The 1972 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles season was the 26th in the club's history since their entry into the then New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership in 1947. After 5 previous Grand Final losses, the Sea Eagles broke through for their first premiership win.NSWRFL 1972 - Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
The 1972 Sea Eagles were coached by former Australian international and Manly fullback Ron Willey. Captaining the side was long serving hooker Fred Jones. The club competed in the New South Wales Rugby Football League's 1972 Premiership season and played its home games at the 25,000 capacity Brookvale Oval.
Ladder TeamPldWDLPFPAPDPts1 Manly-Warringah221813460255+205372 Eastern Suburbs221714514297+217353 St. George221624398221+177344 South Sydney221408456331+125285 Newtown221129402371+31246 Canterbury-Bankstown2212010382373+9247 Western Suburbs228113367398-31178 Cronulla-Sutherland228014332378-46169 North Sydney227114320405-851510 Balmain226115333455-1221311 Penrith225116278490-2121112 Parramatta224216317585-26810
Regular season
Finals Major Semi-Final
Grand Final
FB 1Graham EadieLW 2Ken IrvineCE 3Ray BranighanCE 4Bob FultonRW 5Max BrownFE 6Ian MartinHB 7Dennis WardLK 8Mal ReillySR 9Terry RandallSR 10Allan ThomsonPR 11John O'NeillHK 12Fred Jones (c)PR 13Bill HamiltonSubstitutions:IC 14IC 15Coach: Ron Willey FB 1Allan McKeanLW 2Jim PorterCE 3Harry CameronCE 4Mark HarrisRW 5Bill MullinsFE 6John BallestyHB 7Kevin JuneeLK 8Ron Coote (c)SR 9John QuayleSR 10Greg BandieraPR 11Arthur BeetsonHK 12Peter MoscattPR 13John ArmstrongSubstitutions:IC 14Laurie FreierIC 15Coach: Don Furner
After twenty-five years in the competition and five Grand Final losses, Manly finally broke through to win the club's first NSWRFL premiership.
In a controversial match, the Sea-Eagles downed the Eastern Suburbs Roosters 19 to 14, thus shedding their 'bridesmaids' tag. The Roosters were highly critical of referee Keith Page after the match, claiming both of Manly's tries shouldn't have been awarded. To add to their rage, Easts crossed for 2 tries that were disallowed.
A dour first half saw the teams go to the break at 4-all, before a try by hooker Fred Jones put Manly ahead. Jones appeared to drop the ball as he attempted to ground it, but was awarded the try nonetheless. For his part Jones contends that he did place the ball with downward pressure. Midway through the second half, controversy flared again when Manly centre Ray Branighan appeared to stop over the Eastern Suburbs try line after accepting what looked like a forward pass from prop Bill Hamilton. However, referee Page allowed it and the Manly fans began celebrating, knowing that at 19-4 their first premiership victory was assured. Although Easts fought back with two late tries to John Ballesty and Bill Mullins and brought the score to 19-14, time ran out for the Roosters and Manly had won their first ever premiership in first grade.
In the end, it was Manly's part-time goal kicker Ray Branighan who proved the difference, kicking 6 goals from 8 attempts.
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 John Barber Keith Blackett Ray Branighan 4 24 60 Max Brown 4 29 70 John Bucknall Bob Cameron Bill Clare 7 21 Graham Eadie 4 15 42 Bob Fulton 19 6 4 73 Bill Hamilton 2 6 Les Hanigan 3 9 Ken Irvine 13 11 61 Fred Jones (c) 4 12 Allan Maddalena 4 12 Ian Martin 4 12 Derek Moritz 5 18 51 Bob Moses 1 3 John O'Neill Peter Peters Norm Pounder 2 6 Terry Randall 3 9 Mal Reilly 4 12 Allan Thomson 3 9 Gary Thoroughgood 3 9 Gary Train Dennis Ward 10 2 32 Graham Williams Mark Willoughby 1 2TOTAL 99 104 6 511
Representative Players International
Australia – Ray Branighan, Bob Fulton, Fred Jones, John O'Neill, Dennis Ward
State New South Wales – Bob Fulton, Bill Hamilton, Ian Martin, Terry Randall
City vs Country City Seconds – Dennis Ward
References
External links Manly Warringah Sea Eagles official website National Rugby League official website