1996 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles season

1996 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles season
1996 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles season
ARL champions
ARL Rank	1st
1996 record	Wins: 21; losses: 4
Points scored	For: 609; against: 213
Team information
Coach	Bob Fulton
Captains	Geoff Toovey; Matthew Ridge (vice-captain);
Stadium	Brookvale Oval
Top scorers
Tries	Steve Menzies (20)
Goals	Matthew Ridge (68)
Points	Matthew Ridge (165)

The 1996 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles season was the 50th in the club's history since their entry into the then New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership in 1947.

The 1996 Sea Eagles were coached by triple Manly premiership player and 1987 Premiership winning coach Bob Fulton. Captaining the side was local junior, halfback Geoff Toovey. The club competed in the Australian Rugby League's 1996 Premiership season and played its home games at the 27,000 capacity Brookvale Oval.^[1]

Ladder

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	22	18	0	4	549	191	+358	36
2	Brisbane Broncos	21	17	0	4	607	263	+344	34
3	North Sydney Bears	22	15	2	5	598	325	+273	32
4	Sydney City Roosters	22	15	1	6	521	321	+200	31
5	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	21	14	2	5	399	268	+131	30
6	Canberra Raiders	21	13	1	7	538	384	+154	27
7	St. George Dragons	21	12	1	8	443	360	+83	27
8	Western Suburbs Magpies	22	12	1	9	394	434	−40	25
9	Newcastle Knights	21	10	1	10	416	388	+28	23
10	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	21	11	0	10	375	378	−3	22
11	Auckland Warriors	21	10	0	11	412	427	−15	22
12	Sydney Tigers	22	11	0	11	319	459	−140	22
13	Parramatta Eels	21	9	1	11	404	415	−11	21
14	Illawarra Steelers	22	8	0	14	403	444	−41	16
15	Penrith Panthers	21	7	1	13	363	464	−101	15
16	Western Reds	21	6	1	14	313	420	−107	13
17	North Queensland Cowboys	21	6	0	15	288	643	−355	12
18	Gold Coast Chargers	22	5	1	16	359	521	−162	11
19	South Sydney Rabbitohs	22	5	1	16	314	634	−320	11
20	South Queensland Crushers	21	3	0	18	220	496	−276	8

Regular season

Sunday 24 March	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	44 – 6	South Sydney Rabbitohs	Brookvale Oval, Sydney
	Tries: Steve Menzies (4), Craig Innes, Jack Elsegood, Shannon Nevin Goals: Jack Elsegood (4/5) Shannon Nevin (2/3)	^[2]	Tries: Paul Mellor Goals: Craig Field (1/1)	Attendance: 6,532 Referee: David Manson

Sunday 31 March	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	36 – 22	Gold Coast Chargers	Brookvale Oval, Sydney
	Tries: Daniel Gartner (2), Owen Cunningham, Jack Elsegood, John Hopoate, Craig Innes, Steve Menzies Goals: Shannon Nevin (3/4) Jack Elsegood (1/3)	^[3]	Tries: Shane Kenward (2), Kris Currie, Gavin Whittaker Goals: Brendan Hurst (3/4)	Attendance: 5,895 Referee: Neil Almond

Sunday 7 April	North Sydney Bears	20 – 10	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	North Sydney Oval, Sydney
	Tries: Brett Dallas, Greg Florimo, Ben Ikin Goals: Jason Taylor (4/4)	^[4]	Tries: Steve Menzies, Danny Moore Goals: Shannon Nevin (1/1)	Attendance: 21,379 Referee: David Manson

Sunday 14 April	Gold Coast Chargers	6 – 10	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	Carrara Oval, Gold Coast
	Tries: Jamie Goddard Goals: Lee Oudenryn (1/1)	^[5]	Tries: Cliff Lyons, Steve Menzies Goals: Shannon Nevin (1/3)	Attendance: 10,643 Referee: Matt Hewitt

Friday 19 April	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	22 – 10	Auckland Warriors	Brookvale Oval, Sydney
	Tries: Jack Elsegood, Terry Hill, Craig Innes, Steve Menzies Goals: Des Hasler (1/2) Craig Innes (1/2) Shannon Nevin (1/1)	^[6]	Tries: Phil Blake, Gene Ngamu Goals: Gene Ngamu (1/2)	Attendance: 18,588 Referee: Kelvin Jeffes

Sunday 28 April	South Queensland Crushers	6 – 14	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	Suncorp-Metway Stadium, Brisbane
	Tries: Craig Weston Goals: Clinton Schifcofske (1/3)	^[7]	Tries: Steve Menzies, Shannon Nevin Goals: Shannon Nevin (3/3)	Attendance: 15,202 Referee: Neil Almond

Sunday 5 May	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	46 – 4	North Queensland Cowboys	Brookvale Oval, Sydney
	Tries: Danny Moore (3), John Hopoate (2), Mark Carroll, Jack Elsegood, Nik Kosef, Shannon Nevin Goals: Shannon Nevin (5/9)	^[8]	Tries: Steve Edmed Goals:	Attendance: 5,227 Referee: Tony Maksoud

Friday 10 May	St. George Dragons	2 – 6	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	Jubilee Oval, Sydney
	Tries: Goals: Wayne Bartrim (1/1)	^[9]	Tries: Terry Hill Goals: Shannon Nevin (1/2)	Attendance: 13,079 Referee: David Manson

Friday 24 May	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	24 – 4	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	Brookvale Oval, Sydney
	Tries: Des Hasler, John Hopoate, Craig Innes, Danny Moore Goals: Matthew Ridge (4/5)	^[10]	Tries: Craig Polla-Mounter Goals:	Attendance: 14,591 Referee: Kelvin Jeffes

Sunday 9 June	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	28 – 12	Canberra Raiders	Brookvale Oval, Sydney
	Tries: Daniel Gartner (2), Terry Hill, Cliff Lyons Goals: Matthew Ridge (6/6)	^[11]	Tries: David Furner, Noa Nadruku Goals: Jason Ferris (1/1) David Furner (1/1)	Attendance: 20,557 Referee: David Manson

Friday 14 June	Brisbane Broncos	4 – 18	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	ANZ Stadium, Brisbane
	Tries: Paul Hauff Goals:	^[12]	Tries: Danny Moore, John Hopoate Goals: Matthew Ridge (3/3)	Attendance: 19,837 Referee: Paul McBlane

Friday 21 June	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	29 – 6	North Sydney Bears	Brookvale Oval, Sydney
	Tries: Craig Innes (2), Terry Hill, Steve Menzies, Matthew Ridge Goals: Matthew Ridge (4/5) Field Goals: Matthew Ridge (1)	^[13]	Tries: Billy Moore Goals: Jason Taylor (1/1)	Attendance: 21,217 Referee: Kelvin Jeffes

Sunday 30 June	Western Reds	11 – 8	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	WACA Ground, Perth
	Tries: Barrie-Jon Mather Goals: Julian O'Neill (3/3) Field Goals: Julian O'Neill (1)	^[14]	Tries: Steve Menzies Goals: Matthew Ridge (2/2)	Attendance: 6,584 Referee: Mick Lewis

Sunday 7 July	Illawarra Steelers	8 – 16	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	Steelers Stadium, Wollongong
	Tries: Brett Rodwell, Rod Wishart Goals:	^[15]	Tries: Owen Cunningham, Jack Elsegood, Geoff Toovey Goals: Matthew Ridge (2/3)	Attendance: 9,638 Referee: Matt Hewitt

Sunday 14 July	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	44 – 0	Parramatta Eels	Brookvale Oval, Sydney
	Tries: Craig Innes (3), Nik Kosef, Cliff Lyons, Danny Moore, Matthew Ridge, Geoff Toovey Goals: Matthew Ridge (6/8)	^[16]	Tries: Goals:	Attendance: Graeme West Referee: 15,021

Monday 22 July	Sydney City Roosters	6 – 34	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
	Tries: Matt Sing Goals: Ivan Cleary (1/1)	^[17]	Tries: Mark Carroll, Daniel Gartner, Terry Hill, Danny Moore, Matthew Ridge Goals: Matthew Ridge (7/7)	Attendance: 37,981 Referee: David Manson

Saturday 27 July	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	28 – 12	Newcastle Knights	Brookvale Oval, Sydney
	Tries: Jack Elsegood, Terry Hill, Steve Menzies, Geoff Toovey Goals: Matthew Ridge (6/6)	^[18]	Tries: Matthew Johns (2) Goals: Andrew Johns (2/2)	Attendance: 7,228 Referee: Paul McBlane

Monday 5 August	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	12 – 10	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	Shark Park, Sydney
	Tries: Adam Dykes, David Peachey Goals: Mat Rogers (2/3)	^[19]	Tries: Mark Carroll, Matthew Ridge Goals: Matthew Ridge (1/3)	Attendance: 18,270 Referee: David Manson

Sunday 12 July	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	18 – 0	Sydney Tigers	Brookvale Oval, Sydney
	Tries: Terry Hill, Steve Menzies, Matthew Ridge Goals: Matthew Ridge (3/4)	^[20]	Tries: Goals:	Attendance: 8,270 Referee: Kelvin Jeffes

Sunday 18 August	Penrith Panthers	18 – 14	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	Penrith Football Stadium, Sydney
	Tries: Ned Catic, Craig Gower Goals: Ryan Girdler (5/5)	^[21]	Tries: Solomon Haumono, Craig Innes, Nik Kosef Goals: Matthew Ridge (1/4)	Attendance: 7,426 Referee: Rob Alexander

Sunday 25 August	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	42 – 12	Western Suburbs Magpies	Brookvale Oval, Sydney
	Tries: Matthew Ridge (2), John Hopoate, Steve Menzies, Danny Moore Goals: Matthew Ridge (11/11)	^[22]	Tries: Bill Dunn, Andrew Willis Goals: Andrew Leeds (2/2)	Attendance: 14,580 Referee: Kelvin Jeffes

Sunday 1 September	South Sydney Rabbitohs	10 – 48	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
	Tries: Greg Clarke (2) Goals: Shane Wilson (1/2)	^[23]	Tries: John Hopoate (4), Steve Menzies (2), Daniel Gartner, Des Hasler, Danny Moore Goals: Matthew Ridge (6/9)	Attendance: 4,317 Referee: Rob Alexander

Finals

Qualifying Final

Sunday 8 September	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	16 – 14	Sydney City Roosters	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
	Tries: John Hopoate, Craig Innes, Steve Menzies Goals: Matthew Ridge (2/4)	^[24]	Tries: Brad Fittler Goals: Ivan Cleary (5/5)	Attendance: 31,327 Referee: Paul McBlane

Preliminary Final

Sunday 22 September	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	24 – 0	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
	Tries: Steve Menzies (2), Cliff Lyons, Danny Moore Goals: Matthew Ridge (1/2) Craig Innes (3/3)	^[25]	Tries: Goals:	Attendance: 40,525 Referee: David Manson

Grand Final

Sunday 29 September

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	20 – 8	St. George Dragons
Tries: Craig Innes Danny Moore Goals: Matthew Ridge (3/3) Craig Innes (1/1)	^[26]	Tries: Nick Zisti Goals: Wayne Bartrim (2/2)

Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
Attendance: 40,985
Referee: David Manson
Player of the Match: Geoff Toovey

Manly-Warringah

St George


FB	1	Matthew Ridge
RW	2	Danny Moore
LC	3	Craig Innes
RC	4	Terry Hill
LW	5	John Hopoate
FE	13	Nik Kosef
HB	7	Geoff Toovey (c)
PR	17	David Gillespie
HK	9	Jim Serdaris
PR	10	Mark Carroll
SR	11	Steve Menzies
SR	12	Daniel Gartner
LK	8	Owen Cunningham
Substitutions:
IC	6	Cliff Lyons
IC	14	Neil Tierney
IC	16	Des Hasler
IC	19	Craig Hancock
Coach:
Bob Fulton


FB	1	Dean Raper
RW	2	Nick Zisti
RC	3	Mark Coyne (c)
LC	4	Mark Bell
LW	5	Adrian Brunker
FE	6	Anthony Mundine
HB	7	Noel Goldthorpe
PR	8	Troy Stone
HK	9	Jeff Hardy
PR	10	Luke Felsch
SR	11	Scott Gourley
SR	12	Kevin Campion
LK	13	Wayne Bartrim
Substitutions:
IC	14	Nathan Brown
IC	15	Lance Thompson
IC	16	David Barnhill
IC	17	Colin Ward
Coach:
David Waite

1st half
In the 5th minute, Manly centre Craig Innes won the chase and scored after a grubber kick by his skipper Geoff Toovey.^[27] Matthew Ridge converted from the sideline for 6–0. The Dragons played on after being awarded a penalty in front of the posts in the 8th minute but failed to score. At the 15-minute mark Saints' halfback Noel Goldthorpe conceded a penalty right in front of their goalpost after committing a head high tackle on Manly's Daniel Gartner. Ridge took the kick, extending the lead to 8–0. St. George sent in forward replacements Lance Thompson and David Barnhill for Scott Gourley and Kevin Campion (head cut). For Manly, Tierney came off the interchange bench to replace Gillespie. Up until the 19th minute mark when Manly veteran five-eighth Cliff Lyons took the field, their coach Bob Fulton was using six running forwards with Toovey as dummy half.

After turning down a relatively easy penalty goal chance not long after Manly's opening try, the Dragons' first points came in the 37th minute when Wayne Bartrim kicked a penalty awarded when Manly forward Cunningham stripped the ball. From the ensuing kick-off just before half-time came the game's controversial moment and a hotly disputed try. Ridge made a spectacular short kick-off and regathered, catching the Dragons unaware. St George hooker Nathan Brown appeared to tackle Ridge albeit one-handedly and by the collar. Ridge got up and ran when Brown was expecting him to stop and play the ball. Referee David Manson ruled that Brown did not complete the tackle. Ridge was eventually tackled just a few metres from the line. From dummy-half Nik Kosef then passed the ball to Steve Menzies who stormed his way through Saints' defense of Thompson, Raper, Goldthorpe and Bartrim to score next to the posts, giving Ridge an easy conversion kick. The controversial ruling by referee Manson gave Manly a 14–2 half time lead and broke Saints' resolve. In the process of scoring Menzies injured his groin/hamstring and although he returned for the second half, he was unable to run and was eventually replaced by coach Fulton.

2nd half
In the 53rd minute Manly's Danny Moore scored a try from a Terry Hill pass after Hill drew Saints defenders, Adrian Brunker and Nick Zisti. With Ridge off the field after being concussed in a tackle, Innes converted from 5m off the sideline for the Sea-Eagles to take a 20–2 lead. Five minutes later Dragons' winger Zisti scored a try from a Bartrim cut-out pass. Bartrim then converted from the sideline for a final scoreline of 20–8.^[28] The final twenty minutes were scoreless with two field goal attempts from Ridge charged down by Dragons' defenders.

Player statistics

Note: Games and (sub) show total games played, e.g. 1 (1) is 2 games played.

Player	Games (sub)	Tries	Goals	FG	Points
Mark Carroll	23	3			12
Owen Cunningham	24	2			8
Matt Dunford	(2)
Jack Elsegood	13 (4)	6	5		34
Scott Fulton	(5)
Daniel Gartner	19 (4)	6			24
David Gillespie	17 (8)
Mathew Guberina	2 (1)
Craig Hancock	(3)
Des Hasler	10 (12)	2	1/2		10
Solomon Haumono	1 (13)	1			4
Terry Hill	22	7			28
John Hopoate	18 (5)	11			44
Craig Innes	25	13	6/7		64
Martin-John Kelly	(1)
Nik Kosef	18 (6)	3			12
Cliff Lyons	20 (5)	4			16
Steve Menzies	24	20			80
Danny Moore	25	13			52
Shannon Nevin	5 (4)	3	17/26		46
Matthew Ridge (vc)	17	7	68/84	1	165
Jim Serdaris	18 (1)
Neil Tierney	1 (19)
Geoff Toovey (c)	23	3			12
TOTAL		104	96/148	1	609

Representative Players

References

^ ARL 1996 - Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
^ 1996 ARL Rd.1 - Manly vs South Sydney
^ 1996 ARL Rd.2 - Manly vs Gold Coast
^ 1996 ARL Rd.3 - North Sydney vs Manly
^ 1996 ARL Rd.4 - Gold Coast vs Manly
^ 1996 ARL Rd.5 - Manly vs Auckland
^ 1996 ARL Rd.6 - South Queensland vs Manly
^ 1996 ARL Rd.7 - Manly vs North Queensland
^ 1996 ARL Rd.8 - St George vs Manly
^ 1996 ARL Rd.9 - Manly vs Canterbury-Bankstown
^ 1996 ARL Rd.10 - Manly vs Canberra
^ 1996 ARL Rd.11 - Brisbane vs Manly
^ 1996 ARL Rd.12 - Manly vs North Sydney
^ 1996 ARL Rd.13 - Western Reds vs Manly
^ 1996 ARL Rd.14 - Illawarra vs Manly
^ 1996 ARL Rd.15 - Manly vs Parramatta
^ 1996 ARL Rd.16 - Manly vs Sydney City
^ 1996 ARL Rd.17 - Manly vs Newcastle
^ 1996 ARL Rd.18 - Cronulla-Sutherland vs Manly
^ 1996 ARL Rd.19 - Manly vs Sydney Tigers
^ 1996 ARL Rd.20 - Penrith vs Manly
^ 1996 ARL Rd.21 - Manly vs Western Suburbs
^ 1996 ARL Rd.22 - South Sydney vs Manly
^ 1996 ARL Qualifying Final - Manly-Warringah vs Sydney City
^ 1996 ARL Preliminary Final - Manly-Warringah vs Cronulla-Sutherland
^ 1996 ARL Grand Final - Manly-Warringah vs St. George
^ Jessup, Peter (30 June 2001). "Final line-break for Innes". nzherald.co.nz. APN Holdings NZ Limited. Retrieved 8 December 2009.
^ "NRL Finals in the 1990s". sportal.com.au. Archived from the original on 6 December 2012. Retrieved 30 June 2012.

External links

[1] ARL 1996 - Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles

[2] 1996 ARL Rd.1 - Manly vs South Sydney

[3] 1996 ARL Rd.2 - Manly vs Gold Coast

[4] 1996 ARL Rd.3 - North Sydney vs Manly

[5] 1996 ARL Rd.4 - Gold Coast vs Manly

[6] 1996 ARL Rd.5 - Manly vs Auckland

[7] 1996 ARL Rd.6 - South Queensland vs Manly

[8] 1996 ARL Rd.7 - Manly vs North Queensland

[9] 1996 ARL Rd.8 - St George vs Manly

[10] 1996 ARL Rd.9 - Manly vs Canterbury-Bankstown

[11] 1996 ARL Rd.10 - Manly vs Canberra

[12] 1996 ARL Rd.11 - Brisbane vs Manly

[13] 1996 ARL Rd.12 - Manly vs North Sydney

[14] 1996 ARL Rd.13 - Western Reds vs Manly

[15] 1996 ARL Rd.14 - Illawarra vs Manly

[16] 1996 ARL Rd.15 - Manly vs Parramatta

[17] 1996 ARL Rd.16 - Manly vs Sydney City

[18] 1996 ARL Rd.17 - Manly vs Newcastle

[19] 1996 ARL Rd.18 - Cronulla-Sutherland vs Manly

[20] 1996 ARL Rd.19 - Manly vs Sydney Tigers

[21] 1996 ARL Rd.20 - Penrith vs Manly

[22] 1996 ARL Rd.21 - Manly vs Western Suburbs

[23] 1996 ARL Rd.22 - South Sydney vs Manly

[24] 1996 ARL Qualifying Final - Manly-Warringah vs Sydney City

[25] 1996 ARL Preliminary Final - Manly-Warringah vs Cronulla-Sutherland

[26] 1996 ARL Grand Final - Manly-Warringah vs St. George

[27] Jessup, Peter (30 June 2001). "Final line-break for Innes". nzherald.co.nz. APN Holdings NZ Limited. Retrieved 8 December 2009.

[28] "NRL Finals in the 1990s". sportal.com.au. Archived from the original on 6 December 2012. Retrieved 30 June 2012.

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v t e Manly Warringah Sea Eagles
Est. 1947 in Sydney, New South Wales
The Club	History (Northern Eagles) Records Players Coaches
Culture	Rivalry with Melbourne Storm (Battle of Brookvale) Manly Seabirds
Home ground	Brookvale Oval
Important figures	Roy Bull Ken Arthurson Rex Mossop Frank Stanton Fred Jones Bob Fulton Ron Willey Mal Reilly Graham Eadie Max Krilich Terry Randall Paul Vautin Des Hasler Cliff Lyons Geoff Toovey Steve Menzies Stewart brothers Jamie Lyon Daly Cherry-Evans Trbojevic brothers
League	NSWRL ARL NRL
Titles	Premierships (8) 1972 1973 1976 1978 1987 1996 2008 2011 World Club Challenges (1) 2009
Seasons (71)	1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Other competitions	Current S. G. Ball Cup Harold Matthews Cup New South Wales Cup NRL Nines Past National Youth Competition Amco Cup Jersey Flegg Cup World Sevens
Affiliations	Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles Manly-Warringah/North Sydney District Rugby League