The 1978 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles season was the 32nd in the club's history since their entry into the then New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership in 1947.
1978 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles season | ||||
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NSWRFL champions | ||||
NSWRFL Rank | 3rd | |||
1976 record | Wins: 18; draws: 2; losses: 8 | |||
Points scored | For: 510; against: 346 | |||
Team information | ||||
Secretary | ![]() | |||
Coach | ![]() | |||
Captains |
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Stadium | Brookvale Oval | |||
Top scorers | ||||
Tries | ![]() | |||
Goals | ![]() | |||
Points | ![]() | |||
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The 1978 Sea Eagles were coached by 1963–64 Kangaroo tourist Frank Stanton. Captaining the side was long serving hooker Max Krilich. The club competed in the New South Wales Rugby Football League's 1978 Premiership season and played its home games at the 27,000 capacity Brookvale Oval.[1]
Ladder
editTeam | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Western Suburbs | 22 | 16 | 1 | 5 | 426 | 288 | +138 | 33 |
2 | Cronulla-Sutherland | 22 | 15 | 0 | 7 | 418 | 261 | +157 | 30 |
3 | Manly-Warringah | 22 | 15 | 0 | 7 | 427 | 287 | +140 | 30 |
4 | Parramatta | 22 | 14 | 0 | 8 | 525 | 306 | +219 | 28 |
5 | Canterbury-Bankstown | 22 | 13 | 2 | 7 | 307 | 273 | +34 | 28 |
6 | Eastern Suburbs | 22 | 13 | 0 | 9 | 377 | 280 | +57 | 26 |
7 | South Sydney | 22 | 12 | 1 | 9 | 298 | 300 | -2 | 25 |
8 | St. George | 22 | 10 | 1 | 11 | 367 | 354 | +13 | 21 |
9 | Balmain | 22 | 9 | 1 | 12 | 337 | 344 | -7 | 19 |
10 | Penrith | 22 | 4 | 2 | 16 | 206 | 463 | -257 | 10 |
11 | North Sydney | 22 | 4 | 1 | 17 | 325 | 439 | -114 | 9 |
12 | Newtown Jets | 22 | 2 | 1 | 19 | 199 | 577 | -378 | 5 |
Regular season
editSunday 26 March | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | 19 – 5 | St. George Dragons | Brookvale Oval, Sydney | |
Tries: Johnny Gibbs, Max Krilich, Tom Mooney Goals: Graham Eadie (5/9) |
[2] |
Tries: Steve Butler Goals: Ted Goodwin (1) |
Attendance: 23,168 Referee: Gary Cook |
Saturday 1 April | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | 17 – 10 | Penrith Panthers | Brookvale Oval, Sydney | |
Tries: Russel Gartner, Johnny Gibbs, Stephen Knight Goals: Graham Eadie (4/5) |
[3] |
Tries: Paul Merlo Goals: Ken Wilson (2/3) |
Attendance: 4,084 Referee: Jack Danzey |
Sunday 9 April | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | 44 – 17 | Newtown Bluebags | Brookvale Oval, Sydney | |
Tries: Russel Gartner (2), Alan Thompson (2), Ray Branighan, Johnny Gibbs, John Gray, Ray Higgs, Terry Randall, Bruce Walker Goals: Graham Eadie (7) |
[4] |
Tries: John Ribot, Steve Bowden Goals: Phil Sigsworth (3) John Ribot (1) |
Attendance: 8,085 Referee: Don Macdonald |
Sunday 16 April | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 16 – 13 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | Belmore Sports Ground, Sydney | |
Tries: Pat English, Steve Gearin Goals: Steve Gearin (5/5) |
[5] |
Tries: Johnny Gibbs, John Gray, Stephen Knight Goals: Graham Eadie (2) |
Attendance: 13,373 Referee: Jack Danzey |
Sunday 23 April | Parramatta Eels | 15 – 27 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney | |
Tries: Neville Glover, Phil Mann, Graham Murray Goals: Michael Cronin (3/5) |
[6] |
Tries: Simon Booth, Graham Eadie, Tom Mooney, Ian Thomson, Bruce Walker Goals: Graham Eadie (5/7) John Gray (1) |
Attendance: 44,507 Referee: Denis Braybrook |
Sunday 30 April | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | 29 – 13 | Balmain Tigers | Brookvale Oval, Sydney | |
Tries: Johnny Gibbs, Stephen Knight, Tom Mooney, Alan Thompson, Bruce Walker Goals: John Gray (7) |
[7] |
Tries: , Rex Murphy Goals: (1/3) Mark Tonks (1/1) |
Attendance: 17,225 Referee: Gary Cook |
Sunday 7 May | Western Suburbs Magpies | 13 – 7 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | Lidcombe Oval, Sydney | |
Tries: Bruce Gibbs Goals: John Dorahy (5) |
[8] |
Tries: Stephen Knight, Ian Thomson Goals: Graham Eadie (2) |
Attendance: 10,931 Referee: Denis Braybrook |
Sunday 14 May | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | 5 – 30 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Brookvale Oval, Sydney | |
Tries: Ray Branighan Goals: Graham Eadie (1/4) |
[9] |
Tries: Trevor Barnes, John Berne, Terry Fahey, Eric Ferguson, Bob McMillan, John Peek Goals: Eric Ferguson (6) |
Attendance: 11,103 Referee: Don Macdonald |
Sunday 21 May | North Sydney Bears | 10 – 11 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | North Sydney Oval, Sydney | |
Tries: Don McKinnon, Tony Quirk Goals: Peter Schofield (2/5) |
[10] |
Tries: Tony Ashworth Goals: John Gray (4) |
Attendance: 6,823 Referee: Kevin Roberts |
Sunday 28 May | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 8 – 27 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | Endeavour Field, Sydney | |
Tries: Dave Chamberlin, Gary Stares Goals: Barry Andrews (1) |
[11] |
Tries: Simon Booth, Terry Randall, Ian Thomson Goals: John Gray (6) |
Attendance: 14,665 Referee: Gary Cook |
Sunday 4 June | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | 15 – 12 | Eastern Suburbs Roosters | Brookvale Oval, Sydney | |
Tries: Russel Gartner, Ian Thomson Goals: John Gray (4) Field Goals: Steve Martin (1) |
[12] |
Tries: Royce Ayliffe, Bob Fulton Goals: Ken Stevens (3) |
Attendance: 19,657 Referee: Gary Cook |
Sunday 11 June | St. George Dragons | 22 – 13 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | Kogarah Oval, Sydney | |
Tries: Mitch Brennan, Steve Butler, Ted Goodwin, John Jansen Goals: Ted Goodwin (5) |
[13] |
Tries: Graham Eadie, Johnny Gibbs, John Gray Goals: Graham Eadie (1) John Gray (1) |
Attendance: 16,800 Referee: Jack Danzey |
Saturday 17 June | Penrith Panthers | 9 – 32 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | Penrith Park, Sydney | |
Tries: Greg Moore Goals: Phil Gould (3) |
[14] |
Tries: Tom Mooney (2), Graham Eadie, Stephen Knight, Max Krilich, Steve Martin Goals: John Gray (6) Graham Eadie (1) |
Attendance: 6,916 Referee: Kevin Roberts |
Sunday 25 June | Newtown Bluebags | 17 – 10 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | Henson Park, Sydney | |
Tries: Mick Kermode, Phil Sigsworth Goals: Mick Kermode (2) |
[15] |
Tries: Ray Branighan, Lindsay Drake, Tom Mooney Goals: John Gray (4) |
Attendance: John Gocher Referee: 3,167 |
Sunday 2 July | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | 9 – 12 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | Brookvale Oval, Sydney | |
Tries: Tom Mooney Goals: John Gray (3) |
[16] |
Tries: Mark Hughes, Bill Noonan Goals: Steve Gearin (3) |
Attendance: 7,818 Referee: Don Macdonald |
Sunday 9 July | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | 19 – 20 | Parramatta Eels | Brookvale Oval, Sydney | |
Tries: Russel Gartner, Johnny Gibbs, Ian Thomson Goals: Graham Eadie (5) |
[17] |
Tries: Ray Price (2), Michael Cronin, Neville Glover Goals: Michael Cronin (4) |
Attendance: 20,030 Referee: Gary Cook |
Sunday 11 July | Balmain Tigers | 19 – 7 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | Leichhardt Oval, Sydney | |
Tries: Larry Corowa, Noel Maybury Goals: Allan McMahon (6) Field Goals: Les Mara (1) |
[18] |
Tries: Chris Montgomery Goals: John Gray (2) |
Attendance: 7,869 Referee: Kevin Roberts |
Sunday 23 July | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | 16 – 10 | Western Suburbs Magpies | Brookvale Oval, Sydney | |
Tries: Steve Martin, Wayne Springall Goals: Graham Eadie (3) John Gray (2) |
[19] |
Tries: Eric Cain, Ron Giteau Goals: Peter Rowles (2) |
Attendance: 14,171 Referee: Greg Hartley |
Saturday 30 July | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 10 – 14 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | Redfern Oval, Sydney | |
Tries: Kenneth Stewart, Peter Tunks Goals: Eric Ferguson (2) |
[20] |
Tries: Ian Martin, Steve Martin Goals: John Gray (4) |
Attendance: 17,148 Referee: Greg Hartley |
Sunday 6 August | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | 40 – 12 | North Sydney Bears | Brookvale Oval, Sydney | |
Tries: Steve Martin (3), Tom Mooney (2), Bruce Walker (2), Simon Booth, Johnny Gibbs, Max Krilich Goals: John Gray (5) |
[21] |
Tries: John Adam, Glen Boatswain Goals: Peter Schofield (3) |
Attendance: 11,058 Referee: Kevin Roberts |
Sunday 13 August | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | 26 – 4 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | Brookvale Oval, Sydney | |
Tries: Graham Eadie, Johnny Gibbs, Tom Mooney, Ian Thomson Goals: John Gray (7) |
[22] |
Tries: Goals: Barry Andrews (2) |
Attendance: 12,135 Referee: Jack Danzey |
Sunday 20 August | Eastern Suburbs Roosters | 11 – 30 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | Sydney Sports Ground, Sydney | |
Tries: Bill Mullins, Bob O'Reilly Goals: Kevin Stevens (2/4) |
[23] |
Tries: Simon Booth, Graham Eadie, John Gray, Stephen Knight Goals: John Gray (3) Field Goals: Graham Eadie (1) Johnny Gibbs (1) |
Attendance: 22,049 Referee: Greg Hartley |
Finals
editMajor Prelim Semi-Final
editSaturday 26 August | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 17 – 12 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney | |
Tries: Eric Archer, Mick Mullane, Steve Rogers Goals: Steve Rogers (4) |
[24] |
Tries: Simon Booth, Russel Gartner, Ian Martin Goals: Graham Eadie (1) Field Goals: Johnny Gibbs (1) |
Attendance: 17,718 Referee: Jack Danzey |
Minor Semi-Final
editSunday 3 September | Parramatta Eels | 13 – 13 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney | |
Tries: Michael Cronin, Geoff Gerard, Graham Murray Goals: Michael Cronin (2/5) |
[25] |
Tries: Simon Booth, Russel Gartner, Bruce Walker Goals: John Gray (2/2) |
Attendance: 30,850 Referee: Greg Hartley |
Minor Semi-Final Replay
editWednesday 6 September | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | 17 – 11 | Parramatta Eels | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney | |
Tries: Russel Gartner, John Harvey, Steve Martin Goals: Graham Eadie (4) |
[26] |
Tries: Geoff Gerard, Glenn West, Neville Glover Goals: Michael Cronin (1/3) |
Attendance: 42,678 Referee: Greg Hartley |
Preliminary Final
editSaturday 9 September | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | 14 – 7 | Western Suburbs Magpies | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney | |
Tries: Alan Thompson (2) Goals: Graham Eadie (4) |
[27] |
Tries: Ron Giteau Goals: Peter Rowles (2) |
Attendance: 27,345 Referee: Greg Hartley |
Grand Final
editSaturday 16 September
|
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | 11 – 11 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks |
---|---|---|
Tries: Tom Mooney Goals: Graham Eadie (4/6) |
[28] |
Tries: Steve Edmonds Goals: Steve Rogers (4/4) |
Manly-Warringah
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Cronulla-Sutherland
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In the Grand Final, Cronulla went to a 9-4 lead in the second half before Manly came back to hit the front 11-9. A Steve Rogers penalty squared it at 11-all but he then missed a desperate late field-goal attempt and at full-time the scores remained locked. For the second consecutive season the weary Grand Finalists were required to play a mid-week rematch three days later (the NSWRFL were forced to play the replay on the Tuesday and not the following weekend due to the upcoming 1978 Kangaroo tour, with the Australian team due to leave that weekend for their tour. The drawn GF also forced the Australian Rugby League to hold off on naming the touring squad until after the GF replay with as many as 12 players from Manly and Cronulla in contention to be selected).
Grand Final Replay
editTuesday 19 September
|
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | 16 – 0 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks |
---|---|---|
Tries: Russel Gartner (2) Graham Eadie Goals: Graham Eadie (3/8) Field Goals: Graham Eadie (1) |
[29] |
Tries: Goals: |
Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
Attendance: 33,552 Referee: Greg Hartley Player of the Match: Graham Eadie |
Manly-Warringah
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Cronulla-Sutherland
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The Tuesday rematch in front of 33,552 was Manly's sixth game in twenty-four days. It was the second Grand Final in a row to end up going into a mid-week replay with the 1977 Grand Final between St George and Parramatta also needing a re-match to decide the Premiers after the original game had been a 9-all draw.
In the first half Cronulla had no answer to Graham Eadie's blind-side bursts. His display completely routed the hapless Sharks and Manly went to the break holding a 15-0 lead thanks to a try by Eadie in the scoreboard corner, one he set up for centre Russel Gartner in the same corner, and another 65 metre effort by Gartner after a sweeping backline movement saw him run into open space and easily outpace the Sharks defence to score in front of the Sheridan Stand.
The only points in the second half came from a field goal by Eadie.
In the replay, as throughout their extraordinary finals campaign, Manly were inspired by the leadership of captain Max Krilich and coach Frank Stanton, their iron-man Terry Randall who had required numerous pain killing injections before every game of the finals just to be able take the field in what Frank Stanton called sheer mind over matter, their cool five eighth Alan Thompson and classy fullback and Man of the Match Graham Eadie.
As of the 2016 NRL Grand Final, no player since Eadie has scored the combination of a try, a goal and a field-goal in a Grand Final.
The refereeing of Greg "Hollywood" Hartley in the replay and throughout the 1978 Finals series attracted criticism from coaches Roy Masters (Western Suburbs), Jack Gibson (South Sydney) and Terry Fearnley (Parramatta), all of whom appealed to the NSWRFL to prohibit Hartley from refereeing their clubs' matches the following season.[30]
Player statistics
editNote: Games and (sub) show total games played, e.g. 1 (1) is 2 games played.
Player | Games (sub) | Tries | Goals | FG | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
David Adams | |||||
Tony Ashworth | |||||
Simon Booth | 8 | 24 | |||
Ray Branighan | 3 | 9 | |||
Greg Gross | |||||
Lindsay Drake | 1 | 3 | |||
Graham Eadie | 6 | 52 | 2 | 124 | |
Russel Gartner | 10 | 30 | |||
Johnny Gibbs | 9 | 2 | 29 | ||
John Gray | 4 | 61 | 134 | ||
John Harvey | 1 | 3 | |||
Mick Healey | |||||
Ray Higgs | 1 | 3 | |||
Stephen Knight | 5 | 15 | |||
Max Krilich (c) | 3 | 9 | |||
Ian Martin | 2 | 6 | |||
Steve Martin | 7 | 1 | 22 | ||
Chris Montgomery | 1 | 3 | |||
Tom Mooney | 11 | 33 | |||
Ed Planten | |||||
Terry Randall (vc) | 2 | 6 | |||
Wayne Springall | 1 | 3 | |||
Alan Thompson | 5 | 15 | |||
Ian Thomson | 6 | 18 | |||
Gary Thoroughgood | |||||
Bruce Walker | 6 | 18 | |||
TOTAL | 93 | 113 | 5 | 510 |
Representative Players
editInternational
edit- Australia – Graham Eadie, Johnny Gibbs, Max Krilich, Steve Martin, Alan Thompson, Ian Thomson, Bruce Walker, Frank Stanton (coach)
State
edit- New South Wales – Graham Eadie, Johnny Gibbs, Max Krilich, Steve Martin, Terry Randall, Ian Thomson, Frank Stanton (coach)
City vs Country
edit- City Firsts – Terry Randall, Ian Thomson, Frank Stanton (coach)
References
edit- ^ NSWRFL 1978 - Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
- ^ 1978 NSWRFL Rd.1 - Manly vs St George
- ^ 1978 NSWRFL Rd.2 - Manly vs Penrith
- ^ 1978 NSWRFL Rd.3 - Manly vs Newtown
- ^ 1978 NSWRFL Rd.4 - Canterbury-Bankstown vs Manly
- ^ 1978 NSWRFL Rd.5 - Parramatta vs Manly
- ^ 1978 NSWRFL Rd.6 - Manly vs Balmain
- ^ 1978 NSWRFL Rd.7 - Western Suburbs vs Manly
- ^ 1978 NSWRFL Rd.8 - Manly vs South Sydney
- ^ 1978 NSWRFL Rd.9 - North Sydney vs Manly
- ^ 1978 NSWRFL Rd.10 - Cronulla-Sutherland vs Manly
- ^ 1978 NSWRFL Rd.11 - Manly vs Eastern Suburbs
- ^ 1978 NSWRFL Rd.12 - St George vs Manly
- ^ 1978 NSWRFL Rd.13 - Penrith vs Manly
- ^ 1978 NSWRFL Rd.14 - Newtown vs Manly
- ^ 1978 NSWRFL Rd.15 - Manly vs Canterbury-Bankstown
- ^ 1978 NSWRFL Rd.16 - Manly vs Parramatta
- ^ 1978 NSWRFL Rd.17 - Balmain vs Manly
- ^ 1978 NSWRFL Rd.18 - Manly vs Western Suburbs
- ^ 1978 NSWRFL Rd.19 - South Sydney vs Manly
- ^ 1978 NSWRFL Rd.20 - Manly vs North Sydney
- ^ 1978 NSWRFL Rd.21 - South Sydney Rabbitohs vs Manly
- ^ 1978 NSWRFL Rd.22 - Eastern Suburbs vs Manly
- ^ 1976 NSWRFL Major Prelim Semi-final - Cronulla-Sutherland vs Manly
- ^ 1978 NSWRFL Minor Semi-final - Parramatta vs Manly
- ^ 1978 NSWRFL Minor Semi-final replay - Manly vs Parramatta
- ^ 1978 NSWRFL Preliminary final - Manly vs Western Suburbs
- ^ 1978 NSWRFL Grand Final - Manly-Warringah vs Cronulla-Sutherland
- ^ 1978 NSWRFL Grand Final replay - Manly-Warringah vs Cronulla-Sutherland
- ^ Coady, Ben (2009-09-28). "Grand final dramas". WA Today. Australia: Fairfax Digital. Archived from the original on 2018-10-04. Retrieved 2010-01-15.