Manly Warringah Sea Eagles won its sixth premiership 26 years ago today.
September 29, 2022, marks 26 years since the Sea Eagles beat the St George Dragons 20-8 in the 1996 Grand Final at the Sydney Football Stadium.
Under captain Geoff Toovey and Coach Bob Fulton, the Sea Eagles won three finals matches to claim the premiership, beating Sydney City Roosters 16-14 (qualifying final), Cronulla 24-0 (preliminary final) and then the Dragons in the Grand Final.
The Sea Eagles previously won first grade premierships in 1972, 1973, 1976, 1978 and 1987.
It was Bob Fulton's second premiership as a coach after winning three premierships with Manly as a player.
Manly Warringah Sea Eagles
1 Matthew Ridge 2 Danny Moore 3 Craig Innes 4 Terry Hill 5 John Hopoate 13 Nik Kosef 7 Geoff Toovey (c) 17 David Gillespie 9 Jim Serdaris 10 Mark Carroll 11 Steve Menzies 12 Daniel Gartner 8 Owen Cunningham, Bench: 6 Cliff Lyons 14 Neil Tierney 16 Des Hasler 19 Craig Hancock, Coach Bob Fulton.
St George Dragons
1 Dean Raper 2 Nick Zisti 3 Mark Coyne (c) 5 Adrian Brunker 4 Mark Bell 6 Anthony Mundine 7 Noel Goldthorpe 8 Troy Stone 9 Jeff Hardy 10 Luke Felsch 19 Kevin Campion 12 Scott Gourley 13 Wayne Bartrim, Bench: 11 David Barnhill 14 Lance Thompson 15 Colin Ward 16 Nathan Brown, Coach David Waite
Match Details
Sea Eagles 20 (Innes, Menzies, Moore tries; Ridge 3/3, Innes 1/1 goals) d Dragons 8 (Zisti try; Bartrim 2/2) goals). Half-time: Manly 14-2. Sydney Cricket Ground, Sunday, September 29, 1996, Referee David Manson; Crowd: 40, 985.
1996 Manly season summary
Coach: Bob Fulton
Captains: Geoff Toovey (23), Matthew Ridge (2)
Biggest home crowd: 21,217 vs North Sydney, Rd 12
Average home crowd: 12,519
Top pointscorer: Matthew Ridge (165)
Top tryscorer: Steve Menzies (24)
Longest winning streak: 9 (Rd 4-12)
Biggest win: 44-0 vs Parramatta, Brookvale Oval, Rd 15
