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 The New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the first rugby league football club competition established in Australia and contributor to today's National Rugby League. Run by the New South Wales Rugby League (initially named the New Sout ...

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country in ...

. After 5 previous Grand Final losses, the Sea Eagles broke through for their first premiership win. The 1972 Sea Eagles were coached by former Australian international and Manly fullback

Ron Willey Ronald William Willey (1929−2004) was an Australian rugby league footballer and coach. He was a representative for the Australian national side. Post-playing, Willey had a long and successful first grade and State representative coaching care ...

. 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 20,000 capacity Brookvale Oval.

Ladder

Regular season

---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Finals

Major Semi-Final

Grand Final

After twenty-five years in the competition and five

Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Sy ...

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 Ray Branighan (born 5 December 1947) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer, a star and of the 1970s for the South Sydney Rabbitohs, the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, as well as the New South Wales state and Australian nat ...

appeared to stop over the Eastern Suburbs try line after accepting what looked like a

forward pass In several forms of football, a forward pass is the throwing of the ball in the direction in which the offensive team is trying to move, towards the defensive team's goal line. The forward pass is one of the main distinguishers between gridiron ...

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 John Patrick Ballesty (born 20 May 1945) in Strathfield, New South Wales is an Australian former national representative rugby union player who also played first-grade rugby league with the Eastern Suburbs club. Rugby union Ballesty was sch ...

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

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.

Representative Players

International

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

–

Bob Fulton Robert Fulton (1 December 1947 – 23 May 2021), also nicknamed "Bozo", was an Australian international rugby league footballer, coach and later commentator. Fulton played, coached, selected for and has commentated on the game with great succe ...

, Fred Jones, John O'Neill, Dennis Ward

State

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

–

, Bill Hamilton, Ian Martin,

Terry Randall Terry William "Igor" Randall (born 5 February 1951 in Sydney, New South Wales) is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played for the Manly-Warringah club in the New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership. He is regularly n ...

References

External links

Manly Warringah Sea Eagles official websiteNational Rugby League official website
{{Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Manly Warringah Sea Eagles seasons Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles season Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles season