Gilbert 10 Gary Coyne 11 Sam Backo, 12 Steve Walters 13 Brent Todd, 14 Kevin Walters, 15 Terry Regan. Coach: Wayne Bennett, Don Furner.
Match Details
Manly Sea Eagles 18 (Tries: Lyons, O'Connor. Goals: O'Connor 5/5) d Canberra Raiders 8 (Tries: O'Sullivan. Goals: Meninga 1/1, Belcher 1/1). Clive Churchill Medal Winner: Cliff Lyons. Referee: Mick Stone. Crowd: 50,201
1987 Manly season summary
Coach: Bob Fulton
Captains: Paul Vautin (23), Mal Cochrane (2), Ron Gibbs (1), Noel Cleal (1)
Biggest home crowd: 25,448 vs Balmain, Rd 13
Average home crowd: 13,155
Top points scorer: Mal Cochrane (138)
Top tryscorer: Dale Shearer (13)
